Twitter Marketing Tips: What Works for Me
The absolute best Twitter marketing advice I can give to someone looking to build or expand their business online or offline with Twitter is to be persistent. Persistence pays off on Twitter just like it does with blogs and other social sites. If people don’t see or hear you, they will quickly lose interest, just ask a movie star. Just post regularly, a few times a day. Follow as many people as you can and join discussions often. Respond to what other people have to say. Post about anything you care about, because someone WILL care. You will attract people like you and those will be the easiest and best people to work with most of the time. Sometimes post what interests you, even if you don’t think anyone else will find it interesting. Experiment and have fun with this.
There is no right or wrong way to use Twitter!
This is not sales, where we have had thousands of years of experience to build. Twitter was invented only a couple of years ago. Sometimes you try something on Twitter and people react negatively, but those people are full of nonsense. Don’t worry about negative people, just go your way. Find out what works for you, and go with it. The only way to be wrong on Twitter is to be annoying and selfish.
Britney Spears has a social media director to update her social media accounts, with input from Britney herself, of course, and her assistant, her publicist, and the rest of her large entourage. At first I thought she was crazy and a mistake. The essence of Twitter is that you update it yourself, even if you’re a celebrity, and be transparent. Let people see exactly who you are. Hiring someone to use Twitter for you seemed wrong, kind of like hiring someone to go play poker for you. But, her approach seems to work for her and her Twitter fans love her. Now other stars are jumping on the bandwagon with Twitter. They realize what a great marketing medium it is. Let your personality shine through and build relationships/fans.
If you keep tweeting and participating in the conversation, you’ll find a voice that works for you. Remember, there are people out there who will bond with you. You just have to help them find you. You have to stay in the Twitter arena as much as possible to be seen.
I spend time every day on Twitter. I try to talk to people one on one, not just stream. One-on-one conversations are what people will remember and want to know more about you if they resonate with you and your personality. And I always try to be entertaining or informative, or both, even when I’m just tweeting about what I had for lunch. They must have a reason to want to come back and read more of your Tweets.
The second Twitter marketing tip I have is don’t worry about who you follow or who is following you. The good ones who are interested in you and what you have to say will stay. Others will fade away and stop finding what works for them, and that’s a good thing. Only certain people will be the ones you want to work and play with anyway. It is a natural law. Accumulating a large number of followers is a worthwhile pursuit because a large number impresses people. Right off the bat, this is a good thing, because more people will stop by to see what it’s all about. People follow leaders. This just adds up to expose you to more people. It puts you off in a viral way. However, don’t forget the important things, in your passion to get 100,000 followers. The real value you get from Twitter, or any social networking site, comes from the personal and professional connections you make. And you make those connections one at a time!
It’s like a face-to-face network. The best connections I’ve made at conferences and seminars aren’t found at huge networking events attended by hundreds of people. I made my best friends and business by going to a bar for a drink or having lunch with some people I knew in a hallway or even in the bathroom. But, the large gathering of people is what exposed me to them. Think of Twitter as your way of finding lots of people to sort through, to find the good ones that will enrich your life.
One thing I try not to do is ask my followers to RT (retweet) my personal Tweets. He seems a bit needy and desperate. Ditto for starting a contest to encourage people to follow you. I want people to follow me for the right reasons. Those are the ones who will stick around for the long haul and build a good relationship with you.
I take a slightly different approach to generating traffic on Twitter. I look for ways to help other people. I rarely ask people to retweet my posts, but I do often retweet other people’s posts or a product review when I find them useful or entertaining. That is sharing something that has value and showing followers what your interests are. It also helps the person you retweet get some traffic and they will notice and maybe even reciprocate. And, although I often post links on Twitter, it’s the same thing, I usually post links to other people’s works, when I find them interesting or useful. If I give people good and entertaining information, they will find me and see what I am doing online. There’s no need to beat my own drum.
I have made a habit of using this philosophy in almost all of my promotional, marketing, and life efforts now. Just look for ways to help other people and you’ll be successful yourself.