7 Important Tips For Using Twitter
Friday, April 30th, 2010 at
3:13 am
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Nicolas Hantge asked:
Twitter has become the popular social networking tool every business and individual cannot live without. Not only has its popularity made it a necessity, the amount of business that can be conducted or accomplished through this social networking tool is reason enough to spend a little time out of each day to give updates and interact with your followers. Gathering of information, gaining website traffic and building business relationships are just a few ways you can use Twitter to your benefit. Here are a few tips to help ensure you are spending your time efficiently on Twitter for your benefit:
1. Use a different phone number.
Just like any good marketing campaign you need to be able to track your advertising efforts. For your Twitter account, you will want to use a different phone number that you are able to track phone calls each month similar to a print advertisement in a magazine, newspaper or direct mail piece. It is important that this phone number is only used for your Twitter account so you are able to see if the way you are reaching out to your followers is effective or not.
(Tip: Consider using a Kall8 phone number for your marketing effort such as Twitter. Kall8 allows you to forward different phone numbers to your main line without the inconvenience of having multiple phone lines)
2. Interact w/ Followers, Help out when Possible.
If there is one tendency on Twitter I have noticed it’s the power of reciprocity. I have gained a beneficial relationship almost every time with the followers that I interact with and help out when possible. It may only be one time where I have the opportunity to help a follower but I try to extend a helping hand when possible. When you notice someone asking a question, do your best to answer it. If someone is asking for feedback on a site they’ve just created, spend 30 seconds and check it out and give them an honest response. You will be surprised how far that will actually go. I have done both of the previous things I’ve mentioned several times and those who wrote the original tweet have helped promote one if not more of my tweets to their followers! If there is one thing to get out of this article its tweeters love interaction because it helps them feel like their communication is real. Reciprocity on Twitter will help make your tweeting efforts worthwhile.
3. Only have one Personality.
I have seen many companies have a Twitter account with multiple employees sharing the responsibilities of making the updates on the account. This is great production wise, however it has the negative effect of sending multiple messages. Just like I said earlier it is important to interact with your followers, this could cause confusion to your followers if you are coming across with different personalities. If you are in a conversation with someone through replies it would be difficult for someone else to know what you were talking about and couldn’t really answer accordingly. Make sure you only have one employee in charge of your Twitter account.
4. Follow for Interest not Popularity
Another thing to remember when using a Twitter account is to think about the traffic or followers you are targeting. I know we have all seen the user who has 10,357 followers but is following 10,309. This is a good indication that they are interested in using their Twitter account for marketing just as you are. Now if you can get that user to follow and promote you to their 10,000+ followers that is great but usually that isn’t the case.
To avoid reaching out to the wrong followers you need to write relevant and most importantly useful updates. This will help you gain followers who are truly interested in your services or products. The more “free” information you give away the more your followers become dependent on your tweets. What could be better than your followers licking their chops waiting for the next “interior painting tip” or “advantage to using the new Adobe (latest version)? Update with useful information and your followers will be more receptive.
5. Think about keywords for Search Engine Optimization (Twitter Optimization).
When you are writing your updates it is important to remember that Twitter has a search engine of everyone’s tweets. If someone is looking for information which you can provide, you want to make it is simple for them to find you and hopefully start following you. If you use keywords or highly used search terms about your services, latest news or whatever you might want to use to attract new followers, your updates will come up more in the search box on Twitter putting you in front of thousands of more individuals.
(EX. Instead of a short tweet like: Remember to use keywords in your Tweets to gain more followers, use: To gain more followers on Twitter its important to use keywords like SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Twitter Tips, Gain more followers)
6. Short URL’s
Another thing to keep in mind when writing your updates is to use small URL’s. This will allow you to write more information about the link you are posting as well as the people searching for your tweet. There are a few websites out there that allow you to turn your long URL into a shorter URL for purposes such as Twitter updates. I recommend checking out tinyurl.com which allows you to turn any lengthy URL into a “tiny URL” of only 25 characters. This is absolutely perfect for a Twitter update because you are still able to use the remaining 115 characters to describe your link.
7. Link to your profile.
Whenever you write a blog article, new content on your website, or build a new profile on another social networking site make sure you link to your Twitter profile page with “anchor text” of either your name or our company’s name. This way when someone Google’s your name or your company’s name, the Twitter account will come up as well.
