By far the best-known micro-blogging website on the Internet, Twitter lets users quickly share short messages with others. But while many social networks and similar websites are restrictive when it comes to advertising on their pages, Twitter is much more open to businesses, provided of course that they don’t spam. Millions of people from all over the world use Twitter, meaning that you’re quite likely to find an audience even if the niche of your business is an obscure one.
Twitter’s marketing potential for businesses is well-known and affiliates promoting brands and products are found everywhere on the website. This overcrowding makes marketing quite challenging. Twitter has never really been an easy place for marketing, and it definitely isn’t at the moment. But it has potential and if you engage in a smart marketing campaign then you will see noticeable results.
Before you can hope to get your message across Twitter you will need to understand how it really works. The only way to do that is to use it.
Import contacts. Begin by creating a Twitter profile and importing all your contacts. Obviously, the more people you have in your address book, the better.
Enhance your profile. Ensure that your Twitter profile is customized so that it reflects the image of your brand. It’s essential that you get this right, so invest a considerable effort in trying to make a credible profile that looks as professional as possible. The quality and depth of the profile is one of the key factors which differentiate good Twitter marketers from the bad ones.
Approach Twitter as a social tool. This means that you must treat the people you want to attract personally. Refrain from spamming others and don’t be all about business. Reply relevantly to others’ tweets, be actively involved in the community, and by all means don’t do direct promotion. If you go about with direct advertising all you’ll achieve is to annoy. Be subtle but ever present, and don’t be to bold or you’ll become a bother.
Build your audience. To promote your brand successfully on Twitter you’ll need a considerable follower base. However, numbers aren’t everything. You’ll also need to target the right people, those who are really interested in your offerings and who are likely to make a purchase. Consider carefully the age segment you’re targeting and try to make friends with the right people. Put the “Follow me on Twitter” button on your homepage, forum, and blog. Find the users who you would like to have as your friends directly through the website, via the built-in search feature. Make sure to follow back all the people who start to follow you.
Maintain balance. Finally, try to strike a good balance between your followers and those you follow. If you have few followers yourself compared to those you follow you’ll be perceived as a spammer and your credibility will be affected.
Marketing your business via Twitter can be rewarding, but it’s a slow process. If you expect quick results then you’ll be disappointed. Be patient and keep on at it.