Since web 2.0’s inception, the way we communicate on the web through social networks has changed, and continues to do such. Twitter is the latest phenomena to sweep through the landscape and it continues to gobble up users at an alarming rate.
Nielsen Online, leader in online tracking and reporting, indicates that Twitter grew 1,300+% year-over-year in February, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the US for the month. Not only is that staggering growth over the course of just one year, but also in January, Twitter.com, clocked in with 4.5 million unique visitors in the US, meaning the service grew by more than 50 percent month-over-month.
What this means if you’re selling a product or service is that Twitter is another (free) median to communicate to your audience and extend your brand. Besides being free, one thing about Twitter being very ‘in the moment’ right now is that people look forward to “@replies” or direct messaging, especially as they try to build their followers or people receptive to their message.
How do you get going and capture a costumer through Twitter? Here are 5 simple tips to Market using Twitter:
1) Register a user account for Twitter.com and start connecting with people, brands, or companies within your space by “following” them. I generally try to grab my brand as my user name, but keywords don’t hurt you within the URL either – why not ride off the coat tails of Twitter’s massive link popularity? Many people also brand the wallpaper – leaving their contact information clearly visible in the background.
2) Add a personal touch – Generally, I use personal images or an appropriate logo for my Twitter accounts. I like to see whom I am talking to, and so do your customers. Take advantage of the bio lines and add a brief description about your business and put a clean link in there. Simple and direct works best here.
3) Leave good content within your “tweets” and occasionally, add a link back to your site or blog for continued/further reading on the topic. Obtaining a small but steadily growing group of natural followers by adding value will benefit your company’s visibility. Nobody wants to sift through endless “Click here for more!” spam, so use links appropriately and sparingly.
4) Ask intriguing, open-ended questions and provide expertise responses by actively using the service. You can “@Reply” several people at once when replying or asking questions – this is a fast time saver and an efficient way to communicate.
5) Be realistic about the outcome - Be patient and slowly let things take their course. You can’t make 500 new people follow you in 1 day, but what you can do is add value to Twitter and ask good questions, and the followers will come.
For more tips on how to market through twitter, social media marketing or branding, be sure to check Certified Marketers out on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/miamimarketing
