While Google keeps letting the animals loose on online search, many businesses are trying out alternative strategies, such as Twitter marketing, to get traffic to their sites. The problem is that a lot of these businesses are going about things in the wrong way. While there are some basic tips to follow to run a successful Twitter marketing campaign (and I’ll get to those below), success on Twitter means understanding Twitter. So many businesses on this platform are so obviously clueless and are probably wasting a lot of time and money there.
The Two Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make on Twitter
We all know that Twitter is big. According to Statistic Brain, every day there are 135000 new users, 58 million tweets, and 2.1 billion Twitter searches.
But all of this means absolutely nothing if you don’t know how to effectively tap into it. You first have to go in avoiding the two most common mistakes that will quickly take the air out of your Twitter marketing:
1. Businesses try to make their own waves instead of riding the waves already being generated. There is a lot of activity on Twitter- streams and streams of links, updates, comments, and conversations, and with services such as Vine taking off, we can add to this videos and imagery.
The most effective way to stand out in the middle of all this action when you are first starting out is to be a part of what’s already happening in a unique and valuable way. Find out which hashtags are trending that are relevant to your business, and use them to point people to great content. Find out what kinds of Vine videos are doing well and use this information to create something epic of your own. These are the kinds of things that can help your business be discovered on Twitter and get your content passed on to others within your targeted market.
2. Businesses don’t focus enough on converting the traffic they get from Twitter into anything of value. Most business owners don’t realize that Twitter traffic is some of the hardest to convert. It’s as if the 140 word post limit has shorten users’ attention span. Forget about how hard it is to get people to click through to your content; it’s a hundred times harder to get these people to stay for longer than a few seconds, let alone engage with your content or come back for more. You really need to put some thought into what will greet Twitter users when they land on your site, particularly in the first instants. You’ll only know what works by testing, so be prepared to try different things out.
Twitter Marketing Tips for Business Owners
Once you understand the points mentioned above, the following tips will help you maximize your marketing activities on Twitter:
Spend time on your profile. You’ve got to optimize your profile on Twitter. If you leave it half finished or generic then users will just think your account is run by a spammer. It’s best to choose a personal photo as your profile picture, but brands can also use their logo. Twitter users are more likely to follow an individual than a brand – so make your choice wisely. One way to get around this is to have two or more Twitter accounts- one for you or your workers and one branded one for the business.
You should also pay attention to the background picture. Using an image related to your business is a good idea, much like the Facebook timeline banner. You have only 140 characters for your profile, make it as interesting as possible. You can use the space to highlight your work, your website, and keywords associated with your business.
Follow your current connections. Twitter will ask you to follow 5 people before you start, but you can skip this step (the skip button is camouflaged at the bottom the section suggesting followers). You can sync Twitter with Facebook, Gmail and other accounts and find the Twitter accounts of people you know. Add as many as you can. The people you know are more likely to follow you back. They may also be more likely to share your content within their circles.
Understand the 3 key elements of a tweet. Here are the three most important elements of a tweet.
- Headline: You only have a second to convince Twitter users to click on your links. So, your headline really has to speak to them. Put sensationalism aide. Make it simple: arouse curiosity, promise value, and deliver on it.
- Links: The biggest tip with links is that you should shorten them. This will help your followers and other Twitter users share your content; it will also give you more space to write supporting text.
- Hashtags: A hashtag “#” makes your tweet easily searchable. It helps categorize messages, and it allows you to take advantage of the momentum around an already trending topic.
Optimize content for Twitter. Certain kinds of content tend to get more attention on Twitter. Pictures, quotes, and Vine videos are pretty hot on this platform. So, you should keep this in mind when you are creating content. Also, spend some time on your titles. The more to the point, the more it will be shared.
Target the right audience. If you have thousands of twitter followers, but they are not interested in your services or in your products, all your efforts will go down the drain. Don’t worry about building up your following quickly. You want quality. You want the people who have a real interest in you, your business, or your industry. This takes time and it requires building up real relationships with people.
Find out who the influencers are in your niche. One way to get the most octane out of your tweets is to reach out and connect to influencers in your niche. These people or businesses will have a bigger following than you, and if you can get them to share or retweet your content on Twitter, it can generate a lot of traffic and buzz for your business.
Engage with your targeted followers. Many businesses make the mistake of simply tweeting and tweeting without engaging in any conversations. Twitter is a medium that allows you to be private and public at the same time. You can share ideas, comment on other’s tweets and ask questions. You should also make it a point to engage with the people who have shared your content. You can send them a direct message, retweet one of their tweets, and even add them to your follower list. This will help you make your Twitter connections more personal and responsive.
Analyze your Twitter stats. This last point is a big one. You need to constantly be checking whether your Twitter marketing strategies are working. How many people engaged with your posts? How many people have followed the links on Twitter to land on your website? How long did these people stay there? What did they do when they were there? Analysis of these and other stats will help you understand how much value your Twitter activity is providing to the business.
If you follow the Twitter marketing strategies in this post, you’ll turn your time on Twitter into something of value for your business, and that should be your goal.
Author Bio:
Hi, I am Nitin Soni. I work as a web developer with Cygnet Infotech, an offshore software development company. For any query or help regarding software or web development, contact me via email: inquiry@cygnet-infotech.com or connect with me on Twitter @MkNitin
These are really good ideas like to share one of our ideas on how we use Twitter. Instead of focusing just on people and businesses within our industry, we actively recruit our employees to re-Tweet our posts especially when we are crossposting other information from our Facebook and Google+ pages. Granted, this is in opposition to your assertion that quality is more important than quantity, but we beg to differ.
Hi Ken,
Recruiting your own employees to help promote your information is a great idea! The more activity people see in your social media accounts, the more likely they’ll be to come check out what you are promoting- much like seeing a crowded restaurant will prompt passersby to come in and order a meal.
What the author meant was building a following for the sake of having a larger follower number to show off or targeting people who would have no interest in your business is pointless.
Hi Nitin,
Great tips for marketing on Twitter. I think that using social media and networking with other bloggers is the way to go. It makes you less dependent on Google.
We all know that Google is constantly making updates all the time. The last thing you want to do is put all your eggs in Google only to worry that you will lose your rankings.
I haven’t been using Twitter very long. But your tips will definitely help me improve my marketing strategy. Thanks for sharing.