According to Twitter.com/about, as of September 24, 2010, they have over 175 million registered users with 95 million tweets (posts) being written per day.
With statistics like these it is imperative for your business to be a part of this community. It is also necessary for you to have a strategy for using Twitter in your marketing.
Here are some tips for a successful Twitter strategy to include in your marketing mix.
Building a Strong Brand and Reputation on Twitte:
- Always use a professional photograph in your profile. Remember, a picture paints a thousand words – ensure what you’re saying about you and your brand is professional and not the opposite!
- Use a professional Twitter handle (name) when setting up your profile so as not to put off prospective clients and/or JV alliance partners. @SexyHotBabe (or similar names) is unprofessional and could tarnish your reputation as a professional business owner.
- Craft a powerful bio that grabs attention and prompts the reader to want to connect with you AND learn more about you by clicking through to your web link
- Ensure your web link takes followers to a professional website including your free offer. This drives traffic back to your website and onto your list – a must in your marketing.
- Beware of what you post – you can destroy your reputation in one 140-character post if you’re not careful. If you wouldn’t want your mother to read it – DON’T press enter.
Planning Interesting Tweets that your followers will appreciate and Retweet:
- Write tweets with a mix of promos, links, pictures, and industry information. Remember, all social media tools including Twitter should not be used only to broadcast and promote your products/services, but should include valuable information, resources and tips that your community can benefit from.
- Use #hashtags in your tweets to share your posts with people who are interested in and searching for your topic of interest.
- Use #hashtags to find people who are interested in your topic of interest, follow them and reach out by starting a conversation.
- Ask your followers a question about what they are struggling with and what keeps them up at night and provide solutions to their issues.
- Take one of your articles, repurpose by developing several tips to share with your followers, and link back to the original article.
Building Your Follower Numbers AND Relationships on Twitter:
- Include your Twitter handle on your business card, letterhead and any other documentation you are sending out to prospects and/or current clients and invite them to connect with you.
- Utilise Twitter lists of your followers, people you follow, and of popular profiles.
- Send a direct message to profiles that follow you thanking them for the follow.
- List your account in directories on Twitter like JustTweetIt and WeFollow.
- Respond to direct messages where people have taken the time to personally write to you.
- Monitor profiles that re-tweet your posts and try to return the favour when appropriate.
- Join Twitter groups in your industry or those that are of interest to you and build relationships with people who are well-known and proactive in that industry.
- Include a link to your Twitter profile on your email signature and invite your prospects and clients to connect with you.
- Follow conversations and start up a dialogue by responding to people’s questions; or provide positive feedback on their article and/or post.
- Link your Twitter profiles to your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to increase your exposure across multiple platforms simultaneously. Remember LinkedIn is a platform for professionals and executives to network so is far more professional in nature (in comparison to Facebook which is far more social) so make sure your posts are relevant to that target audience.
- Use the following search tools http://search.twitter.com/ or http://search.twitter.com/advanced to see what’s happening in your community – especially in your topic of expertise and add value to the conversation.
Cool Twitter Management Tools:
- Use URL shortening tools such as http://bit.lyor http://su.pr to shorten long URL addresses and to monitor which of your posts are getting re-tweeted and commented on.
- Use tools such as www.SocialOomph.com to schedule Tweets ahead of time.
- Use tools such as www.Tweetdeck.com and www.Hootsuite.com to manage multiple Twitter accounts.
- Use www.Twitalyzer.com to monitor and analyse your Tweets and followers.
Was this useful? What can you add? Please share with your friends and colleagues by clicking the Like button below AND leave a comment below to tell us how you are leveraging Twitter in your marketing strategy.
So useful Annemarie as I am still trying to get my head around using twitter! thank you.
You’re very welcome Erica! By the way, as a Social Media Bootcamp graduate, I’m only an email away if you ever have a question! Sometimes it’s helpful to familiarise yourself with one tool, before moving to the next. Congratulations for integrating social media in your business. So many business owners aren’t – so you’re well ahead for sure Erica!!
Great Article and informative Ange;-)
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. Glad you found it useful! Are you using Twitter actively in your marketing Angela or do you prefer another social media tool?
Annemarie, you brought up some simple & basic points that sometimes are easily overlooked. A good one being provide something of value. Just had someone call me and ask about what she should Tweet – she kept sending promotions and not getting replies. Now, she’s changing her strategy – giving tips and pointers that her readers find worthwhile.
As always, appreciate the information you share. Thanks.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Debra. You’re absolutely right. Sharing information, reaching out to people and engaging with others is what will make the difference. If you only use Twitter to promote and broadcast your products/services – not many people will take action or respond to you, which is exactly what your client had experienced. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Annemarie
Great article and some good points. Being relatively new to Twitter I have watched what people are doing and it appears the ones who provide advice, inform and engage their audience, do better in terms of interaction and followers.
People who only tweet promotions or products tend to lose me …. I much prefer to be informed.
Just my opinion 🙂
Hi Michelle, you’re absolutely right. Blatant promotion of your products and services will not engage or interest your connections. It’s far better to build a relationship through sharing information and being helpful where you can. Once you build this and people get to know, like and trust you – they’re far more likely to invest with you down the track when they’re ready.
Thanks for stopping by Michelle.
Hi, Annemarie! Thank you for such a great post. I was unaware of JustTweetIt and WeFollow directories, so thank you for sharing. I use Twitter quite often, but I still found lots of new ideas. Thank you!
You’re so welcome Carly – so glad you found the article helpful!!
My personal tweet tip is to write a tweet as if I’m writing a headline for a print ad. As a classically trained copywriter, i want that headline tweet to clearly capture my followers’ interest and let them know what the benefit is of reading my tweet.