Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the number of marketing options for your business? With so much technology in today’s world, the possibilities seem endless. While this is incredibly beneficial for business owners, it can also be a bit daunting. Many wonder which marketing options will truly pay off and which ones are really just a waste of time. No matter who you are or what type of business you own, you will certainly want to enlist social media sites in your “cause.”

Using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn undoubtedly increases customer traffic and a greater following for any business. And that makes sense, as these sites can instantly reach millions of people around the world. You can easily, and inexpensively, advertise your brand with minimal effort. Twitter is particularly effective for business owners, as it is geared towards promoting business, and is one site every business owner should be a part of. Basically, you “follow” others on Twitter and they “follow” you. You can post updates about deals your business is having, the latest product you have, or any events you want others to attend.

But there is more to Twitter marketing than just posting updates if you want them to be effective. So how can you successfully promote your business or brand using Twitter? Here are three helpful suggestions. Try them out and see how they work for you.

Follow Twitter Etiquette and Be Professional

One thing you certainly don’t want to be is obnoxious. This will do nothing but harm your business. For this reason, you will want to avoid obsessively spamming others about deals and promotions over Twitter. Don’t be too aggressive. Instead, you might want to create a blog and write creative, engaging blog posts. Then tweet about the blog, advertising its content about your business or brand. This will help you engage potential customers in something that actually interests them rather than coming across as a pushy salesperson. In addition, follow others and comment respectfully on their business endeavors and tweets. This will only enhance your professionalism and credibility, which is important to customers.

Keep Your Tweets Relevant and Don’t “Over-Do It”

If your business is tweeting every few minutes, it is likely going to come across as annoying and pushy. Instead, be sure you are posting about the really important things you would like customers and contacts to know. Make sure they are relevant to your business and brand. Going off on tangents will also likely decrease your business or brand credibility.

Keep Track of Those Who Mention Your Brand

To maximize Twitter’s business-growing potential for your company, you will also want to track those who mention your brand. Doing this will help you know who to follow and who you want following your page as well. Creating those contacts can be priceless for your company, as you will be contacting potentially-interested customers. This is not as daunting as it might sound, as there are actually programs that do this for you. For Twitter, you can use tracking programs such as TweetBeep. You can use it for free or upgrade to TweetBeep Premium. The basic TweetBeep emails you hourly alerts of those who have mentioned your brand in conversations or are following you on a blog. It’s definitely a great idea for business owners.

About the Author: Rick Delgado is a freelance writer who specializes in current social trends and technology. Rick is presently working with companies like Vivint  as a social media consultant.