By Gina Cuclis

A recent conversation I had with a Sonoma Valley winery owner/winemaker about Twitter illustrates how small businesses are trying to understand what to expect from social media. He was disappointed that a tweet about his winery winning an award, which got re-tweeted to a large group, didn't result in sales.

Twitter Followers Want Value

Twitter users don't follow brands because they want to receive sales pitches. They follow brands because there's value in doing so. For example, they follow to acquire knowledge or receive special offers. Others may follow a brand, because they want to be up on the latest news of a particular company. Businesses that have success with Twitter understand the "what's in it for me?" motivation, which drives people to click through or respond to a tweet.

The winemaker didn't get responses because the tweet provided no motivation for followers to react. It was simply information. He likely would have received responses if he had provided a link to a coupon for a discount on a bottle of wine, or said to mention the tweet when visiting his tasting room to receive a discount.

Uncovering Best Practices

Because Twitter is a new marketing tool, marketers are still testing and learning how best to use it. Some companies are finding Twitter's best use is as a customer service tool for receiving and responding to questions and concerns.

There's also a developing science to twittering. Researchers are testing how to write tweets that stand out from the flow and get responses.

Strategy Is Still The First Step

Whether its Twitter, Facebook or writing a blog, an organization's use of social media should fit into its larger marketing and communications strategy. Who is your target audience and are they on Twitter? Do you have a stated objective for using Twitter? Or is it just something you think you need to do? Without a clear objective and a strategy for how to use Twitter to achieve that objective, your tweets won't make a difference.