Social Media

Twitter’s New App Helps Plan Holiday Promotions

Earlier this month, Twitter launched a free app to assist small businesses with their holiday marketing.

Called Twitter Small Business Planner, the app offers “tactical guidance just in time for the busy holiday season,” to quote from Twitter’s Small Business Blog.

Twitter launched the Small Business Planner app to help with holiday promotions.

Twitter launched the Small Business Planner app to help with holiday promotions.

Merchants can plan Twitter posting activity, explore content to share with followers, receive content ideas, and connect with other small business users.

Along with the @TwitterSmallBiz Twitter account and Small Business Blog, the app becomes a third part of Twitter’s #SmallGoesBig marketing campaign designed to help smaller businesses reach their holiday sales goals.

Twitter Small Business Planner: Features

According to Twitter, app users can do the following.

  • Browse a daily calendar that is themed around four main topics: Content suggestions, recommended campaigns, information on Twitter tools, and Twitter events.
  • Add the most relevant topics and tactics to your “My Agenda,” which syncs with their personal device calendar.
  • Get push notification reminders so that you can send Tweets, launch campaigns, and monitor progress.
  • Access additional resources such as white papers, blog articles, and ebooks directly within the app.
  • Be the first to know about new #SmallGoesBig initiatives and upcoming Twitter for Business events.

Twitter’s goal for the app is presumably to keep Twitter top of mind and maintain a continuous flow of ideas and suggestions for shareable content, advertising campaigns, educational resources, and online training events.

Twitter refers to Small Business Planner as your “personal content concierge.” It is available for iOS and Android.

How to Use Twitter Small Business Planner

1. Download the app from the Google Play. Once installed, log in to your Twitter account through the app to access its features.

2. Start with “My business goals.” This area provides an overview of how Twitter campaigns can help meet a variety of business goals related to use of the network.

Start using the app by focusing on your business goals.

Start using the app by focusing on your business goals.

Business goals include:

  • Set up Twitter presence (account);
  • Grow your list of relevant followers;
  • Increase the number of website visits;
  • Engage Twitter users;
  • Increase the number of app installs;
  • Get more sales and leads.

3. Move into the Calendar section. The Calendar contains a daily breakdown of content ideas, suggested campaigns, tips on using Twitter tools, and information about free online event. It is the most useful part of the app, in my view.

  • Content. Suggested Tweets and content ideas around seasonal and cultural events. This is not content that you would share verbatim with followers, but suggestions and ideas from which you can develop your content.
  • Campaign. Twitter Ads campaign suggestions that are geared toward the holiday shopping season.
  • Tools. Ads tools to help optimize and organize campaigns.
  • Events. News about upcoming training events.
The Calendar contains content and campaign ideas and suggestions.

The Calendar contains content and campaign ideas and suggestions.

Add items of interest to the “My Agenda” section, which you can sync to your mobile device calendar and receive reminders. The calendar displays entries on a daily view, but users can browse through upcoming weeks and add items to their personal agenda, to plan ahead.

Curate a list of content and campaign ideas in the "My Agenda" section.

Curate a list of content and campaign ideas in the “My Agenda” section.

4. Explore the Resource Library. The section links (directly within the app) to how-to guides and market research, success stories, blog articles, and ebooks.

5. Network with other users via the Home stream. Connect with other app users to share updates about your holiday marketing campaigns, ask questions and see what they are doing. This is a great resource to search for new ideas and get feedback about your campaigns.

The Home stream is a good place to get new campaign ideas.

The Home stream is a good place to get new campaign ideas.

Twitter warns that the Home stream is not a place to sell products or services, or to share promotions and deals with the audience. It is intended only as a peer-to-peer community to connect and share ideas.

Benefits to Online Merchants

The app’s primary benefit to online merchants is as a content management and resource tool. It helps businesses manage their organic and paid Twitter activity, and keep a fresh flow of Tweets in front of followers.

Of course, Twitter benefits as well. By providing this utility, Twitter can reinforce its value proposition as a small business-oriented social network and advertising platform. Even still, the app offers useful features — the Calendar and Home stream, especially — that make it worth checking out.

Paul Chaney
Paul Chaney
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