How Twitter Can Help Retailers Ring Up Holiday Sales

The holidays are here, and businesses everywhere are working to attract shoppers to their stores. And with nearly $617 billion in estimated sales up for grabs, it's no surprise that retailers are getting better and better at using a sophisticated marketing mix to create extra jingle. That mix includes social media, mobile and digital campaigns. In fact, Shop.org forecasts online sales to increase up to 11 percent this holiday season.

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!"

A florist, for example, can tweet back directly, "Not to worry! Flowers are always a great way to thank a hostess. To make it easy, we'll give you 20 percent off your arrangement!"

Other ideas for a #jollyholiday Twitter campaign? Try these five:

1. Use a holiday-themed contest to increase engagement. Twitter and its hashtag language are especially great for creating a network around a contest. Ideas are limitless — e.g., anything that provides a good incentive (like winning a holiday gift set) and incorporates a hashtag works well. This will get more people engaged, make your business more visible via Twitter and increase purchases.

2. Promote holiday specials. More than 90 percent of users say they follow businesses on Twitter to get discounts and promos. Since prospects look to Twitter for deals, providing them with holiday specials is sure to boost sales. Share holiday discounts via Twitter by sending @Replies to specific users who would be interested in your offers.

3. Increase sales and engagement with Twitter-specific offers. In addition to promoting existing holiday specials, create Twitter-specific deals that people can only learn about by following your brand on the social network. For example, cupcake bakery Sprinkles uses this tactic especially well. It posts phrases on its Twitter account that customers can whisper while in-store to get a discount. Not only does the discount drive more sales, but Sprinkles is able to directly attribute these sales to its Twitter efforts, thereby tracking its social return on investment.

4. Engage your Twitter community with the excitement of the season! Most shoppers love a little holiday cheer. Celebrate the season with your customers by posting holiday-spirited, shareable images. Customers are likely to favorite and retweet images, drawing more visitors to your Twitter profile and increasing the chance of holiday sales.

5. Leverage tweets — both positive and negative — about holiday purchases and shopping experiences. Twitter's primary purpose is for users to share thoughts, experiences and ideas through the platform. If you have great customer service, good deals and cool merchandise, you're likely to read about it. Join in the conversation with hashtags, retweets, replies and favorites. If negative comments pop up, take the chance to apologize, offer a second chance or improve — never be a snarky Twitter Grinch!

Bernard Perrine is CEO and co-founder of social marketing application SocialCentiv, patented software technology that helps businesses find new customers on Twitter.