Bridget Willard | SaaS Marketing Agency

Tag: Twitter

  • Why San Antonio Businesses Should Bother With The X Platform (Twitter)

    While talking with a friend a few months back, raving about my research into how many people might be using Twitter here in Alamo City she said,

    “But Bridget, why would any San Antonio Business bother with Twitter?” 

    To that, I replied, “How much time do you have?” (I have a tendency to launch into TEDTalks.)

    She wasn’t questioning my reasoning – she believes in the power of Twiter for small businesses. After all, that is precisely how we met back in 2015. As a former resident of San Antonio, she says, “San Antonio is the biggest small town you’ll ever know. Everything here is a handshake and who you know.” 

    To me, that reinforces why a small business in San Antonio should use Twitter. Either, you’re part of that “it’s who you know” club and you can use Twitter to amplify the word-of-mouth you already have, or you’re new to San Antonio and you need to stand out to even be competitive.

    “Twitter offers a different model however to YouTube and Facebook but it still has enormous potential to support a thriving and innovative ecosystem of users, business and media outlets and to enable them to engage in discussion on topics relevant and important to them.” (Curran et al) (1)

    How Many People Move to San Antonio Every Year?

    As of March 1, 2020, Census data reports that 1,434,625 people live in San Antonio. It’s the 7th largest city in the US. Yes. We are in the top 10 and that’s part of the reason why I moved here and started by LLC here (I was previously freelancing). I wanted to live in a city, not a suburb, and enjoy my quiet, walkable Southtown Life for the rest of my days. (Yep, I even got a Texas tattoo!) 

    “Greater San Antonio is a region of choice. Military, blue collar, white collar, hikers, bikers, students, foodies, animal lovers, tech-heads — people from all walks — love living here.” greater:SATX

    Whether people grew up here in Texas or were based here during their Military career, people love San Antonio and even move here from other counties in Texas. According to a 2020 KENS5 article, 66 people move to San Antonio every day. That means that approximately 24,000 people move to San Antonio every year. That’s a lot of people! We’re projected to add another million to our population by 2040.

    “The San Antonio area is now home to more than 1.5 million people and the city’s population is projected to add 1 million more by 2040.” TPR

    How Many Businesses are in San Antonio?

    There are 117,546 businesses in San Antonio, and 44,295 of those are women-owned according to Census data. (You go, girl!) That tells us that about 8% of the population owns a business here in San Antonio. 

    So, if 8% of the population are business owners, and 24,000 people move here every year, it’s reasonable to say about 1,920 new businesses are coming to San Antonio every year. When you count the surrounding area, it could be much higher. According to greater:SATX’s Q3 2021 report for Bexar County (pronounced “bear”), 34% of the businesses here have 1-4 employees. Thirty-four percent! WOW!

    “San Antonio and Bexar County are home to approximately 34,000 small businesses and approximately 145,000 sole proprietorships. These small businesses and sole proprietors account for 34% of the local workforce.“ COSA

    How will you compete when you’re the new business in Alamo City? 

    Will you rely upon word-of-mouth, Meetups, Billboards, or Instagram to build your business in San Antonio? Those are all fine. And, of course, you should join the Chamber of Commerce. We have 4-6 chambers of commerce here in San Antonio. I’m part of the North SA Chamber along with Rhonda Negard of Fat Dog Creatives – another San Antonio business that relocated here. 

    But when you consider the time and effort needed to grow your brand awareness, Twitter is the best tool for small business owners – hands down. Well, right next to your website. (You have a website, right?)

    My real estate client in Phoenix had doubts about shifting our marketing budget from Facebook to Twitter – until he saw the numbers. By the way, I wrote a case study about that. Would you like 600 people to see your Facebook post or 4,000 people to see your tweet?

    To me the answer is clear.

    Do People in San Antonio Even Tweet?

    Yes, people in San Antonio tweet. Ever seen the news here? The anchors have Twitter accounts, they even show screenshots of tweets on the news. Even Spurs Coyote tweets. Rhonda Negard uses Twitter because of emergencies as well. Admittedly, she is my friend and a Twitter convert.

    During the freeze of 2021, I was live Tweeting about the boil water notice (I was watching the meeting on Facebook). She heard about it from me a good hour before SAWS tweeted. 

    Back on Topic – Do People Tweet in San Antonio?

    Yes, people in San Antonio tweet. Have I said that enough yet? In my article, “How Many People Tweet in San Antonio,” I came up with these answers. 

    • Approximately 255,296 adults in San Antonio use Twitter.
    • Approximately 329,264 adults in Bexar County use Twitter.
    • Approximately 383,538 adults in the Tri-County area use Twitter.

