4 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Twitter

Social media has transitioned into a way of life for online culture; changing the ways in which we communicate, share content and educate ourselves. As social media continues to grow in almost every market, the utilisation of companies such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ has been immense. 

1.23 billion active monthly users

The numbers associated with social media channels speak for themselves. In 2013 93% of marketers used social media for business purposes, and 70% of marketers have used Facebook to successfully gain new customers. Furthermore, with 1.23 billion active monthly users, Facebook remains the largest online social network.

Twitter have 241 million monthly active users; up only 9 million from their previous quarter and a far cry from Facebooks 1 billion users . That's much less than Twitter expected as CEO Dick Costolo anticipated having double that amount of users by 2014. As a result, Twitter shares are down 23% after the companies reported loss of £396m ($645m).

But how important is Twitter for the future of social media, e-communication and business?

In my opinion, Twitter is the most important consumer facing company around at the moment, and with little doubt, I can confidently say that I can see it outlasting Facebook. With over 240 million users and half a billion tweets a day, the growth potential is tremendous.

Saudi billionaire Price Alwaleed invested $300 million in Twitter in 2011, and recently told Reuters that he doesn't plan to sell a single share.

Four Reasons Why You Need A Twitter Account For Your Business

1) Twitter is the fastest way for news to spread 

Twitter allows you to reach your followers immediately through your Twitter feed, and anyone who checks their feed will see your tweets immediately. This is an indispensable tool for providing breaking developments, new products and services, and up to date coverage of live events.

2) Instant Feedback

As you are probably aware, the communication on Twitter is open for everyone else to follow and encourages others to get involved. For this reason Twitter is valuable for both broadcasting and communicating in business; and a great customer service network can be developed by responding to customer complaints and answering questions.

3) Increased Traffic

Generating as much traffic as possible is one objective for every organisation and Twitter helps companies do that! Through making site links present, and diversifying content, Twitter is indispensible in helping to deliver bursts of traffic following content updates.

4) There is a direct correlation between following on Twitter and sales

• 77% of top 100 companies are on Twitter
• 70% of small businesses are on Twitter
• 33% of Twitter users follow a brand
• In the last two years there has been a 663% increase in users asking for business recommendations
• 50% of shoppers have made purchases based on recommendations found through a social network
• 79% of Twitter users are more likely to recommend brands they follow
• 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from brands they follow

Further Reading:


Boesler, M. (2014). Twitter Shares Fell 24% After Earnings. Available: http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-is-getting-annihilated-2014-2. Last accessed 16th April 2014.

Fredrick, H. (2012). Why Is Twitter Important?. Available: http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/twitter-important-5023.html. Last accessed 16th April 2014.

Jones, K. (2013). The Growth of Social Media v2.0. Available: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/growth-social-media-2-0-infographic/77055/. Last accessed 16th April 2014.

Prager, D. (2013). Twitter for Business: Why It’s More Important Than Ever . Available: http://blog.rivaliq.com/twitter-for-business-why-its-more-important-than-ever/. Last accessed 16th April 2014.