Social media is still marketing and the basic rules of marketing still apply. Take a fresh look at Twitter in its natural ‘marketing’ habitat, without relying on the latest software.
1. A:B split test
My first Twitter tip is test, test and test again. Don’t guess what will work on Twitter. If you are using hashtags, test which one gets the best re-tweets or favourites. If you include pictures, test which type is the most popular.
2. Write for humans not for robots
Excessive use of hashtags (#) in the message can make some tweets difficult to read, remember there’s a human at the other end trying to decipher it quickly. Also, don’t feel obliged to use all 140 characters – shorter tweets can be just as effective.
3. Create a series of tweets
Got a lot to say or a big subject to cover? Break it down into a series of tweets and use unique hashtags so your audience can follow the full story.
4. Repeat the message
Don’t just tweet it once, most of your audience will miss it. There’s nothing wrong with repeating the same message on different days at different times. Not everybody accesses Twitter at 9am on Tuesday.
5. Add a picture
Tweets with pictures have higher engagement rates, even higher than video according to some research. But don’t add them via Hootesuite or similar tools as they will be included as a URL – go to your Twitter account and add them manually. Photos can be up to 5MB; GIF, JPEG and PNG files are OK, BMP or TIFF files are not.
6. Teach your audience
You should have a content marketing programme so ensure it’s integrated into your programme of tweets. Teach your audience something they don’t already know (based on your own original research).
7. Drive to landing pages
To justify the amount of time your spending on Twitter you need to generate sales leads, so drive your audience to bespoke Twitter landing pages on your website.
8. Use magic words
Online or offline the same words have a magic power over your audience. Try these in your tweets; You, New, Now, Free, Get, Who, Why, What, When and Where.
9. Don’t automate the Thank You
Twitter is about building relationships and your audience can spot an automated response a mile off. Thank them for re-tweeting or adding you to a list. Depending on volume, also thank them personally for following.
10. Personalise the message
Whether its direct mail, email or social media, personalisation gets a better response. So identify key influencers within your audience and send them a personalised tweet. So if one of your influencers is @KeyInfluencer, you could tweet “Hi @KeyInfluencer, check this new research” or “@KeyInfluencer ! Saw this and thought of you”.
Bonus Tip
Monitor the response. OK, for this you will need to use tools and apps to gather analytics, but too few people are monitoring the response from social media platforms. View the stats and get informed.
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