    According to HubSpot, the average Twitter user follows five businesses. That seems low to me, but let’s accept that number as truth. Why shouldn’t your business be one of those five? Why would you deny yourself the opportunity to engage with a quarter of a million people who follow brands on Twitter?

    “Twitter is an undeniably powerful platform to increase your business’s online reach. The average Twitter user follows five businesses, and 80% of all Twitter users have mentioned a brand in a Tweet.” HubSpot 

    Okay, fine, Bridget. I get it. How will anyone even notice me?

    How Do You Cut Through the Noise and Get Noticed in San Antonio?

    The best way to cut through the noise on Twitter and get noticed in San Antonio is to do three things:

    1. Create Twitter lists and engage with those people.
    2. Follow and use hashtags like #SATX, #AlamoCity, #SouthtownSATX, etc.
    3. Reply to Tweets. The Retweet Button is lazy. I said what I said.

    I have a simple 3-2-1 plan for Twitter.

    Every day log into Twitter during the morning.

    • Follow 3 new people (and list them).
    • Reply to 2 tweets.
    • Write 1 original tweet.

    If you want to level up, do that after lunch, too. You should be able to do this consistently in 15 to 20 minutes each day. You get faster at it. Believe me. You will. Then you’ll write me a letter telling me how much it changed your life. Or you’ll send a tweet. Or write a LinkedIn Recommendation. 

    “Bridget’s Twitter coaching has been transformational.

    I used to use Facebook exclusively and avoided Twitter at all costs. After a single session with Bridget, I understood exactly how to wrangle Twitter and make it work for my business.

    Now Twitter is a key part of my social media marketing. I’m building relationships and growing my online visibility. I even, I dare say, prefer it to Facebook somedays!

    If you’ve ever wondered how to get more out of your existing social media presence, reach out to Bridget. She is a wealth of knowledge and practical experience.” Jocelyn Mozak, deceased

    The only way Bridget Willard, LLC can compete as a marketing agency in the 7th largest city in America is because of Twitter and the relationships I built with people before I moved here and since I moved here.

    “Twitter provides a platform for businesses to see what customers really feel about their own brand and also their competitors and in near real time. In addition to this Twitter allows businesses to connect directly in near real time with customers, which gives them the opportunity to build and enhance customer relationships. More businesses are using Twitter as a research, marketing and customer support tool.” (Curran et al) (1)

    Are You Ready to Learn Twiter for Your Business, San Antonio?

    If you’re ready to learn (or re-learn) Twitter, I have a free course, right here on my website that goes step-by-step. It will not only show you how to use Twitter but the WHY behind the HOW – which is often not taught. 

    Once you’re finished with that, you may appreciate my short book, “The Definitive Guide to Twitter Marketing (I Double Dog Dare You To Try It)” available on Amazon. 

    Once you start using Twitter, follow me. I would love to get to know you.

    Article Citation

    1. Curran, Kevin & O’Hara, Kevin & O’Brien, Sean. (2011). The Role of Twitter in the World of Business. IJBDCN. 7. 1-15. 10.4018/jbdcn.2011070101. 

  • How Many People Use The X Platform (Twitter) in San Antonio?

    Since I’ve moved to San Antonio in 2020, I’ve been following and talking to businesses here. Actually, I’ve been managing Rhonda Negard’s Twitter account since before I moved. I’m always building Twitter Lists for local businesses, so my heart has been in Alamo City for quite a while. But I digress.

    As I talk to business owners and local folks, I’ve been quite surprised at how few businesses use Twitter here in San Antonio or believe it to be useful in their marketing stack.

    So I thought I would do a bit of digging to see what the potential audience is for those in San Antonio on Twitter. I used Census data and information from Pew Research.

    So, How Many People Use Twitter in San Antonio?

    According to the Census, 1,547,253 people live in San Antonio, Texas, 25% of which are under the age of 18. That leaves 1,160,439 adults.

    Pew Research shows that 22% of American adults use Twitter.

    It’s reasonable, then, to project that 255,296 adults in San Antonio use Twitter.

    Why Should I Care About Twitter Users?

    Twitter users are a different demographic. People who choose Twitter are slightly different than other social media users, according to Pew Research. They spend time on Twitter to read and engage. They’re learning, researching. They are looking to make connections. I have had the same experience managing client Twitter accounts since 2009.

    You don’t have to care about Twitter. But you should ask yourself if you care about that demographic. Can your business afford to not reach 250,000 people who are highly educated with a higher income than the US population at large? Can your San Antonio business afford to ignore the social media users who believe in true diversity and inclusion?

