Getting started using a social media site like Twitter to market your local business online can be somewhat overwhelming. It’s a lot to manage – writing tweets, sharing links, finding and following local users, growing your own follower base – the list goes on and on. So, how can you know what tips work well best for local businesses on Twitter? To provide some ideas, we sat down with people who use Twitter every day to market to local consumers and asked them to share a few of their top Twitter tips. Check out what our ReachCast Web Presence Professionals have to say about using Twitter for your local business. 

1. Follow Local Twitter Users to Build Local Reach – “If you’re having trouble finding ‘real’ local people to follow and are only following other businesses, find the Twitter account of a local celebrity, public figure, or person of interest. See who’s following them and you’ll likely find those ‘real’ local people to follow!” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Jen Holub

2. Get the Most Out of Your 140 Characters – “Get creative with wording to maximize your character count, but don’t let spelling and grammar go out the window! Don’t lose your professionalism just because social media can be an informal platform. The best tweets can be read in a matter of seconds without confusing code or abbreviations. If you have a lot to say, link to a blog post or video – a great way to get the reader looking for more.” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Vanessa Mosharaf

3. Rock the Retweet – “Don’t be afraid to retweet! Many business owners are hesitant to use Twitter’s retweet feature, but it can be very helpful to your efforts. People love to be retweeted, so make a special effort to retweet customers, especially when they mention or check in at your business in a tweet. You should also follow other local businesses and retweet them when they talk about the community or other relevant topics. And if you give, you shall receive! Those who retweet are more likely to be retweeted, meaning more exposure for your business on Twitter!” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Bradley Bowen 

4. Thank New Followers to Grow Follows – “Something that can help you acquire more followers is to mention any new followers and to simply thank them for following. This can help followers grow at a much faster rate. People want to be mentioned on Twitter, and if you mention them, they’re likely to mention you as well!” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Ashley Stalnaker 

5. Talk Like a Human – “Your business Twitter account should talk like a person—even if it’s representing your company or brand. Think of your Twitter account as a walking, talking personification of your entire company. Depending on your brand, you can take this idea to the limit: Use the first-person and invent a Twitter personality for the brand! This personality can discuss current events, community activities, and engage in pop culture so your consumers can relate to you and to your brand.” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Germaine Paul 

6. Get Involved in Conversations – “When it comes to using Twitter for your business, it’s important to not only provide business and service-related information, but also make it a conversation! Your customers are out there wanting to hear from you. Let them know there’s a face behind the name and a smile behind the tweet! Engage with your followers and they’ll remember your effort and give you a call!” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Hayley Wood 

“The best Twitter campaigns I’ve seen are done by businesses who use it for more than just promoting a new deal or item. Have fun and just try to talk with your followers like you would offline! You’ll find that more people will want to follow a business that is having a conversation with its followers as opposed to a business that uses it strictly for promotions.” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Ryan Thompson 

7. Use Third Party Tools to Manage Twitter Tasks “You can use third-party tools to help your business get more out of Twitter and generate more quality leads. For example, take advantage of third party Twitter tools such as Qwitter, Manageflitter, WeFollow, etc. to help you manage who you follow on Twitter to get better results and make better use of your time.” – ReachCast Web Presence Professional Nick Marino Jr.

Are you using Twitter to market your local business online? What tips or tricks have you learned for getting the most out of Twitter as a local brand? Share your thoughts, ideas, and feedback in a comment!

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Author: Tiffany Monhollon writes about online marketing, social media, reputation management, and web presence optimization for ReachCast. Find her on Twitter and Google+.