I feel a bit silly now: back in the early 1990s I scoffed at the Internet when first introduced to it via a 28K dial-up modem, and declared it would never be a profitable medium. Likewise, until a few years ago when I first started tweeting on behalf of a small business in the hope it would help with marketing, I was sceptical about Twitter’s usefulness.
How wrong can you be? Now, as a seasoned and experienced tweeter, I have realised what hundreds of thousands of other digital marketers also know – with upwards of 500-million active monthly users chatting to each other – this is a social media platform that can work wonders.
I still don’t use Twitter personally – to me holding inane conversations or tweeting out the fact that I am having porridge for breakfast just doesn’t seem worthwhile! I have, however, huge respect for Twitter as a networking forum for business, and a first class tool for winning customers. It’s a PR, advertising and marketing medium all rolled into one, and it’s free.
FAKE FOLLOWERS
Developing a successful Twitter presence takes time and patience. Taking shortcuts doesn’t work in the long run. Mm, yes, I suppose I had better clarify that contradiction in terms: essentially, you could pay for one of those packages advertised online that promises to send out X number of tweets a day on your behalf. You could also buy followers, even re-tweets and likes, which you might think will make you look hot stuff on Twitter.
The problem with pre-programmed tweets and fake followers is that people who use Twitter will soon see through the artifice, and realise that you are not being authentic and certainly not social media savvy. Instead of admiring you and joining your merry band of followers, they will shy away. Instead of lending kudos to your brand, trying for a quick Twitter fix will damage it, and your reputation. It also lays you open to security issues, and incurs the disapproval of the Twitter overlords.
The only way to achieve a healthy Twitter presence is to work at growing your following organically, and the way to do that is to taper your offering to a relevant audience – those who are interested in your industry, or who have the potential to become your customers.
LESSONS LEARNED
There is plenty of advice available online, targeted at small businesses and sole traders, about how to successfully use a Twitter account. I don’t intend to rehash it all here, but if you are a complete Twitter “virgin” you’ll soon get going if you work through the tutorials on the Simply Business website.
What I would like to share are some lessons I’ve learned through experience:
- When deciding what to tweet, picture your audience and imagine what will grab their attention, and hopefully prompt engagement.
- Don’t spam your Twitter feed full of obvious advertorial, or you will bore your audience. Be creative and disguise your promotional tweets as entertaining or useful content.
- You need to give in order to receive! Send out informative infographics, notice of interesting local events, tips and advice, contests with great prizes. If you become known as a source of engaging material, your popularity and following will grow exponentially.
- Develop a Twitter personality and entrench yourself as an expert in your field of enterprise. Always reply when someone engages with you, or sends you an inbox message. The idea is to ensure your audience knows you are a real person, and not an automated service.
- Use hashtags sparingly, but wisely – used properly hashtags are a top tool for increasing your following.
- As you start building your confidence on Twitter you will notice that there are certain “hours” – eg. UKBusinessLunch – which are conversations at specific times built around various subjects. When you come across an hour relevant to you, join it and participate in the discussion, using the associated hashtag, and your following will grow.
- Use your analytics to streamline your tweeting activity – it helps to know when most of your audience is responding, and what tweets are working best.
Twitter is a great investment of time for a great return! I hope you enjoy the experience and reap the rewards.
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