Social media is here to stay and its use for marketing will only become more important as more people embrace this channel to give and receive information. This article focuses on Twitter, but these basic principles can be applied to any social network or even traditional offline marketing techniques. Neither concept is difficult to apply.
If all you do is tweet 140 characters that say, “Buy this now! Link to my site,” then you may get a sale or two. Hell, if you have a large enough list, you can even fool yourself into thinking it’s effective. You may get some quick results that you won’t have lasting results if you don’t give people a reason to stay connected.
Lead with courage.This is the first fundamental principle of marketing, and by far the most important. Leading with courage leaves the door wide open for you to determine what “value” is to you and your market. I have added value by writing this article. You can add value by sharing this article (and others like it) or by posting a quote that others may find inspiring and therefore valuable. It really is that simple. The more you give, the more you receive.
Keep it interesting and varied. Every post doesn’t have to be the best new idea or even specific to your topic. Find a good quote, a video that is interesting or funny, share ways to save money, get organized or save time, or just post a funny photo. There’s an endless supply of quality content you can post, so when you’re ready to post a sales tweet, potential customers will see it instead of saying to themselves, “Here we go again with another sales pitch” and press “delete”.
Don’t get bogged down with “sales” tweets.There are different theories about how often you should place a sales tweet in your rotation. Those ratios vary from one sales tweet in three tweets to one in ten. I tend to subscribe to the arena of one in ten. I’d rather have people stay connected to me than feel pressured or bothered by a constant stream of “BUY! BUY! BUY” tweets. Wouldn’t you delete someone if they did that to you?
Reply to direct messages (DM).This is a very effective way to build a relationship with your followers. Also, thank people for their comments or retweets of your content. Remember that Twitter is a two-way street, it is not just for you to spread content. It is to create relationships. Take a little time and explore some of the sites and links your followers send you and comment on them. People love receiving add-ons and knowing that you are “listening.”
Build relationships. Twitter is a quick and easy way to connect with people and open the door to genuine conversation. Once you have hired someone, you have a much better chance that they will buy your goods or services. After all, people don’t buy for the facts. They buy with emotion. When you interact with someone, you develop trust, and that is essential for a lasting relationship and a sale.