Twitter is becoming a cultural phenomenon. It has been in existence since 2006, but its popularity seems to be escalating sharply as of late. This is due in part to celebrity use, but most media outlets have adopted it into their daily stream, and further propelled by the new media outlets like Mashable, and hyper-local reporting, such as Chicagoist.com and Gaper’s Block here in Chicago. The volume of traffic that has been created through Twitter has not gone unnoticed by business owners, and has prompted the creation of Twitter campaigns.
The rise in Twitter users can be attributed to its ability to drive traffic to your site, but simply creating a Twitter account isn’t sufficient. This requires an active effort on your part, but can be fruitful in the end. A Twitter campaign is not simply racking up followers. While this helps, you should also be aware of other goals such as connections made, and replies and retweets to your posts. This activity is going to improve your SEO, as well as maintain your presence in your audience’s minds.
Here are some useful tips about Twitter that you can start today:
Use your profile effectively. This is the first message that your Twitter feed will see, so this is an opportunity to start your narrative and drive traffic to your site. For example, take a look at my profile:
I’ve placed links (using a URL builder like bit.ly or Tiny.url) into my profile so that they can visit my LinkedIn, my blogs and even my YouTube video. This helps me to build my brand as a resource but also for my new potential contacts to get to know who I am and my credentials.
You can do that too, by adding links to your site, or LinkedIn, or blog. You only have a moment to capture visitors, so why not lead them directly to your site. This will help your traffic numbers and reach.
Research. Twitter is a fantastic resource for industry related information. This is where conversation occurs in real time. Companies like yours are online, sharing information on the latest news and developments related to their business. This is because these events are directly related to changes in business and trends. You can also gain tips on best practices, such as SEO, using analytics, or blogging to build business.
Find companies and individuals who are related to your niche, and “follow” them. You then receive their updates in your news stream. Click on their posts to quickly scan for useful information. Save the articles in order to refer to them more closely later. I’ve created bookmark tags in my browser in order to organize and store useful information for reference. The idea is to continually educate and challenge you. As soon as you think you know everything, you don’t.
Building a brand. This is connected to research. The articles you read or share, and the persons, organizations, and blogs you follow should be directly connected to your goals as a business. This is statement about your intent as a potential resource. Your audience is looking for any kind of knowledge that is going to solve any problems they may have.
Look for business owners you have partnered with in the past. You can extend your relationship and gain more perspective on your industry. Connect with your customer base, or encourage them to follow you. This deepens your connection and gives you another medium to inform them on news and specials you are offering. This helps your branding by joining and creating a larger community, with mutual interests and pursuits.
This is also a great forum to solve any customer service issues that may arise. Encourage your customers to reach out to you. If you continually solve problems successfully in front of a wide audience, your reputation will continue to grow as a successful brand. This medium is also a fantastic way to announce new developments for your company. For example, Lagunitas Brewery of California recently announced plans to build the largest brewery in Chicago by 2013. This almost immediately went viral because of the popularity of the product, but because of the forum used.
Become an advocate. Your audience needs help. You can be that help by sharing insight through Twitter. You can do this by “retweeting” relatable articles to your followers and into the newsfeed. Below you can see an example I recently posted.
As you can see, I added my companies 7Search and AskPPCblog.com into the tweet so they could then share it if they wish, as well as the original writer of the blog, Elisha Gabbert. I added a call to action to encourage reading, and added hashtagged keywords so the tweet could be organized with related posts. Adding a “RT” denotes that the article is retweeted, so as to give credit to the original post.
All of this is related back to your product or service. The central hub of all of this activity is your website. The goal is create leads as organically as possible, so that they may return again and again. Twitter is a strong tool, and one you can use to enhance your marketing campaigns. If you haven’t created a Twitter account, try it. It’s a free service, and can only benefit you with more opportunity.