Social Media Codes
Twitter has become the popular social networking tool every business and individual cannot live without. Not only has its popularity made it a necessity, the amount of business that can be conducted or accomplished through this social networking tool is reason enough to spend a little time out of each day to give updates and interact with your followers. Gathering of information, gaining website traffic and building business relationships are just a few ways you can use Twitter to your benefit. Here are a few tips to help ensure you are spending your time efficiently on Twitter for your benefit:
1. Use a different phone number.
Just like any good marketing campaign you need to be able to track your advertising efforts. For your Twitter account, you will want to use a different phone number that you are able to track phone calls each month similar to a print advertisement in a magazine, newspaper or direct mail piece. It is important that this phone number is only used for your Twitter account so you are able to see if the way you are reaching out to your followers is effective or not.
(Tip: Consider using a Kall8 phone number for your marketing effort such as Twitter. Kall8 allows you to forward different phone numbers to your main line without the inconvenience of having multiple phone lines)
2. Interact w/ Followers, Help out when Possible.
If there is one tendency on Twitter I have noticed it’s the power of reciprocity. I have gained a beneficial relationship almost every time with the followers that I interact with and help out when possible. It may only be one time where I have the opportunity to help a follower but I try to extend a helping hand when possible. When you notice someone asking a question, do your best to answer it. If someone is asking for feedback on a site they’ve just created, spend 30 seconds and check it out and give them an honest response. You will be surprised how far that will actually go. I have done both of the previous things I’ve mentioned several times and those who wrote the original tweet have helped promote one if not more of my tweets to their followers! If there is one thing to get out of this article its tweeters love interaction because it helps them feel like their communication is real. Reciprocity on Twitter will help make your tweeting efforts worthwhile.
3. Only have one Personality.
I have seen many companies have a Twitter account with multiple employees sharing the responsibilities of making the updates on the account. This is great production wise, however it has the negative effect of sending multiple messages. Just like I said earlier it is important to interact with your followers, this could cause confusion to your followers if you are coming across with different personalities. If you are in a conversation with someone through replies it would be difficult for someone else to know what you were talking about and couldn’t really answer accordingly. Make sure you only have one employee in charge of your Twitter account.
4. Follow for Interest not Popularity
Another thing to remember when using a Twitter account is to think about the traffic or followers you are targeting. I know we have all seen the user who has 10,357 followers but is following 10,309. This is a good indication that they are interested in using their Twitter account for marketing just as you are. Now if you can get that user to follow and promote you to their 10,000+ followers that is great but usually that isn’t the case.
To avoid reaching out to the wrong followers you need to write relevant and most importantly useful updates. This will help you gain followers who are truly interested in your services or products. The more “free” information you give away the more your followers become dependent on your tweets. What could be better than your followers licking their chops waiting for the next “interior painting tip” or “advantage to using the new Adobe (latest version)? Update with useful information and your followers will be more receptive.
5. Think about keywords for Search Engine Optimization (Twitter Optimization).
When you are writing your updates it is important to remember that Twitter has a search engine of everyone’s tweets. If someone is looking for information which you can provide, you want to make it is simple for them to find you and hopefully start following you. If you use keywords or highly used search terms about your services, latest news or whatever you might want to use to attract new followers, your updates will come up more in the search box on Twitter putting you in front of thousands of more individuals.
(EX. Instead of a short tweet like: Remember to use keywords in your Tweets to gain more followers, use: To gain more followers on Twitter its important to use keywords like SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Twitter Tips, Gain more followers)
6. Short URL’s
Another thing to keep in mind when writing your updates is to use small URL’s. This will allow you to write more information about the link you are posting as well as the people searching for your tweet. There are a few websites out there that allow you to turn your long URL into a shorter URL for purposes such as Twitter updates. I recommend checking out tinyurl.com which allows you to turn any lengthy URL into a “tiny URL” of only 25 characters. This is absolutely perfect for a Twitter update because you are still able to use the remaining 115 characters to describe your link.
7. Link to your profile.
Whenever you write a blog article, new content on your website, or build a new profile on another social networking site make sure you link to your Twitter profile page with “anchor text” of either your name or our company’s name. This way when someone Google’s your name or your company’s name, the Twitter account will come up as well.
Social Media Codes
