Posted on 12 October 2009
Manu Vikram Singh asked:
Twitter is not just a free social networking site but is also a great marketing tool and can be used in many other ways. This article will explain you some of the creative ways to use Twitter.
For starting, set up a Twitter account. Make sure that your profile has your picture, a short biography of yours with an attached link to your website. After this, I suggest doing a search for your friends on Twitter. The search is focused towards finding the people whose updates you want to follow, people that relate to you and your business. Spamming while promoting your business through updates on Twitter strictly needs to be avoided, as people do not like spamming.
Twitter could also be used directly to post updates, but there are other sites also where one can do this. Tweetlater is one such website, which allows users to schedule their future updates/tweets, and acts as a great timesaver for the people who don’t have much time to post regular updates on Twitter throughout the day. It allows you to save a customized welcome message which is automatically sent to the new followers on tweetlater as well. Try to keep your updates interesting.
Another great time-saving option is provided by the websites like Hellotxt or Jabber which allows users to send updates not only on Twitter but on other social networking sites like facebook, dig as well at the same time. One can send their followers direct private messages; which allow them to meet and network with new people.
Linking twitter with your blog, Squidoo: explore lenses, Facebook or MySpace accounts and many other websites is another creative method of using twitter. When you send an update on Twitter it is automatically also sent to your followers on these other linked sites. Bloggers can use Twitter Feed to post blog updates and articles in their twitter account. When one of your articles goes live it automatically sends an update to all your followers on twitter. For using Twitter Feed you just need to log in using your open id and then put in the URL of your blog feed, and how frequently you want to post it to twitter.
These were some of the ways in which you can use twitter creatively and for promoting your business.
Posted on 21 September 2009
Luca Moretti asked:
Increasing your Twitter following allows you to drive traffic to your website(s), build your online presence, and network with people from around the world. So how do you get more Twitter followers? Some may argue that it requires posting good tweets at a particular frequency or following good tweet etiquette while others say that it all boils down to driving traffic to your Twitter page and following people so they in turn follow you. Let’s explore those two arguments.
What We Can Gather From the Most Popular Twitter Users
If you go to twitterholic.com, you can see the users with the most number of Twitter followers. If you have a quick glance over the list, you’ll see that most of these users are already famous in real life, whether because they have a successful business or because they are a celebrity. It’s not like they built their Twitter profiles from the ground up and accumulated so many Twitter followers because they write good tweets. However, this doesn’t mean that you’re doomed not to gain a good following just because you’re not famous.
The Way You Use Twitter Has Little Importance
If you are worried that the frequency of your tweeting or the quality of your tweeting is what primarily affects the number of followers you get, quit obsessing. You must treat your Twitter account just as you would any one of your other websites. The key to success is driving traffic to your site. In the big picture, obsessing about your tweeting habits is really not going to make a difference. The idea is to maximize your visibility just as you would on your own blog. To come up with marketing strategies for getting more people to go to your Twitter page and follow you, think of some incentives for why those people would want to follow you.
Strategies for Increasing Your Twitter Following
Make your Twitter profile follow you wherever you go. Make sure you add a link to your Twitter page at the end of emails and forum signatures. Put links to your Twitter page on your other social media profiles. If you have an online business or application, consider using Twitter for tech/customer support. Try setting up a contest or giveaway on your Twitter page. You can also create a free tool and advertise it on your Twitter page. One of the exceptions to the rule of not worrying about tweeting etiquette is using tweets to link to articles of interest to your followers. This helps you build a following.
One of the most effective strategies for increasing your Twitter following is following other Twitter users. When you follow new users, those users usually follow you right back. The downside to this tactic is that if you start following many people in a short time on Twitter, you risk being labeled a spammer. So if you are looking to build a long-term strategy and a legitimate Twitter profile, you’ll probably want to follow people gradually. One way you can do it is start following a bunch of people to get them to follow you in return, and then cut down the number of people you follow to make your profile look legitimate. The problem with following too many people is that you are overloaded with tweets and it can be difficult to actually keep up with anyone.
In conclusion, there are two ways to approach Twitter when building your following. You can use it to get immediate traffic to your websites or you can use it to network and converse with your followers to build rapport. How you decide to build your following and use Twitter depends on the end goal you’d like to achieve. If you follow these simple methods though, you’re bound to increase your followers, no matter what your motive may be.
