Page 175 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Tips and Tricks

Twitter is a versatile platform, and marketers use it in many different ways to
achieve their marketing and business objectives. In fact, the versatility of Twitter
is what has made it such a valuable platform for marketers. Some use it primarily
for customer research, some to promote specific marketing programs, some for
outreach to influencers, and others for customer service.

Regardless of how you use it, you should keep in mind some key tips and tricks
when using Twitter. Twitter helps you build a loyal, committed base of followers
and drive up your digital engagement with them:

» Provide value to your customers.

It’s easy to forget that Twitter wasn’t built as an engagement platform for
marketers to use to connect with their customers. Rather, it was built for
people to connect with each other, learn what their friends are doing, and
broadcast their own activities. For brands to participate meaningfully, they
must add value to the experience; otherwise, they will be ignored.
» Recognize that different strategies make sense for different marketing
needs.

It’s important to remember that your Twitter strategy needs to align with your
overall marketing strategy. If your business is all about customer service, use
Twitter for customer service. If it is for providing exclusive access, use Twitter
as a distribution engine for promoting how you provide exclusive access.
Match the Twitter tactics to the marketing strategy.
» Prepare to adjust your Twitter approach.
There’s no better way to evolve your Twitter approach than by paying
attention to how your customers respond to your participation in their social
conversations. Learn from them, and adjust your Twitter approach based on
what you see working effectively in real time. Are your customers responding
to questions posed by you? Do they shy away from talking about your
product? Are they more interested in learning about future marketing
activities? Use their participation as a guide for how to market on Twitter.
» Use Twitter advertising to jump-start conversations.

Nothing beats organic engagement on Twitter. To be able to hear from your
customers in real time, participate in conversations with them, and watch
them go about their lives through the conversations that they have on the
platform is extremely powerful. However, there are times when you need to
use the mass reach of paid advertising to jump-start those engagements or
draw special attention to what you’re doing. The Twitter advertising products
help that process.

CHAPTER 9 Marketing on Twitter 159