    “The analysis indicates that the 22% of American adults who use Twitter are representative of the broader population in certain ways, but not others. Twitter users are younger, more likely to identify as Democrats, more highly educated and have higher incomes than U.S. adults overall. Twitter users also differ from the broader population on some key social issues. For instance, Twitter users are somewhat more likely to say that immigrants strengthen rather than weaken the country and to see evidence of racial and gender-based inequalities in society. But on other subjects, the views of Twitter users are not dramatically different from those expressed by all U.S. adults.” Pew Research

    Do You Think 250k People are Tweeting in San Antonio?

    Of course not. That’s only an estimate based upon the Census data available to us and Pew Research’s 22%. Thanks to privacy laws, it’s not entirely possible to know how many people in San Antonio have Twitter accounts, or how many are duplicated (I have three accounts myself). 

    About 10% of people (users) create most (80%) of the tweets. However, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t looking at Twitter.

    People see screenshots of tweets in text messages, on Facebook, and on Instagram. It’s also possible to view tweets in a Google search, as well as hear and see tweets read aloud on talk radio, sports radio, network, and cable TV, and so on.

    According to this site that reports real-time data, San Antonio is Number 10 in cities that tweet at the time of this writing (December 15, 2021, at 1:57 PM Central Time). There are more tweets here right now than in Austin or San Diego. Houston and Dallas are a bit ahead of us. 

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    How Many People Tweet in Austin, Houston, or Dallas?

    If we keep the 22% of adults number who tweet, we can easily compare these numbers to other cities in Texas by their census data. San Antonio is only second to Houston. 

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    How Many People Tweet in the Greater San Antonio Area?

    The Greater San Antonio area comprised of Bexar, Comal, and Guadalupe County has a population of about 2.3 million people. Of those, 1.7 million are adults, and likey there are 383,538 people in the Greater San Antonio Area who tweet. That’s a lot of eyeballs not seeing your business on Twitter.

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    Who Tweets in San Antonio?

    Almost every part of the government, including utilities, museums, universities, big companies, and news stations and anchors use Twitter. Other people who tweet are small businesses, social media & marketing folks, podcasters & gamers, as well as politicians & realtors. 

    Do a few hashtag searches and you’re bound to find some folks to follow and engage with. With this SparkToro audience, the top three accounts people are engaged with include Keep SA Real, SA Tomorrow, and Liberty Bar.

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    It’s interesting that the most engaging podcast is Making it Up as I Go, City of San Antonio YouTube Channel, and My SA as far as news goes.

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    SparkToro’s Listing of Top Twitter Accounts that Talk about San Antonio 

    Top 20 Accounts to Follow in San Antonio, TX

    1. https://twitter.com/mySA
    2. https://twitter.com/COSAGOV
    3. https://twitter.com/SAcurrent
    4. https://twitter.com/ksatnews
    5. https://twitter.com/News4SA
    6. https://twitter.com/SanAntonioMag
    7. https://twitter.com/VisitSanAntonio
    8. https://twitter.com/KENS5
    9. https://twitter.com/PuroSanAntonio
    10. https://twitter.com/FiestaSA
    11. https://twitter.com/centrosa
    12. https://twitter.com/sachamber
    13. https://twitter.com/HistoricPearl
    14. https://twitter.com/SABizJournal
    15. https://twitter.com/SA2020
    16. https://twitter.com/HEB
    17. https://twitter.com/BexarCounty
    18. https://twitter.com/KABBFOX29
    19. https://twitter.com/SAReport
    20. https://twitter.com/JulianCastro

    Is there a Hashtag for San Antonio?

    Yes of course there are local hashtags for San Antonio. The hashtag I most commonly use for San Antonio is #SATX. Though, I use #SomosSATX sometimes. People also use #SanAntonio, #GoSpursGo, #Spurs, #UTSA, and #KSATNews.

    According to SparkToro’s database, 1,293 people in the Greater San Antonio Area use the #SATX hashtag. That shows plenty of opportunities since 380,000 adults are estimated to use Twitter here. 

    What does that mean for you or your business? 

    It means you have a huge potential to grow your audience on social and help your SEO efforts.

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    Are You Ready to Learn Twitter?

    The numbers speak for themselves and your San Antonio-based business should be using Twitter in its marketing efforts. So the only question is: are you ready to learn Twitter?

    Along with my book on Amazon, I have a free Twitter course for small businesses. So there’s no reason not to start learning to use Twitter for your small business today.

    What do you have to lose?

