A seemingly unlikely player for the Twitter-verse, Home Depot has built an amazing strategy for itself with enticing calls-to-action, great humanization of the handle, and conversations with other users.

Anatomy

Many tweets provide perfect pre-emptive solutions to problems that plague Home Depots customer base. A recent tweet stated that “You can improve the air quality in your home as part of you spring cleaning with this guide [bit.ly link]”. This creates an enticing call to action that brings targeted customers deeper into Home Depot’s web presence, where they are more likely to close the loop between content consumption and conversion. As described by the @HomeDepot masthead, the Twitter handle is manned by Ryan, Sarah, John, and the customer care team. Most tweets are sent out with a short signature by the person responding. This creates a reminder every time that the tweets are being sent by real people, not robots. Tweets are sent by several different people, which allows followers to look for the different personalities coming through, and possibly create a personal connection with their favourite. Like @comcastcares, the team behind @HomeDepot constantly monitors Twitter for mentions of Home Depot while responding at the speed of thought. This allows customers to get advice in real-time about their purchases and home renovation products. Doing this via Twitter is smart, as each piece of advice given is seen by thousands of people, resulting in positive, far-reaching PR.

Bottom Line for Local Business

Local businesses can follow these three tactics with ease and no financial budget. Only time is needed to be human, give out advice, and create content that your target market will find useful. Check out Wishpond to see how you can promote your products and deals through Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Mobile: www.wishpond.com/merchant