Since part of my goal through this Blog is to reach an infinite amount of people, it should come as no surprise that I love Social Media. I have talked about it some on this Blog before, but it is a huge part of my life. I have made a career out of it.
My love for Marketing meshed with Technology, the Digital and all things Social lead me there!
From time-to-time I am going to put up Social Media-related posts here. I think people enjoy them and can benefit from them.
One piece of advice to kick this off, go out and get yourself Hollis Thomases’ book, "Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day." (I got it directly from Amazon - link/picture to the left.) I bought the book just recently. I learned so many new things, but it would have done even more wonders for me had I picked it up from the beginning!
So, Twitter: not a nasty 7-letter word
- The very basics:
@xyz = saying something to someone, everyone in your network – people that follow you will see it
d @xyz = sends the person a direct message – which they can only receive if they are following you
RT @xyz = retweets something the particular person has already said – goes to your entire network
#hashtag = a trending topic – an index of finding everyone talking about that topic - Don’t spam.
Don’t go on Twitter expecting to “sell, sell, sell.” As a matter of fact, until people like and trust you, I recommend not selling at all. - Show up to Participate. And Add Value.
Participate in the conversation happening. Engage with people. Show your personality, without talking about yourself or your business in every tweet. Say you are a Local Fitness Club. For every one tweet you put out that makes “noise,” (ie. I’m listening to my iPod and wondering what workout to do at the gym tonight) you should put out 3-5 “added-value” tweets (ie. Great article on the best fitness routines for summer). See the difference? People care less about you and more about WIIFM (What’s In It For Me.) - 140 characters. Wait, maybe just 125 characters.
You are allowed 140 characters per “tweet.” But if you want to be retweeted, try to fall under that so there is enough room left for added commentary by the “retweet-er.” - Shorten that Link.
When you want to include a link into your Tweet, make sure to use a URL-shortening service. You have many to choose from. Here are just a few: tinyurl.com, zi.ma, bit.ly and budurl. Not only, will they reduce the overall characters used, but they also provide you with a platform to track how many people click on the links you have provided! - Find Locals Talking about things Relevant to You and Your Business
Didn’t think this was possible? It is! One of my most favorite tools to use is socialoomph.com. You can actually track anything on Twitter you want. For example, for my clients, I always set up certain keywords that happen within a certain distance. I have them sent to me 2 times/day so I always know what’s going on. It is a great lead-generation tool, among many, many other things. - Don’t Underestimate the Power of Twitter Advanced Search
Local Business will always benefit from the standard Twitter Advanced Search. Just a couple of minutes navigating through it will show you all the capabilities.
Twitter is not scary. Twitter is not useless. I have skimmed over very, very basic Twitter applications and “tips.” There are thousands of tools out there to help you get the most out of your Twitter strategy.
Of all the tools, tips and tricks, nothing compares to the fact that in order for it to work, you must show up and actively engage. People like to share and talk on Twitter. They don’t like to be sold to, and they are definitely turned off by the classless “salesman” pitch. Keeping your “voice” authentic and consistent on Twitter can do wonders for you. Just give it a little time, patience and personality!
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