Why You Need to be on Twitter

by Haley Evans, WPICC of From Menus to Venues Wedding and Event Planning in St, John, NB

Almost all businesses now have a Facebook page. In fact, survey research* shows that over 95% of wedding and event professionals have a page on Facebook. Having an active fan page on Facebook is essential for all businesses, especially those in the wedding and event industry. However, very few businesses have a Twitter profile! Twitter is the new way for businesses to promote, connect with people and brand their company. Simply, if your company is not on Twitter you are going to miss out.

First of all, what is Twitter? Twitter is a free, online social networking service that allows users to send and receive messages and updates. You can share text, pictures and web links over Twitter in messages of 140 characters or less which are called “tweets”.  Hash tags (terms preceded by #) are used to filter messages and facilitate searches for particular topics.

Here is why your business should be on Twitter:
You can connect with your customers – Although the target market for event planners is much broader, wedding professionals are often targeting their marketing efforts towards brides. The average bride in Canada is 27 years old and is very internet savvy. Therefore, your ideal customer is probably on Twitter. Twitter has become a daily routine for most users which makes it a great way for you to push your company’s messages through to them.

You can get feedback from your customers – If you have an unhappy customer, chances are you will hear about it; but these days customers don’t always call in to complain. Now, people tweet their complaints! Twitter has become a very popular medium for people to connect and share their thoughts about a product or service. Listening to your customer’s feedback will allow you to understand their needs which will allow your company to help them.

You can brand yourself – Even if you aren’t a big brand, you can brand yourself on twitter. Just think; your followers will see your logo and messages on their Twitter feed multiple times a day. This will help create a recognizable brand image and raise awareness of your company.
You can connect with other professionals – Twitter is becoming one of the best tools for business to business interactions. Twitter is a great way to connect with other professionals in the wedding and event world. This is also a great way to keep an eye on your competition.

You can go viral – Twitter is probably the most viral of all social media sites. This means that once you gain a following and people start quoting and replying to your tweets, it is easy for your messages to reach a multitude of potential customers. This gives your message the potential to trend; trending messages appear on every twitter user’s sidebar. This will give your brand great exposure.

You can use it to promote your events – With the exception of personal events, I create a Twitter account and hash tag for all of the events I work on, no matter how big or small they are. This way, people thinking about attending the event can connect with one another and keep up to date on all of the event’s details. During the event, monitoring the Twitter hash tag is a great way to get feedback on how people are enjoying the event. Some couples are even choosing to create a hashtag for their wedding!

Twitter is becoming more and more popular and it is a great way to direct potential customers to your blog, website and other social media sites. When used properly, Twitter will become your company’s new best friend. Don’t put your business at a disadvantage; create an engaging Twitter profile now!

*Research done by Haley Evans of From Menus to Venues Wedding and Event Planning by surveying approx. 100 wedding and event professionals.