    More Links

  • Yes, The X Platform (Twitter) Should Be Part of Your SEO Strategy

    Did you know that individual tweets are indexed by Google? A healthy Twitter account is a great ranking signal and should be part of your SEO strategy.

    Twitter is a big part of my marketing stack as many of you know. For a good SEO strategy, don’t leave Twitter out. Twitter is my favorite. And one of the reasons why it is my favorite is because it’s so accessible. It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s text-based. The culture on Twitter wants to read and learn. This means they will click a link to go to your website. 

    Now, one important thing that you should realize about Twitter is that individual tweets are indexed by Google. What does that mean? It means that Google reads tweets and may possibly show them in search results. 

    Tweets Show in Google Search Results

    Over the years, I’ve seen tweets appear in search results. Frankly, I’m surprised more SEOs don’t talk about the importance of Twitter as a ranking signal. In what context do it happen in many different ways.

    Google yourself. Set up Google Alerts for your name, products, and website. When you get those emails, you’ll see tweets that are trending. When I was looking up Lunar New Year, I saw tweets that showed up as a carousel in the SERPs. 

    The following screenshots show what may show up for searches that include, Bridget Willard, Spurs, Warren Laine-Naida, COVID, and Gatsby. Click on the image to open it up in a lightbox.

    • gatsby tweet serp screenshot
    • spurs tweet serp screenshot
    • COVID local tweet serp screenshot
    • warren tweet serp screenshot
    • bridget willard tweet serp screenshot

    Local SEO Matters, Too

    So, when you’re approaching marketing online, in order to be found in your local community, there is a bunch of things that you need to do. Okay? Make sure Google My business is loaded. If you’ve seen any of the videos with Warren Laine-Naida, you’ve heard us talk about that. Make sure that you have reviews sites, um, and claim your profiles. Not just Yelp and not just Google My Business. Go on TrustPilot.com. They have a free account. You can get and go claim your business there.  Google wants to see that you’re active and participating. This is another reason why Twitter is a great way to get that feedback. 

    Twitter is Great for Research

    Also, when you’re researching your community and your industry on what people are thinking, where are they talking about it? They’re talking about it on Twitter. They’re talking about Spaces on Twitter. They’re talking about Clubhouse on Twitter. They’re talking about TikTok on Twitter. Twitter is where everybody talks. It’s great for market research. It’s great for following people in your industry. It’s fabulous for following people who are local to you making those handshake business relationships in your community. 

    So what do you have to lose? If you want to learn to do that. Also on amazon.com is “The Definitive Guide to Twitter Marketing.” It goes through every single thing you need to know about how to use Twitter for your business. Um, how to gain followers the right way. How to list people. How to share your blog posts. I mean, this is really key. 

    One of my realtor clients finally agreed use Twitter in addition to Facebook, and the impressions alone were worth the move. The impressions alone were worth the move. How about Facebook reach of 400 and Twitter averaging 4000?

    Start Using Twitter to Be Found Online

    Twitter is a big part of your SEO strategy because individual tweets are indexed by Google. A healthy Twitter account is a great ranking signal. It shows them that you’re active. Why not try it? What could you lose? 

    If you’re not sure how to get started, this blog post lines out how to set up your Twitter account. 

  • Protect Your Brand. It’s Not a Joke.

    Humor. It’s tricky in person — with your intonation, delivery, and body language. It’s even more precarious when it’s written. Your brand isn’t a joke, don’t treat it like one.

    It’s tempting to react to political news from your brand on Twitter. Unless your brand is Saturday Night Live, don’t do it. You’ll be fueling trolls and undermining your brand. It’s your brand. Protect it.

    KFC and Nuclear Buttons

    I rarely call people out. In this case, I’m doing it. Firstly, I grew up at the end of the cold war and don’t find nuclear jokes funny. Secondly, the situation in North Korea is serious. Thirdly, regardless of the behavior of the current President (who frankly embarrasses me), your brand should be above that.

    Tweet:

    Sure, at the time of this screenshot (in my tweet below), 6 hours in, KFC got 606 comments, 24,000 impressions and 49,000 likes. It’s a mistake.

    The fact that KFC is calling itself KFC instead of Kentucky Fried Chicken shows that they have a history of branding issues. They had to fight fried food, are they really going to alienate the demographic that mostly enjoys it? Seriously. I’m a Republican. I get it. Let’s be serious.

    In fact, I’d argue that the cheap laugh and blog posts that will be written on Mashable, Tech Crunch, and BuzzFeed might be worth it for a day for attention. But will it help sales? I doubt it.

