Is it worth promoting offline local business over twitter? By local offline meaning on businesses like local stores and services, mosty without web sites. Can they generate profit for their local stores/shops/services... by using twitter with following/unfollowing people from local area? Anyone doing this already?
I think it is not. I am the site administrator of 2 big twitter marketing websites(message-broadcaster.com and rapidtweets.com) and they have approx. 2200+ users tweeting their message and website links to twitters. So far, I have not seen a single user promoting their local offline business on twitters. (I also want to add that most users are from online money making an work at home business websites).
I don't think it could give you a very good response, because if you would having a online business it would be much easier to get customers online.
Yes - Twitter is useful for offline marketing as well. Any marketing that reaches your target market is what you are aiming for. The people you follow are those that are in the specific area you want and in groups you are interested in. Eg Toronto -> Moms If you are selling childrens clothing in Toronto...
Twitter is useful only when you reach the right people and put your idea across to them in the right words.!