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:
• 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:
• 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.ly or 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.
Annemarie Cross is a Brand Communication Specialist helping ambitious women business owners to get noticed, hired and paid what they're worth! Want to learn simple yet powerful ways that you can build your brand, your credibility and your income? Visit http://www.AnnemarieCross.com to access free inspiring 'how-to' articles and to sign up for our free audio mini-series ‘7 Easy Steps to Build Your Brand, Your Biz, and Your Income.’