77% of Fortune Global 100 companies use Twitter, says The Realtime Report. So if you thought that Twitter is only for teenagers, think again. As social media usage has grown, so has the understanding that it can effectively be used to help businesses in general and small business in particular. So whether your small business is struggling, or you would simply like to boost profits, Twitter is a fantastic tool to use. Here are 4 ways that Twitter can help your small business.

Share Deals

Use Twitter to share information about current deals and opportunities that you business is running.

Do this to show that your business is active, that you are connected with the seasons, and that you have new and exciting products and services to offer.

Do this by tying Twitter in with your marketing. If you are simply passing out flyers in your store(s), include information about how customers can find you on Twitter and what you would like for them to do once they are there.

If you would like for them to share pictures of them using your product, tell them. If you would like them to tell you about how they benefited from your service, tell them.

Create a Community

Your business needs a community of highly interested and loyal customers.

This community will make your business successful by supporting you in tough times and spreading the word when things are going well.

In the old days, chance meetings would have formed this community. But now Twitter makes it so that this community can be made up of people from all over the world.

To foster your community, create campaigns where you ask that people interact with each other. For example, you could ask people to share the most creative thing they’ve ever seen someone doing with your product.

Free Advertising

Use Twitter to get free advertising for your business.

As a small business, you know that there’s no room to waste money. Before Twitter, businesses needed to invest loads of money in traditional outbound marketing campaigns. Now? Your campaign can go viral for free.

Do this by creating smart, unique, quirky, eye-catching videos, images, and text. Nothing you use for marketing needs to be expensive as long as they meet these criteria.

Establish Your Personality

Use Twitter to help establish your brand. Is your business fun? Is your business traditional? Is your business innovative?

A business without a personality is just as boring as a person without a personality. And once your business has a personality, people will be much more likely to retweet your posts because it will seem more like they are retweeting posts from a friend than from a business.

Do this by asking yourself what sort of personality you would like your business to have. Then make posts that go along with that personality, and engage with your followers with that same personality.

Using Twitter is a great way to help your small business. It benefits you in several ways and doesn’t cost you anything. While it may seem confusing to get started using Twitter for your small business, you now have 4 ways you can get going. So start using Twitter to help your small business today.