7 Key Principles to Effectively Use Twitter to Market Your Business

My wife and I love Twitter.  We think it’s a fantastic avenue that creates new and creative ways to meet new people, and not to mention grow your business.  Unfortunately; Twitter has gotten a bad rep when it comes to people misusing it.  Are there any real rules to Twitter? No.  But there are some sound principles that will help you find and keep more followers if you play by them.  These are just a few of many of our thoughts on this topic, so take what you will, and pass up what you won’t.  It’s just our opinions, as well as many other seasoned Twitterers.

These guidelines are for newbie Twitterers, as well as other Twitterers who just want to become more effective at using Twitter to market their businesses.

1.    Add your photo. Seems obvious – I know.  But I can tell you across the board that Twitterers prefer to follow and chat with those who have a photo.  And not just any photoÖa photo of YOU!  Want to connect with more people? Have more followers? Take a minute to upload a photo of your smiling face. (Be sure it can actually be seen, too.  If it’s too far away, crop it and upload it again.)  Keep in mind that your picture represents who you are.  This will be the first thing potential new followers will see about you.  What first impression do you want to give them? This is the most important question to ask yourself before deciding on what photo to upload.

2.    Write a bio. Want followers? Then make sure you have an engaging bio. People want to know something about you before they go ahead and follow you.  If you’re not comfortable sharing where you are from with the Twitterer world, then share something about who you are, what your hobbies are, etc.  Have fun with this – it doesn’t need to be formal or even grammatically correct.  Don’t be afraid to be daring or even outrageous.  Be yourself. It’s ok to be different on Twitter. In fact you’ll get more followers if you are different!  Others will follow you because you’re interesting to them, or perhaps you share similar interests.

3.    Add an interesting background. It’s the same concept as curb appeal.  This is one more way to show your personality or style, and attract like-minded followers to you.  What first impression do you want other Twitterers to have of you?  Are you fun and spunky?  Are you a traveler?  An outdoors man?  Sports fanatic?  I can tell you, there are Twitter backgrounds for every personality.  A few places you can find 1000′s of backgrounds for free, or to have a custom background created include: http://twitterimage.com; http://twitart.com; and http://twitterbackgrounds.com. Don’t get hung up on this.  Get a background set up now…you can always shop around and change it later to something even more fitting!

4.    Don’t vomit on people. Twitter is not just about sales. Use Twitter to meet people first. One of the most common complaints about Twitterers, from other Twitterers, is feeling like you have nothing to say to them, other than trying to sell them.  Let’s face it, people are tired of being sold all of the time.  There is a reason Twitter is referred to as a social platform – to socialize!  Imagine walking in to your favorite restaurant or bar, and having another patron come up to you, and then blurt out, “Hi, want to make fast cash now? Do it by buying my program now!”  It just doesn’t make sense.  It’s a turn off and you will get more people unfollowing you if you do this – or, another possible outcome is they will just ignore your posts since you’re that ‘annoying sales guy who is vomiting their stuff” on them all the time.

So first things first, use Twitter to meet people, gather a following.  Refer them to your blog so they can get to know you.  Once they’re on your blog, now it would be appropriate to direct them to your ad or sales page.

5.    Use your welcome message to welcome people – not to advertise to them before they even know who you are.  This is a common mistake amongst those using Twitter for business.  Even those who say, “Hey Joe, thanks for following me. Like to put hundreds more in your pocket? Then click here!” This is another instant turn off.  It comes across as unfriendly and self-centered.  Don’t make this mistake.  Thank them for following you.  If you really want to connect with them, check out their profile page, then you can either ask them a question about it or give them a compliment.  Don’t be fake here – be genuine in your giving of kudos or showing curiosity by inquiring about something on their profile page.  Start a conversation, and then you can refer them to your blog so they can get to know you better.  We like to do business with people we know, like and trust, right?  Help them to do this by starting a relationship first.

6.    Use automated tools carefully. If you sound like a robot, for instance when you send out your automated welcome message, this too will turn people off.  Be personable.  Share something about yourself.  And be sure that your message doesn’t exceed the 140 character limit.  It’s obvious you’re using an automated response system when your followers receive a message from you that is cut off.  To be sure it’s not too long, copy and paste what you intend to include in your auto-message first in Twitter as a draft.  It will show you if you have too many characters, and you can cut it back if need be before saving it as an auto-message.

7.   Be sure to thank people for re-tweeting your tweets – how kind of them to share your thoughts or information!  When you thank them, they are more likely to want to get to know you, and may likely continue re-tweeting your tweets.

This certainly is not the be-all or end-all on this topic.  Keeping in the spirit of Twitter, we’ll keep this as short at possible.  I’m anxious to hear your opinions and add to this.  So please, leave your ideas!  To be sure you receive updates on this subject, subscribe to the RSS feed in the upper left hand corner of this page.

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Tagged as: following, Networking, Social Media, Twitter