CIO — At the time of its SEC filing in early November 2013, Twitter had more than 232 million active monthly users, 53 million of which were in the United States. That makes Twitter a potentially powerful marketing tool — if you know how to use it.
So how can you leverage the popular 140-character social media site to drive more traffic to your business or website? Dozens of Twitter experts, marketing pros and business leaders who have used Twitter to market their brands, products and services share their top 14 tips for how to successfully market your business on Twitter — or employ Twitter as a marketing tool.
1. Optimize your Twitter bio. “Make sure your company identity and voice are branded well,” says Jon Ferrera, CEO, Nimble, a provider of social CRM. That means having a bio that tells people who you are and includes a link to your company website or a landing page — and having “a consistent tone so that people clearly understand who you are and what you do.”
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2. Find out who the influencers and experts are in your target area(s) and interact with them on a regular basis. “Use Twitter search or a tool like Topsy [or Followerwonk] to find like-minded prospects, customers and influencers/media by searching keywords that relate to your industry,” says Stacey Miller, social media manager at cloud marketing provider Vocus. Then follow and interact with them on a regular (daily) basis.
“Make a list of the 100 most influential people in your space — journalists, thought leaders, potential clients/customers, big-name bloggers and writers, potential partners, etc.,” says Shanelle Mullin, the director of Marketing at Onboardly, a provider of PR and content marketing for startups.
“Add them to a private Twitter list and engage with them daily. (Tools like HootSuite make managing this process much easier.)” And remember to “be casual [and helpful], not promotional,” Mullin says. “Build a real relationship and then look for opportunities to collaborate.”
3. Get colleagues involved. “The first people to help build your brand should come internally,” says Amanda Cohen, marketing coordinator, Homescout Realty. “Make sure your coworkers are following you on Twitter and tweeting, retweeting, engaging, etc.”
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4. Tweet regularly. “Regular tweeting is a sign of an active, healthy profile,” says Sandra Fathi, founder & president, Affect, a public relations and social media firm. “If you only tweet once a week, or once a month, you aren’t keeping up with the Joneses [or the Twitter equivalent]. Worse, folks will forget about you,” she says.
Date: November 25, 2013