How to Improve Your Twitter Marketing

Twitter is a great marketing tool when used with the right techniques. Some struggle to understand the benefits of Twitter, saying 140 character isn’t enough to get your message across. But the truth is there are 304 million monthly active Twitter users and you can directly interact with your marketing audience on this platform. For those of you who aren’t so keen on the Twitter lingo, use this for reference:

@handle – the @ symbol followed by a Twitter handle is used when mentioning or “Tweeting at” somebody.

DM – short for direct message. This allows you to send a private message to a person you’re following.

Following/Follower – someone who subscribes to receive your updates.

Hashtags – the # symbol followed by a word or phrase which organizes your updates for Twitter search engines.

Retweet – abbreviated RT, is the equivalent of sharing. You’re tweeting a Tweet already posted by another user.

Tweet – the updates you post to Twitter in 140 characters or less.

Now with these terms in mind, here are some tips to help up your Tweeting game:

1. Follow and regularly interact with your industry experts and influencers. Just as you do in face-to-face networking, you want to build relationships with those important names in your industry. When you follow these people and businesses on Twitter, you are establishing your brand. Interacting with them on Twitter by Retweeting, mentioning, “favoriting” Tweets, or sending them a direct message builds important relationships. Better yet, you’re helping them and they’re more inclined to help you.
2. Tweet regularly. Staying relevant and at the top of mind as a business on Twitter means maintaining an active and breathing profile. Tweeting just once a week or once a month isn’t going to cut it. This platform moves so quickly that what is trending changes from day to day. So in order for you to not only be remembered but grow your following, make it a habit to Tweet daily. Not only do you want to Tweet daily, but you also want to Retweet and Favorite tweets so that you’re getting noticed and being a part of the relevant activity.
3. Use images and videos. Visuals increase clicks on Twitter. Including images and videos also makes your Twitter more interesting and people will more likely keep you in mind, and get you more Retweets and favorites.
4. Offer special deals and discounts to your Twitter followers. Promoting offers such as “the next 25 followers to retweet this will receive a 25% off coupon” will get your Twitter abuzz. This sort of strategy can be used in tandem with other social media sites, having those sites direct more traffic to your Twitter page.
5. Track your mentions and respond when appropriate. Twitter is a great way to bring customer service to the forefront of marketing. When people mention your business on Twitter, be sure that you’re keeping tabs on what’s being said about you. If someone mentions you with a compliment, you can thank them and engage with them further. If someone mentions with a complaint, you can address their complaint and see if you can resolve their issue. If people see that you handle customers on Twitter well, they’re more likely to keep up with you.

These are just a few suggestions to improve your marketing on Twitter. As your following grows, these tactics will continue to facilitate good marketing techniques. Remember that while a good Twitter presence is important, you ultimately want your Twitter to direct people to original content on your website. Posting teasers and links to entice people to read your content is the means to the ends of increasing your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ratings.