(This was intended as part of the previous post. My WordPress somehow posted only the beginning of this post yesterday. Hence, let’s continue.)
To run an effective Twitter campaign, you need to first of all decide what it is you want to run it for – is it increasing the brand awareness? is it getting traffic to your site? is it selling something? (and yes, obviously if some people buy a car over Twitter then somebody actually succeeds in selling this car). Think what people potentially interested in your services would tweet about – and no, if you are a service offering resume writing help to those who do not want to write their own resumes for whatever reason, searching for tweets containing the word “resume” will not bring you your potential customers but rather competitors offering the same services, so be careful what you target not to end up selling to your own competitors. Once you have defined and found your potential customers, start interacting with them without just bluntly pushing your product down their throats – this is something that just doesn’t work on Twitter. So find the right approach, find the opportunity and then become really useful for your potential customers.
On the other hand, do not be completely silent – just creating a Twitter account won’t do you anything. If you decided you need a Twitter presence, then be present – so that your customers can notice you.
(Already after coming up with the idea of this post, I noticed this great post by Lee Odden explaining how to plan a Twitter marketing strategy – this is a must read and an additional source of tips for a successful Twitter campaign.)
Most businesses probably won’t be able to afford a full time person running their Twitter marketing campaign – so automate, there are tools in place for this, but automate wisely. Do not just run things on autopilot, unless you’re a blackhat running hundreds of accounts (but even then, use your head when setting things up). Review everything that is done by tools, and do not forget that your followers will want to see a real person behind your Twitter account, not just a bot.
For some businesses social media may not work at all unless they are really creative (if the nature of your business is such that involves certain privacy concerns, addressing a problem people are not comfortable discussing publicly – plastic surgeons, male enhancement, etc.). For some businesses it may make sense looking for partners or affiliates, not clients. In either case, I (as well as my multiple clients) have seen proof that Twitter marketing works – but to see it work for you, you need to start thinking out of the box instead of just repeating what everybody else seems to be doing on Twitter. The better you identify your needs and needs of your target audience on Twitter, the higher are your chances for success.