Twitter tips to get you started
I love Twitter, it is a fantastic marketing platform for many reasons. In an increasingly hectic world this is the platform that a lot of people turn to when they have a quick break because the 140 character limit forces brevity.
It is a fantastic resource for information; there are some great articles written and shared that are of huge benefit to all businesses. You can find video tutorials, informative and funny blogs, top-tips, a wealth of knowledge and expertise from a whole host of industry leaders. You can be first to see market trends by following the key influencers in your industry. For us, it’s a great way of monitoring tech trends and reviews.
Twitter really does have communities and these are great to be a part of and connect to. You can network, raise your profile and become involved in some interesting conversations. This is a brilliant way of raising awareness about your brand and how you can be of service to people. It is also a great way of forging mutually beneficial partnerships. You can get advice from people to develop your business in ways you may not have thought of and connect to people who may find it useful to link to your business. The marketplace on Twitter is huge!
In order to get the most out of Twitter you need to be using it in the right way. It can be a bewildering and overwhelming platform at first. It is fast-paced, constantly moving and it can be difficult to believe that your voice will be heard over the constant noise. But it can be done!
To get the most out of any Twitter marketing campaign, you need to follow some basic rules. Here are some Twitter tips to get you going.
Twitter users aren’t mind-readers!
Don’t make people guess who you are or what you do! Twitter isn’t full of mind readers! Don’t leave your profile picture as an egg and your bio empty. People are interested in making connections with people who are interesting and your page is their first point of contact with you and your business. An egg is a terrible first impression. It shows a lack of thought and care, you are there, but only half-heartedly. Use this opportunity to show the Twitterverse that you are someone worth engaging with. I wouldn’t engage with an egg and nor should you.
Be genuine with your engagements
There is nothing wrong with scheduling automated content, it’s a fantastic labour saving process. This content can be thought through and written or curated when you have the time. It could be informative, educational or funny but most of all it needs to be engaging and relevant. This is where automated content should stop. Auto-responding via direct messages to people who follow you is impersonal, lacks thought and isn’t a genuine attempt to engage with your followers. It is easy to spot an automated direct message and most people do not engage or respond and why should they? There has been no effort on your part. Reply to and engage with people personally and in a way that ensures that they know that you have bothered, are interested and genuinely want to engage. It is a social platform, treat it as such.
Don’t constantly bombard people with selling
Twitter is a social not selling platform. It’s a great place to be to raise awareness of you and your brand. It’s also a great place to be to share your knowledge and insights. It’s not going to work for you if every time you post you are bombarding people with “buy this” or “buy that” messages. People will be quickly turned off if you are not prepared to engage in any other way. Make sure your ratio of posts is such that you have at least 10 positive engagements for every sales message you post.
Don’t get lost in the numbers
I get a lot of people following me who offer to sell me 5 000, 10 000 or even more “followers.” There is no point at all in worrying about how many followers you have or how popular you look. Who are you trying to impress and what value would these followers add to you or your brand? Social media is all about being social, not showing off how great you are. Far better to have fewer followers and engage with them in a genuine manner than 50 000 fake ones! If people have the idea that you have bought your popularity you instantly lose credibility and start to look a little dishonest. Build your profile slowly, interact with people, establish yourself in the community and build a genuine following of people who like to engage with you and respect your presence. These are the people who will come to you with their business.
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