Twitter: A More Modern Method Of Marketing
Today’s discussion will encompass Twitter’s role in the business-marketing arena. In recent years, as the U.S. economy has taken a plunge, one of the first areas where businesses have chosen to cut costs is in their marketing departments. It is interesting to note that, although economic hardship is never a pleasant condition, many times it’s end results are new beginnings. When placed between a rock and a hard place, those businesses that survive and even flourish are those that are fluid enough to be able to reinvent them-selves to fit the modern marketplace.
Marketing is a crucial component for the success of any business, big or small. No matter how great your product, idea or service, if no one knows you exist, how far will you really go? Promoting your business and creating an easy network for potential clients to learn more about your business is essential. However, traditional marketing practices just don’t cut it anymore. In a world that is so interconnected, where information is exchanged with the click of a button, it is to your advantage to step up to the plate and begin to utilize modern social media networks to build your business’ reputation.
Enter Twitter:This social media network is well know as a way of keeping current on everyday happenings surrounding celebrities, social events, political developments and various other areas of interest as they occur. The beauty lies in receiving information on subjects you are interested as they occur so you are kept up to date on the most recent developments. More importantly, Twitter can be a powerful marketing avenue for your business. Here are just a few ways this tool can be utilized:
Share: Impart information on upcoming events, promotions, exclusive offers, and new projects that your business is working on. Share photos that showcase your products or document a play-by-play how-to video about a service you provide. For example, if your business handles Auto Body repairs, you may choose to upload a video on the best way to prep a car before painting. Make the most of this feature! Once you provide interesting content, your loyal followers will spread the word by re-tweeting the message along.
Listen: Take notice of the comments regarding your company, brand, services, and products. Sometimes hearing the unvarnished truth is a step in the right direction. Use this information to evaluate whether any changes or improvements must be made.
Engage Your Followers: Sometimes a more aggressive approach is needed to stay on top of your game. Take advantage of the opportunity to ask your followers specific questions. This will help you hone in on particular areas of your business you may want to target. It will also demonstrate that you are listening to your audience and are mindful of their opinions. As John C. Maxwell put it: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
Now that you’ve had a quick synopsis of the benefits of Twitter, lets jump into some specifics you will need to familiarize yourself with in order to go from novice to pro.
Hashtags:
A hashtag is created by prefixing a word with a hash symbol. Normally, # is placed before keywords. An example of this is #Money. The purpose behind hashtags is to create a set of “groupings” on Twitter by topic. This, in turn, makes it easier for users to search a topic and view all related tweets about that subject.Prior to establishing a hashtag, it is a good idea to run a search to find out if the subject you want to single out already has as established hashtag. You can do this by placing your chosen hashtag (ex. #Money) in the search column at the top of Twitter. In addition, it is important to be selective about what you apply a hashtag to in order to prevent annoyance or confusion. Being selective about hashtag usage prevents Twitter from becoming convoluted and will have a positive effect on their ability to deliver information on the subjects you may be seeking. The idea is to apply a hashtag to words that are significant and not to every other word in your tweet. Although there are no rules specifying usage, appending between one and three hashtags is a good rule of thumb.
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