Twitter for fun … and profit
One thing I really loved about The National Needlework Association’s (TNNA’s) Summer Market in Columbus, OH, this year was the series of free mini-seminars held right on the show floor. Even exhibitors like myself — once I plied my husband with the promise of a lunch break as soon as I returned — could slip away from the booth to attend at least one of the one-hour events. In fact, because it took place in the middle of the convention center at the TNNA “lounge” area, folks could casually come and go as they pleased. If they found that a seminar wasn’t hitting the right notes for them, they could just walk away without the frustration we’ve all felt at one time or another of sitting though a class just because it’s paid for (and because tongues might wag if we just got up and left the room).
I was lucky enough to attend two seminars, both by Jaime Guthals, director of public relations for Interweave. One was for Facebook, which I’ll discuss in an upcoming column, and the other was for Twitter, which I’ll discuss below.
Social media in the needlework world is becoming big business. Ravelry.com is leading the way (Jessica and Casey, if you’re reading, I’d love to see the stash database in a sister product for needlepoint and cross-stitch!), of course, but shop owners and designers alike are finding that their Facebook friends and Twitter followers like to get announcements from them in the daily data stream. And not just announcements — retweets of items of interest, insights into the people behind the yarn or pattern, and best of all, the chance to “converse” on their own timetables, either privately or publicly.
Guthals packed a lot of information into her one-hour time slot. The majority of her audience was comprised of Twitter newbies, sprinkled with more experienced folks. While she tried to keep the information at an introductory level, I did pick up a few things. For example, she quoted a 2009 survey done over a two-week period by Pear Analytics that found tweets fell into one of six categories (percentages are rounded here):
- pointless babble: 41%
- conversational: 38%
- pass-along value (retweet): 9%
- self-promotion: 6%
- spam: 4%
- news: 4%
She also noted that there are an estimated 500 million Facebook users, vs. approximately 100 million Twitter users. Theories vary, but she agrees with the thought that while Facebook is a platform where people can reconnect with one another at their own pace — checking their messages and their wall, for example — Twitter is very much in the moment. When you’re on Twitter, chances are (unless it was directly messaged to you or otherwise called to your attention) you’re only looking at things written in the past few minutes. Something posted an hour ago could well be ancient history, since so much has transpired since then.
In her presentation, Guthals spelled out four specific goals that every business tweeter should have:
- Drive traffic to your website.
- Generate exposure and personalize your brand.
- Raise your profile on a personal level.
- Build relationships and allow you to interact with customers in new ways, not possible in the shop or site.
Surveys, announcements, links to photos, retweets… there’s a lot you can do. Guthals admits that in her role as publicist, she follows more than 1,000 people (including me! Thanks, Jaime!) and that the steady stream of information can be daunting, to say the least. To keep your sanity, she says, try using TweetDeck to track who’s saying what on which subject. She also recommends HootSuite to track the clickthroughs of URLs you tweet, to see what return on investment you can gain. And really, with Twitter being a free platform, the only investments are time and a bit of effort.
So let’s keep the conversation going. Has Twitter had an impact on YOUR business? I want to know! Comment below, email me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com, or simply direct message me on Twitter @PositiveYarn. Heck, you can even leave me note on my Facebook page.
Tags: Interweave, Jaime Guthals, marketing, needlework, TNNA, tweet, Twitter
