This post is an expansion of the local coupon angle from Erik Qualman’s article, 10 Ways Twitter Can Make Money.
How to distribute your coupons in four easy steps:
- Set up a blogger blog where you will post coupon/sales/specials
- Get a new Twitter account
- Auto-Update your Twitter account using Twitterfeed
- Tell your customers to follow you on Twitter
Set Up A Blogger Blog
If are you already subscribed to a google service (like Gmail), you can log in, and start a new blogger blog.
Here are some ideas for a blog name:
- YourBusinessNameSpecials.blogspot.com
- YourBusinessNameSale.blogspot.com
- YourBusinessNameSavings.blogspot.com
- YourBusinessNameRewards.blogspot.com
- YourBusinessNameAlerts.blogspot.com
You will be using the blog to post your sales and special announcements. Plus Blogger has a special feature that allows you to post to your blog via email and it will post immediately (Blogger Tutorial).
The blog doesn’t have to be pretty, but you can modify it quite easily to resemble your current website or logo.
If you need help setting up a Blogger blog, check out this Youtube Tutorial.
Get a New Twitter Account
Now that you have your blog set up, you need to get a new Twitter account with the same (or similar) username as your new blog. This should be a separate Twitter account if you already have one.
Twitter requires you to sign up for additional Twitter accounts using a different email address. It is up to you, but I would suggest getting another Gmail account to make things easier. Here is a video tutorial about setting up a Gmail account.
To see instructions about setting up a twitter account or if you just need to refresh your memory, go to Twitter.com, and click the red “Watch a video!” button on Twitter’s homepage.
Auto-Update your Twitter account using Twitterfeed
First you have to set up a Twitterfeed account. Twitterfeed can also use your Google/Gmail account information to log you in.
Next, you’ll need to take your Blogger blog RSS feed and add it to Twitterfeed. This will automatically update your Twitter account with the specials you post on your Blogger blog. Twitter will display the “Title” of your post and a link to your blog, so your customer can view the offer in more detail.
Tip: If you have created a coupon for your offer (gif, jpg or png format), include it in your post and they can print it from your blog page to bring into your store.
For more information about setting up a Twitterfeed account, check out this Youtube Tutorial.
Tell Your Customers to Follow You On Your New Twitter Account
Just let your customers know that they can get sale offers and specials announcements by following your special Twitter account. You can make them feel special by telling them it is for VIP customers only.
Or you could let all of your customers know about it by printing it on the bottom of your print (offline) coupons. Something like: “Come join the Twitter Savers Club”. Create a flyer telling them about your new Twitter account. Leave a stack of the flyers on your counter. Add one to their bag, or hand them one with their receipt.
One huge advantage to using Twitter for this technique is that your sale message cannot be blocked by a spam filter. Twitter users “twitter” several times a day and will be looking forward to your message, so they can pass it on to their “followers”.
Finally, a great way to get the word out is to go to TwitterLocal, Twellow, or TwitDir to find local people in your area, by searching for your town name and nearby ones too. Follow everyone you find locally and they may follow you back and your Followers will grow as they let other people know about your specials.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my ideas, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment below!