    Your brand isn't a joke. Don't treat it like one. Use restraint with current trends. Share on X

    The Danger of Trending Hashtags

    The same advice goes for Trending Hashtags. Lazy social media managers try to jump on a trend. If you don’t totally understand why the trend is happening, you have another “Why I Stayed” scandal.

    Don't fall for easy. If you don't understand the hashtag, do not use it. It's that simple. Share on X

    People make mistakes because of inexperience and a lack of discretion. They don’t think things out strategically and see how it will affect their brand. This is why you should never hire a cheap Social Media Manager.

    It’s Your Responsibility to Protect Your Brand

    Your brand is your reputation. It’s all you have sometimes when funds are light. It’s your job to protect it and assemble a team of people who have the same vision.

    Levi Saunders

  • What is the Best Platform for B2B? The X Platform (Twitter). Hands Down.

    If your customers are other small businesses then business-to-business (B2B) marketing should be your focus. What platform should is best for B2B marketing? Hands down, it’s Twitter.

    Twitter is more than pop culture and politics. When used effectively for small business, it serves several marketing purposes: brand awareness, public relations, listening, content curation, and relationship building. Bonus: Twitter also helps with SEO!

    Twitter is for Brand Awareness

    Brand awareness is high-level, less-tangible, and difficult to measure. It’s almost a word-association game.

    I say “tissue;” you say “Kleenex.” I say “photocopy;” you say “Xerox.” I say groceries, you say “H.E.B.” (Am I right, San Antonio?)

    You want your brand to be able to be associated with your purpose. Recognition of your business logo — or headshot — on Twitter allows your small business to compete with the bigger companies. The big guys rarely invest in social media; don’t make their mistakes.

    Twitter levels the playing field when it comes to brand awareness. Are you using it? Share on X

    Twitter is for Public Relations

    Your small business has news; people want to know it. Share all of your news on Twitter. Not in a Press Release, but with tweets linking to your blog posts.

    What would you share? Promotions, product sales, new ventures, employees that join in, new partnerships, and case studies are all perfect to Tweet.

    People will always talk about you even if you aren’t on Twitter. Being ahead of the message is PR 101; do this on Twitter. Be proactive.

    This is why consistent publishing on your WordPress blog is vital. Write articles about anything relevant to your audience. Then promote the article on Twitter — a few different ways. Every brand has the ability to publish and gain influence and audience.

    I specifically designed a content planner and ebook to help you through this process. There’s also my free WordPress Plugin: Launch With Words and the starter pack to help give you blogging prompts. But I digress.

    How do you promote your events and announce products? Share on X

    Twitter is for Listening

    Listening is the most powerful thing a B2B business can do with Twitter. It’s important to understand who your audience is and what they want, need, and how they think. Seriously, people talk about themselves on Twitter all day long. You know what bands they like, who they’re voting for, what airlines upset them, and if they’re dating or looking for a job. Have you been listening to your audience?

    Marketing personas are essentially stereotypes. When’s the last time you updated your company’s personas? Instead of relying solely on a marketing persona based upon “Bob,” you can actually see what Bob is tweeting about and update that persona. Bob from 10 years ago liked IPAs; now he collects wine. Time to update the “Bob” persona.

    Using Twitter Lists to Listen allows you to:

    • Pain points.
    • Correcting personas.
    • Responding.
    • Engaging.
    • Focus Group.
    When you listen to your audience, you can correct your buyer personas. Share on X

    Twitter is for Content Curation

    Once you’ve built your lists, you are ready to curate content to enhance relationship building for your B2B business. We all know that B2B is all about relationships. Share blog posts from the people on your Twitter lists in parallel industries. Are you a beauty brand? Share fashion tips? Are you a cremation service? Share information on life insurance. Reciprocation is powerful. You’ve helped promote other businesses and found good content. This is a win-win.

    While managing social media accounts for my clients, the Twitter curation process is how I source articles and posts for their LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram business accounts.

    The tools I use to curate content are simple.

    It’s about people; not tools. I’m a People Curator — a People Broker, I say. I curate content by curating people. This is why building lists and paying attention to those audiences is effective in your B2B marketing.

    Are you only tweeting about yourself and your business? That isn't social. Share on X

    Twitter is for Relationship Building — Perfect for B2B

    All business happens because of referrals (word of mouth) and none more so than B2B. We live and die by referrals. Think back to the last time you got a new client. How did you acquire them?

    Think of the last time you found a new service. Did you search for them online? Google? Yelp?

    Almost no one does business with a total stranger. Use Twitter to build relationships. Reply to people. Engage. You won’t regret it.

    Relationships follow you throughout your career. They follow brands, too. Start chatting with people today. Share on X

    Updated March 20, 2022