Twitter and Local Business

In a recent article in Search Engine Land, Stephanie Hobbs touched on how local businesses can use the social media phenomenon Twitter to thei advantage.

"We can tap Twitter to engage with our potential customers, our advertisers. Timely tweets can inform our advertisers of product enhancements, special pricing, and other news."

Twitter is essentially another tool in building that important communication connection with your customers. Micro-blogging, similar to regular blogging but on a shorter scale, is meant to convey timely and succinct information to an established body of customers or prospective customers who are receptive to what you have to say. Twitter can't really generate NEW customers, but it can help engender repeat customers.

And for most local businesses, repeat customers are the life blood.

So use Twitter if your customer base is likely to use it. "Tweet" about the usual sorts of things: sales, special deals, important information, expert advice. Just do it on a judicious and brief (140 character) scale.