Establishing your brand on the web means that you need to become more familiar with social media and how to use those platforms to the greatest effect. There’s no one right way to do social media and broadcast your message because new platforms are surfacing (it feels like) every single day. The most general advice that we can give to you is to go to the social media platform where everyone is, and establish a presence there. And, for most niches, the place where your company should be talking the most is on Twitter. Here are some Twitter tips which you can implement today to boost your social media strategy.
Talk About Others
According to Twitter, there are 284 million monthly active users, all waiting to hear your words of wisdom. You know what gets people listening? Hearing others talk about them. When you talk about someone, you get their attention, and when you get their attention they begin to follow you. When they follow you, they’ll read your work, and maybe do a little research on you to find out that you’re everything that you say you are. All of this from doing a shout-out of other people’s content.
Talk About Yourself, Too
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t talk about yourself and update your fans on what you’ve been up to. Be very careful with the platform, as talking about yourself too much can lead to customer burnout. After all, if those customers feel that they always know what you’re going to say, there’s no reason to tune in to your Twitter feed, is there?
Mix it up between talking about you and talking about others with an emphasis on talking about others. You’ve already got your own attention, right?
Make Sure You Shout Out
There are times to use direct messages and there are times to use regular messages with someone’s name mentioned in it. The best rule of thumb on which one goes where is all about the nature of the message: if it’s good and the good thing is public, make your message public. If you’re trying to do business, send a private message. That way, you don’t have your business or your prospect’s business displayed for all to see.
Follow All Your Retweeters
If someone retweets you, chances are they did so because they liked your content and wanted to share it with others. That’s a potential customer. Follow or favorite them as a sign of acknowledgement and gratitude and they might well return the favor.
Twitter is an excellent platform for building an audience. In fact, many content marketers suggest you start there, building up an audience there, giving it just as much importance is developing content. As time goes on, you’ll find it easier to search for people who mention you, so you can draw them in with more items of interest to them.
Thank Everyone
Seriously. Thank everyone publicly. Say good things about them and let them know that you appreciate them. The reasons for this are many, but we think that it’s simply great business practice to get along with the other people who are sharing space with you. Being thankful in your social media campaign can have both direct and indirect effects, as your interactions shape your brand.
Take Advantage of Images
According to Dan Zarrella of Hubspot, tweets using pic.twitter.com are 94% more likely to be retweeted. That retweeting broadens your message and ultimately expands your base of customers.
Twitter allows you to add four images to your tweet, or you can just put in one particularly great picture, if that works better for you. One of the best parts is that it works directly through Twitter now — no third party image app or page required.
Most people who add images to their tweets note a marked increase in favorites from those who read them. Tweets with images are also more likely to be retweeted, especially if the image is particularly amusing or engaging. The more clicks you get, the more interested your audience is in general, and interest is just what you want.
Having a social media presence on Twitter is a great start. Through the platform, you have the opportunity to communicate with most of your customers, most of your competition, and most of your peers. You can also develop killer contact lists with Twitter. Overall, it makes an excellent platform for networking, but has become most essential in building your professional brand.
About The Author:
Shariq Toor is a SEO & Outreach Specialist at The Marketingzen Group. Shariq loves to work on social media campaign & new ideas for technology and search engine marketing. Follow him @shariqtoor
