How Twitter Can Help Retailers Ring Up Holiday Sales

Twitter is especially geared to help retailers target customers. With keywords, geo-targeting and smarter tech, brands can find out who is looking for their merchandise via tweets. When they find someone, they can tweet directly back with an offer or discount to get that shopper in the door.

Many small business owners know they should be on social media, but are befuddled about how to connect the dots between posts, tweets and new customers. However, with the right tools, business owners can find potential customers on Twitter who need a product or service at that moment. For example, a harried holiday shopper might tweet, "Help! Need to send a thank-you house gift!"