Social Media:
With the rise of mobility and internet, social media has become a powerful way to connect with people worldwide. Nowadays, most people have multiple social media accounts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and others. These platforms help us receive and share valuable information.
In today’s blog, let’s focus solely on Twitter. Here are some mind-numbing statistics regarding Twitter usage which I have come across:
- 140 million active Twitter users tweet 340 million times per day
- 600 million Twitter searches everyday
- Top three countries on Twitter - USA, Brazil and Japan
- 34% of marketers use twitter for lead generation
- 77% of fortunate global 100 companies have a Twitter Account
Now, that it’s value is firmly established, let us try to understand more about this social media platform. Twitter is essentially a micro-blogging platform which allows you to post short (140 characters or less) text updates along with videos, images, links and more. You can also easily communicate with other users by mentioning their twitter handles (a unique identity given to each user) on your posts. Twitter is a great way to quickly connect and interact with people all around the world.
Here are some Twitter terminologies that you need to be familiar with as a social media marketer:
@ Twitter handle: Your twitter handle is your Twitter name. People identify you with that name.
# Hashtag: Captures trends which makes it easier for users to find messages with a specific theme or content
There are some great third party tools which help you manage one or multiple Twitter accounts easily. One of my favorite third party tool is Tweetdeck. The easy-to-use tool consists of a series of persoanlized columns, which can be set up to display your Twitter timeline, mentions, direct messages, lists, trends, favorites or anything else on Twitter.
Usage of twitter as social media tool:
The mantra of using Twitter as a business tool is simple - The more free and valuable information you give away, the more people will reward you with their business.
The traditional method of outbound marketing such as advertising, cold calls, direct email (cold emails) have become increasingly ineffective. The barrage of calls and emails can also annoy potential customers. This has made it harder for to engage your prospects efficiently.
With tools such as Twitter, however, you can make personal connections with prospects by following them. This helps drive credibility and real time engagement. This phenomenon is based on a widely accepted social media thumb rule - Know-Like-Trust
Know: How much do people know you?
Like: Do your tweets add value to users? Do they like your content?
Trust: How much trust have you built among your followers?
To boost the three elements, you can start tweeting about your company profile, values, blogs and any other area that will enhance your reputation in the market. Look for things that add value to your followers. Make sure that you offer something special/unique every time you tweet about something.
Twitter offers the following benefits to your business:
- Increase in traffic
- Lead generation and boost sales
- Real time engagement with prospects and two-way interaction\
- Build personal and company brand image in customer's/prospect’s mind
- Increase professional network to develop relationship with prospects/decision makers
However, as a social media marketer you are also exposed to certain risks. Here are some of the risks you need to manage while using Twitter:
- Incorrect information/content can be posted accidentally by users
- Negative feedback/reviews
- Spam
- Legal issues such as privacy and copyright
And here’s a list of things you should definitely not do:
- Don't share and ask to share personal information
- Don't bombard/spam tweets
- Don't overuse #hashtags
- Vulgar and obscene language maybe considered inappropriate and unprofessional
- Don’t over-retweet
Hope my blog helps new social media marketers get started with their Twitter journey. Would be pleased to hear more from you in the comments section.
