Social media plays a vital role in any successful SEO campaign. Your business will likely be represented on several social media platforms. While social media doesn’t necessarily drive direct sales, it’s an important tool in increasing brand awareness and engagement.
Almost every business benefits from a Facebook page. Some niche businesses find great success on smaller platforms like Pinterest and Medium. But what about Twitter?
Why Twitter Marketing is a Little Odd
Twitter exists in a rather weird place, marketing-wise. Tweets fly by at a fast pace. Even brands with a large following can have a hard time connecting with their audience.
However, Twitter also has a lot of variety and flexibility. Each tweet you send has the potential to reach an entirely new audience. More than any other social media platform, Twitter gives you the biggest opportunity to quickly engage with a large group of people potentially interested in your brand.
Using Twitter effectively is unlike marketing anywhere else. Each tweet needs a bit of optimization before sending. Otherwise, your tweets are likely to disappear into a void.
Here are some top Twitter tips:
Include Visuals
Every few tweets include a photo, illustration or even video. Twitter lets you include video directly from your smartphone. More people are watching videos on Twitter than ever before, including live streams of NFL games.
Connect the visual to your brand in some way. Show your product in action. Introduce people to your team with behind-the-scenes footage.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Attaching your brand to a popular hashtag is a great way to reach a new audience. Just make sure the hashtag is relevant to your brand. Even three years later, people are still talking about the time DiGiorno’s accidentally used a hashtag about domestic violence to try to sell pizza.
Some general hashtag rules:
- Use only one or two per tweet
- Avoid generic hashtags (like #weekend or #health)
Effective hashtags are specific, such as a location, event, person or brand name.
Use Content Teasers
Many times, your tweets will contain a link to a new piece of content you’ve created. Tweeting out the headline seems like an effective strategy. But many brands do this. Headlines are losing their effectiveness.
Instead, you want to tweet out what’s called a “content teaser.” This is an interesting tease featuring just a portion of the content. Examples include a compelling quote from an interview, an attention-grabbing fact from the blog post or something similar.
Don’t be afraid to be a little mysterious. People will click on your link just to learn a bit more about your content teaser.
Connect with Industry Influencers
Every other person or brand on Twitter is just an @ symbol away. Twitter tagging is a great way to connect with industry influencers. The right re-tweet can give your brand a big boost in awareness.
Of course, this being Twitter, this big boost might only last for a short while. But that’s the nature of the platform. You want to constantly be on the lookout for connections between your brand and Twitter influencers.
Avoid Auto-Tweets
You can automate your Twitter feed quite a bit. You can pre-write a ton of tweets and then schedule their release. Your Twitter account can also automatically re-tweet certain types of news.
Generally, you want to avoid Twitter automation. Twitter is an instant medium. You want to respond more to current trends and hashtags. Auto-tweets can feel stale and impersonal.
Don’t Always Promote
Avoid using Twitter to constantly promote your products. Twitter users have an endless feed of other Tweets to read. They’re not going to be particularly interested in an account which only wants to sell.
Tweet about current news or interesting events related to your industry in general. Roughly one-third of your tweets should be promotion-based.
Be Interactive
When someone Tweets a compliment to you, Tweet them back and thank them! When someone Tweets a complaint, don’t ignore it. You want to always maintain a professional approach. Even if you can’t solve one customer’s issue, other potential customers are paying attention.
You might not be getting everything out of Twitter which you could be. Give us a call at (763) 548-2297 or contact us by email to learn more about how Twitter and other Social & SEO strategies can help your business increase brand awareness and sales.
Do you use Twitter to promote your business? What type of success are you having? Share your Twitter marketing stories below.