How To Use Twitter To Network And Promote Sites And Brands

Since its advent in 2006, Twitter has become a major social media site that has garnered over 645 million users.

As a social media network, Twitter allows its users to post short snippets of information (containing a hundred and forty characters or less) and share them to their network of followers.

While Twitter was originally designed as a social media network, you can use it as a tool to network and promote your business to an unlimited number of followers. In fact, thousands of online entrepreneurs worldwide have made a fortune from using Twitter.

Promoting a website or product on Twitter, however, is not as a walk in the park, unless you are an experienced and savvy internet marketer. For most marketers, Twitter marketing is a tall order that requires a tremendous amount of effort and time on the end of the marketer. In addition, you need to do a lot of research about it.

Fortunately, this guide will give you insights on how to be successful in using Twitter as a marketing tool.

Below are some tips to help you get the best out of your Twitter marketing campaign:

Relevant Branded Account Name

To promote your brand and business through Twitter, first you need to create a Twitter account. It’s best to either use your real name, if that is how you want to promote your business, or to use your brand name in the account name. If, for instance, your business’s name is Doe Collectibles, a good account name would be www.twitter.com/DoeCollectibles.

Optimize Your Bio

Your Twitter bio should tell potential followers and other internet users what your business is all about and who you are. On your bio page, you should create concise content with a good tone, so that Twitter users can clearly understand your products or services as well as your brand. Furthermore, make sure to include a link to your business’s landing page or website as well.

You can feature your business logo on the profile and even cascade the images in the background, which is an interesting effect.

Add and Follow Prospects

Look for potential buyers and customers through Twitter search or tools like Followerwonk and Topsy. Afterwards, interact with them and follow their Tweets regularly. If possible, try to communicate with them on a daily basis.

As you communicate with them, try to be helpful or casual, and not promotional. Keep in mind that Twitter is a social network, and not a site for classified ads.

Posting useful information relevant to your industry or business niche is the best way to engage followers.

Learn The Dynamics Of Using Twitter

Once you have added a few followers in your Twitter account, follow these important Twitter dynamics:

• Avoid spamming other Twitter users with your promotions and specials.
• Connect with a target audience and be useful.
• Be active in Twitter sphere by posting comments and responding to the Tweets of others often.
• Retweet industry leaders, this helps to catch their attention and get retweets for yourself.
• Only share relevant and useful information.
• Regular Tweeting can be very beneficial for your business, but too much Tweeting can be annoying to other Twitter users. As you promote your brand and website through Twitter, make it a point not to Tweet every 10 minutes.
• Do not promote or sell your products directly, so avoid posting Tweets like “Top-notch Muscle Boosters on sale – $23.99 only.” Instead, offer helpful tips in the form of pages or posts on your site and tweet links to those. For instance, if you are selling a muscle-building supplement, create a Tweet on how to buy the right bodybuilding supplement. Include links to your on site content that will provide more details on the topic.

Create A Solid Base Of Followers

There are many things you can do to create a base of Twitter followers, including:

• Include a “Follow Us On Twitter” link every time you share posts on forums as well as on your website. Also, make sure to put this link on your business cards and email signature.
• Invite internet users follow you on Twitter each you time you create a post on your site or blog.
• Take advantage of Twitter directories like Twellow and Just Tweet It.
• Use Tweet sharing sites like Viral Buzz, where you can post your best content and get tweets for it from other members.

Follow The Top Influencers In Your Niche

Look for the best and most popular people in your niche, and follow them on Twitter. This is important to expose your brand, get more followers, and network with like-minded professionals.

Evaluate and Measure

Use tools like HootSuite, Twitonomy, and TwitNerd to evaluable and measure the success of your Twitter campaigns. This is important and as opposed to flying blindly can lend the appropriate data needed to develop and manage smart campaigns that will yield the optimal results.