Twitter for marketing: Tips on how to save a tweet from drowning in the noise

@CrazyAngelDsgn A very good question to ask and thank you for asking. Twitter is so popular these days one can almost sense a shift taking place where those who have been around for a while are moving on somewhere else, bored with Twitter but still hang around and those who are new to Twitter are well either drowning, can’t figure it out or just use it because everyone else is using it.

There are 5 key elements to getting the most out of Twitter and these are:

• Understanding how people use Twitter
• Why you are using Twitter and what you want to get out of it.
• Developing valuable content to feed your hungry followers on Twitter
• 3rd party apps created to help you get the most from Twitter
• Engaging, building relationships with fellow Tweeters

Let’s begin with understanding Twitter

Twitter is for many a primary source for news, treat it as such. Think of Twitter as your newspaper channel.  Your Argus, Your Star, Your DailyMail.  

This means that you need to be creating content to feed your Twitter stream 24/7.  You are a news reporter for your industry. If you tweeting only once a day, you are wasting your time! You should be tweeting every hour, every 30 minutes.  All the time really because Twitter is considered a real time channel. (that’s where the tools come in).

Now you need to figure out how you are going to develop content that feeds your Twitter stream 24/7

“What on earth are you going to tweet about?”  How are you going to be a source of news and valuable information to your followers?  Figure out how you can make yourself the go to person for news in your industry. So in this instance, if you are an Interior Designer then your primary source of news would be about Interior design. Think of all the topics related to interior design, think of television channels, like the fitness channel, cooking channel it is very niche and you know what you are getting.  What would your fans and followers find valuable when it comes to the subject of Interior Design.

Tip one:   Find and follow your mentors

• Establish who your thought leaders and mentors are. Follow them everywhere, on Twitter, Facebook, subscribe to their blogs.
• Add their blog RSS feeds to your Twitter stream.
• Engage with them, comment on their blogs, their tweets and hang out on their Fan pages.

Tip Two:  Develop your own content

• Have a blog where you can write some short articles on your subject matter.
• Write tips 130 long which demonstrate your area of expertise. (See my Twitter stream as an example of this).
• Source other articles, videos, presentations on your subject matter.

Using 3rd party apps

Third party apps is what makes Twitter come alive.  Use third party apps to:

• Schedule your content and save you loads of time.
• Monitor conversations, pick up on trends and buying signals.
• Engage with other twits like yourself on Twitter.

Listen, Engage and build relationships

If you really want to get the most out of your online presence the secret ingredient ultimately is in the networking.  Network and build relationships.  Engage daily.

• Set at least 30 minutes a day to engage with people on their turf, on your turf and in your competitor’s turf. Connect and talk to people. You can do this while waiting in queues, first thing when you arrive at the office, or at the end of the day, while waiting for the train, or in the doctors waiting room.  I generally hop on and hop off throughout the day till I’ve reached my 30 minute quota.
• Follow as many people as you can.  This is one of the key mistakes I made when I first started. I followed people but was a bit too choosy in the beginning. Yes be choosy and pick your followers with care but at the same time be open and follow as many people as you can. Connect with them and engage. The more followers you have the more social currency you have. The more followers you have the more eyeballs you have.
• Listen, listen, listen, monitor conversations, pick up on what people are talking about.  Spot conversations where there are opportunities for you to showcase your expertise, NOT SELL but share your valuable wealth of knowledge.
• Engage with your followers, if they’ve taken the time to speak to you, the least you can do is respond and respond immediately, not in a week’s time, but on the same day if possible.

These are just some of the things you can do so that your tweet does not drown in the Twittersphere.  Do you have any tips, thoughts or comments you’d like to add?