Twitter is the biggest microblogging service and one of the most used and overused social media platforms for marketing right now because it is deemed as an authoritative source of information. Even Google seems to think so! Twitter updates are now part of latest search results for keywords that point to current events or hot Twitter trends. Google has just gone real-time!  Indeed, the importance of Twitter as a marketing medium cannot be discounted, especially when tweets now appear as relevant search results in the world’s most popular search engine. Your tweets are no longer just snippets of text visible in the Twitter stream of your followers, it is part of what the world sees in Google if your tweet contains keywords and content that are relevant to a popular keyword.

From the Google Blog:

“Click on “Latest results” or select “Latest” from the search options menu to view a full page of live tweets, blogs, news and other web content scrolling right on Google. You can also filter your results to see only “Updates” from micro-blogs like Twitter, FriendFeed, Jaiku and others. Latest results and the new search options are also designed for iPhone and Android devices when you need them on the go, be it a quick glance at changing information like ski conditions or opening night chatter about a new movie — right when you’re in line to buy tickets.”

Does this still seem abstract to you? Let me show you an example.

I searched with the keyword ‘Christmas’, a trending topic in Twitter as of the moment. The real-time Twitter updates won’t appear on the first page search results. Click on the link ‘show options’ above the first search result, next to the word ‘Web.’

When you see the sidebar appear on the left,  click on ‘Latest’ below ‘Any time’. You’ll start seeing a stream of tweets on the ‘latest’ search results page.  They will scroll onto the page by the second.

So how does this benefit you as a small business owner? This gives you even more motivation to hop on and get on Twitter! Twitter is one of the ‘best practices’ in social media marketing, meaning it is a staple on the social media marketing “menu”. If you always have to have fries with your burger, you always have to have Twitter in your social media marketing campaign.

This is also more reason to use Twitter more strategically. Check out the “trending topics” on the right sidebar or at the homepage of Twitter.com. You can find a way to work in a trending topic in your Tweet so it is visible to people who are searching for a trending topic like ‘Christmas’ on google, or when they click on the link of the trending topic on Twitter.com. For example, you can send out tweets about special Christmas deals your small business offers, or any special events you have going on for Christmas.

It is the right time to get on “real time” and get on Twitter! Sign up, tweet away, follow and get people to follow you back. Practical Social Media has a lot of resources to help you jump start your Twitter campaign right, and maximize its benefits for your small business.