Ed Dale made a good point in this tweet. Before you jump on the bandwagon and join Twitter.com to use it as a marketing tool, its important to understand the dynamics of this social community - and what makes it tick...
If you're not already familiar with Twitter.com, you may want to read Introduction to Twitter and Twitter: A Valuable Marketing Tool first.
Twitter presents an incredible opportunity to build relationships with the leaders in your industry, and with your target market. It's a social medium for exposure and connections, and a great way to know and be known.
Keeping those connections active and mutually beneficial is the key. Which brings us back to the point Ed Dale made in the tweet above: consider the ways that you can create "followbility" with your Twitter account.
Just like any marketing strategy, you have to ask yourself what it is that your target market wants or needs from you - and deliver exactly that. The only difference between Twitter and any other medium... is that you do that in 140 characters or less.
If you blog, you need great content to build a loyal readership that keeps coming back for more. If you own a mailing list, your emails have to contain some value to keep your subscribers opening them. The same holds true with Twitter. Constant self-promotional blasts will leave you with zero following.
Your reach is your most valuable asset. This is the number of people that you can reach online at any given time, that are specifically interested in what you have to offer. This may include your blog readers, newsletter subscribers, website visitors, your networks at Facebook and MySpace, and now... your followers on Twitter.com.
Twitter users are particularly sensitive to spam in their space. Blasting out self-promotional tweets consistently is a sure-fire way to get unfollowed - and fast. That doesnt mean that you cant include links and make announcements. It simply means that you have to be both creative and tasteful about it.
Done right, 'tweeting' is one of the easiest and best ways to gain exposure and drive live traffic to your blog or website. Not just visitor count mind you, but real people with specific interests who are genuinely interested in what you have to say on a particular topic.
If I had to wrap it up in a bite-size nugget, my advice would be:
Keep it real, make it fresh, interact and show some personality! Your tweets should contain a good mix of current news, opinions, conversations and announcements. Reference links are welcomed, so use them liberally but with good taste.
Of course it helps if there are people out there 'listening' when you post your tweets. Just like any other web property, you have to stake your claim and then build your following.
Not sure where to start? Here are five super-easy ways to get the ball rolling...
1. Create a reason to be followed
Set up your account and start tweeting. Contribute something original, useful, funny or interesting to your ideal 'follower'. Most people will scan your profile before choosing to follow you, so make sure there's something there to interest them at first glance.
2. Search for people you already know
Use the search box at the top of your Twitter screen to search for people you already know. If you find them on Twitter, follow them! Look for authorities/leaders in your niche, blog authors you enjoy, people you connect with on other websites, etc. Twitter is a very social site and people you follow will often follow you too.
3. Put the word out!
Invite people to follow you on Twitter. Blog about it. Mention it in your newsletter. Put out a MySpace bulletin. Add a Twitter widget to your Facebook profile. Let people know about this cool new way to stay in touch with you!
4. Get involved in the current discussions
Reply to tweets you find interesting. If they reply to your response and a dialogue gets started, your twitter link will end up on their profile page. A person with a strong following, or even a smaller but targeted following, could end up sending you several new loyal followers.
5. Be consistent and let it grow naturally
Do the first four steps consistently, and you'll find that your Twitter following grows daily. Post a good mix of resources, humor & personality, news and updates throughout the week or even throughout the day.
Bonus Tip: Use your real name on your Twitter account - or the name people will most likely know you by online, such as a common username. This will help people find you easily when searching for you on Twitter or Google.
Its all in who you follow, and who follows you 😉
Also see the Top 100 Twitterholics, based on number of followers: http://www.twitterholic.com/
Best,
New from Sherman Hu:
How To Use Twitter For Business Connections & Results
About Lynn Terry
Great blog overall and excellent post here on Twitter Lynn. I am now following you on Twitter, adding you to my blogroll and going to spend more time reading your posts. You made an excellnt point about the importance of providing VALUE with tweets; just like any other medium the message must be compelling or helpful or will have no impact.
Very happy I found your blog!
Some really great insight here. Bookmarked for future ref.
I have known of Twitter for awhile but never understood it. Great article, and comments, I will definitely be getting into it. I'm sure Ed Dale will have lots to say about it on his 30 Day Challenge coming up in a few days.
Thank you Frazier. I imagine he will. I am actually taking the challenge myself this August (for the first time) to review it.
For those that arent familiar with the 30 Day Challenge, this is my referral link (not an affiliate link, as the challenge is completely free): http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/challenge/24627
See you there, Frazier 🙂
Yes Lynn,
I'm looking forward to it.
Twitter is good. Im so thankful that i can update all of my friends and my new friends (those who are following me) about the things that im doing. I like reading messages from them too!
I love it when someone sends me messages especially when i am sick. It inspires me a lot to know that some people really appreciates and value my accomplishments as an individual and not just as a model or co host that is a public owned or just as a figure. You can follow me at twitter.com/joycetorresyap
Have bookmarked - thanks for the post.
this is good to read and I am a big fan twitter and pretty helpful for me .thanks for sharing!will look forward for more.
Well this post was good enough to get me to follow you, so clearly the first method works ;).
I just started a new tech blog this week, and I want to build up traffic and build up my number of followers. The only downside is that to achieve either it would appear I need the other.
Would it be worthwhile to seek out random people and send them @replies to various things?
I started twitter a few weeks ago, since then I've begun to love it. What started out as a love hate relationship it's allowed me to network with people in my industry alot easier. News and updates happen in real time which makes for a great social communication app.
I know that you were saying on IMTW that you get A LOT of traffic from Twitter. I usually don't though... with over 2,000 followers, I was expecting more than a few here and there. Maybe getting traffic from twitter works better with some niches than others :(.
Thanks for this post. I am going to follow you. I recently launch both a website and blog on Breakthrough Thinking Techniques. Every week I will publish a new article and add a "technique of the week" to the Breakthrough Tookit.
I really find your comments helpful and look forward to more. I want to enter Twitter-land and your comments are inspiring me to action.
Thanks,
Dianna