As a social network, Twitter is one of the most effective ways that you can reach your customers and build a reputation in your industry. Even though your content is limited to 140 characters, it gives you an opportunity to create a thought-leadership platform and effectively build relationships with your customers through personal interactions.

In today’s world, it’s important for businesses to have a profile on Twitter and use it regularly. Customers are seeking ways to build relationships with their favorite brands, and if you aren’t available to do so, they will go to the next company in line. Today’s consumer has evolved from years ago, as they are more interested in what a company is doing to contribute to the greater good, as well as how the company will benefit them as a consumer. Using Twitter is a great way to communicate this.

On Twitter, businesses should focus on tweets that discuss the industry that the company is in. It should not be used as a way to advertise products. Consumers use Twitter to learn new and interesting things. For instance, if you own a hair salon that is trying to build a customer base on Twitter, use random facts about the hair industry while sprinkling in facts and links to information about your company. It’s important to use Twitter regularly, and to respond to any inquiries from customers.

Responses from customers, either in the form of a retweet, direct message or reply, indicate that your messaging is working. It’s important that you respond — and respond quickly. If a consumer has contacted you via Twitter, it means that they find their relationship with you valuable. Don’t worry about drafting something that is quick-witted; often times a simple, “Thanks for following us! We love hearing from our fans” is more than enough to keep the conversation going.

Many businesses are hesitant about social media, particularly Twitter, because of the chance of negative comments and tweets. This is inevitable. However, the way you handle negativity can help you build relationships with more consumers and even salvage the relationship with the customer who is complaining. Try to use Twitter to respond to their complaint by figuring out what the situation is. If the situation is more complex, ask them to send you an email and say that you will get it figured out. If the problem is resolved in a positive manner, it’s great to tweet back at the customer after the situation is straightened out. This shows other followers the level of care that you give each and every one of your customers.

Measurement is an important element of Twitter as well, as it gives you an opportunity to see the dialogue that consumers are having about your business or product. There are several different tools that you can use to see if your company or brand is being mentioned on Twitter. Twitter has a strong manual search — simply use the search box on the page to see what consumers are saying. It’s important to sort “all,” rather than the default “top” tweets that Twitter has. Other resources include TweetDeck, which can give notifications when someone on Twitter mentions a particular word, and Social Mention, which not only lets you know who’s talking about what, but it can provide an analysis of the tone.

In today’s business environment, Twitter is an important tool to keep organizations connected with consumers. It can help to build a strong customer base, which can positively impact the bottom line of a company. Furthermore, it can provide you with a great sense of what people think about you as a company and as a brand — giving you a measurement point to grow and improve upon.