Sometimes Twitter enters mainstream media focus and this seems to be increasingly the case whenever a major world news event breaks. We hear that Twitter crashed when the news of the untimely death of Michael Jackson was announced and in most recent times it appears that Twitter is being used as a major source of information for everything to do with the devastating quake in Haiti. The Nielsen media company has indicated that Twitter posts represent the leading source of information and discussion about the quake, with hundreds of thousands of posts already recorded, referencing associated keywords.
At this time, Twitter remains much of a novelty, yet something that is quickly catching the imagination of the world. This form of communication is alien to some, bread-and-butter to others, with the majority falling somewhere in between. It’s potential power, however is not going unnoticed.
Which leads us to the topic of this post, and 20 ways to engage with Twitter to best effect.
1. To start off with, you should be tweeting all of your content creation. Whatever you put on your blog must be tweeted and this should be the primary purpose of your engagement with this social medium.
2. In addition to the construction of well built and thoughtfully created follower lists, make sure that you engage in a daily Twitter activity regime.
3. Keep up with all the latest trends. Sign up to Stumbleupon and find sites, posts and creations of interest within your niche. Sign up for Google Trends and have instant updates or daily archives of any news items, blog posts related to your chosen keywords sent to your e-mail. By being on top of developments in your niche, you can disseminate the information to your followers and show your value.
4. Try and ensure that your tweets are all “retweeted.” Don’t just tweet for the sake of it as many do. You will soon find yourself blocked out from most people’s valuable time and attention span. If the content that you create is memorable, actionable, even a tiny bit controversial, then you will find the valuable RT attached to it by others.
5. Sign-up for the Tweetmeme service. This allows you to attach a button right next to your latest blog post in a prominent position. When others like your content they simply press the button and retweet it.
6. When people use the Tweetmeme buttons, the number of people who have taken this action is recorded right there on the button and the more the better, as it shows that your post has found social acceptance, leading to exponential gains.
7. Use Twitter for coupon campaigns. Be direct and to the point and have something valuable to give away. You can tweet a certain code or a reference number that people have to use on your site to engage a discount.
8. There are numerous third-party Twitter applications these days and they can definitely help you to manage your interactions. HootSuite and TweetDeck are just two. You will be able to create columns showing any direct messages to you, any retweets or endorsements, as well as your archived Twitter messages.
9. Set up alerts within your Twitter management tool to notify you that you have been mentioned, should a certain keyword of interest to you have been circulated in relation to your name.
10. While on the subject of direct search capability, it’s possible to set up a trigger to inform you when any tweets are circulated talking about your competitors. You may be able to use this kind of intelligence to form some kind of action, but never be tempted to join in with any barbs or digs against them!
11. If you need to keep in touch with your customers for any reason on a regular basis, Twitter is your dream answered. You can send a status messages in real-time.
12. Keep steps ahead of your opposition – the bad news for those organizations that are not yet geared up or prepared to use Twitter for customer service, competitors will likely run all over you.
13. What about a Twitter request for proposal? You may have a significant event or a service requirement of one kind or another and might be able to drop subtle hints here or there. The power of distribution could bring your concept in front of some proactive eyes and you might find a proposal in your DM box.
14. Don’t be afraid to use a subtle or even not so subtle hint on Twitter if you don’t get resolution to a problem. Many organizations such as Jet Blue and Comcast are very actively using Twitter for customer care services. They realize that washing their dirty linen in public can be refreshingly open and can score them brownie points with those nonbelievers. Consequently, if you have a major problem which is not getting results, you might like to drop the appropriate subtle tweet here or there.
15. Remember that Twitter is hot news. If you engage with Twitter and have a Twitter account, let everybody know about it. Put it on your e-mail signature, your website, your sales receipts, etc.
16. Actively look for other people’s material with relevance to your niche and make sure that you send tweets out in this way. Don’t think that you just need to tweet about your own business, but you should be sending many more tweets out about others for good social marketing effect.
17. Don’t just send the tweet out once, but send it out five or six times. Remember that your tweets are all good value, interesting and informative, aren’t they?
18. If you are new to Twitter, tread warily. Read up as much as you can on Internet marketing sites such as this and follow some of the campaigns to see how they are managed to good effect.
19. Use Twitter sparingly. Its all too easy to get into the bad habit of updating every couple of hours or more, especially if you have a handy app on your smartphone. Please don’t flood the twitterverse, as this can be as bad as the worst spamming campaign.
20. Make a habit of following all those people who you interact with and especially blogs that you read on a regular basis. You can start off here. Thanks!
Do you have any top Twitter tips?
Matthew Toren
