Twitter Marketing Guide

Twitter is the fastest growing social network in Latin America , with an  annual growth of 60% (2011 vs 2010). Despite not having as many users in the region as Facebook, it is an excellent platform to be able to dialogue with your community without the need to add them as friends or for them to be fans of your brand.

In this guide we will help you establish your profile on Twitter and implement an effective marketing strategy.

Basics before you start

Before starting with the practical advice, it is important to know certain terms used in the Twitter community, which you have surely heard at some point:

What is a tweet? : An update to your status on Twitter, i.e. a post.

What does it mean to follow  someone? :

When you follow an account, its tweets will appear in your chronology or  timeline. This means that you should follow those accounts that generate interesting content for you. Much of your Twitter experience will depend on following interesting users .

What does it mean for someone to follow me ? :

In the same way that you receive new tweets from those you follow, your followers will receive your new posts.

What are @usernames or mentions? :

A mention is any Twitter update that contains @username in the body of the tweet message. You’ll find your mentions in the replies tab. If you include more than one person in your update and use the @username format, that person will also see the update in their replies tab. To send a mention on Twitter write your message normally and include @username in the tweet.

Keep in mind that users will only see each other’s replies or mentions on their timeline if they are following both the sender and recipient of the tweet.

What is a Retweet (Retweet)? :

Retweet (make a retweet) is a feature that allows Twitter users to quickly share tweets with their own followers. If you find a tweet in your timeline that you think will be interesting to your followers, then retweet it!

What are Hashtags or Labels (Symbols “#”)? :

The “#” symbol, called a tag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. For example, if you are at an event like BAFWeek and want to tweet about it, you can use the hashtag #BAFWeek2012.

What is a #FF?:

Follow Fridays or  #FF are a custom adopted by Twitter users based on recommending other Twitter accounts that you consider interesting on Friday. For example, “ #FF to @modaBA for the event they organized! “.

What are lists? :

Twitter allows you to group different accounts into groups or lists. This way you can generate lists for different topics. It is important to note that it is not necessary to follow an account in order to add it to a list.

Build a professional profile

Of course, the first step is to create your Twitter profile . Before you start getting followers, it’s important to make your profile look professional. For that we recommend:

Profile Picture – Generic Twitter photos tend to be mistrustful, so  setting your profile picture is essential . If you are creating your brand profile, we suggest using your logo. However, it is also advisable to put your own photo to ” humanize ” the account. Your followers will feel more confident to follow you if there is a person behind the account.

Short and concise bio :

You only have 160 characters to describe yourself and show what your followers will find if they follow you. It is important that you generate interest.

Background Image – Choose a background that is in line with your brand design. As with the profile picture, it is important to avoid generic Twitter images to give a more professional experience.

Header Image – Twitter recently announced the release of header images for profiles. Something similar to Facebook cover images (or cover photos ). You can take advantage of this space to show more about what your brand offers.

Good Tweets! :

is the most important. Keep in mind that when people visit your profile they will only see the most recent tweets. Take care that these few tweets reflect who you are and that you are dialoguing with your audience. Remember that you should generate relevant content and respond to your followers MORE than you post offers or try to sell your products .

Generating followers of your target segment

Now that you have your profile, it’s time to get followers. There are many ways to get followers. However, the big challenge (and what will pay off the most for your store) is building an audience relevant to your target segment. For example, if you sell clothing for teenage girls, getting a large number of 15-year-old girls is likely to generate more results than an audience of adult men.

But where to find them? How to get them to follow your profile?

Although having a large number of followers is not everything, showing a large audience to your profile visitors is a great way to build trust and social proof . A practical way to start is by finding people who follow those who follow them. What you should look for are accounts that have almost a 1:1 ratio between their followers and those they follow.

Generate followers with your properties on the Internet

If you have a website, virtual store, blog or send an email newsletter you can use these to increase your audience on Twitter. To achieve this you must ensure that you include a link to your Twitter account in all your online properties, from those mentioned above to your email signatures and profiles on other social networks.

If you have a blog, a great way to get followers is by using the Twitter re-tweet button . The idea is to include this button in each of your blog posts so that your readers can share your articles. Additionally, you can configure the button to indicate that the article is shared via your Twitter account. That way users who find that tweet interesting can easily follow you.

Practical improvements for Direct Messages

Once you have followers you will be able to send direct messages to them. Direct messages have the benefit of being private . However, you must be very careful when doing this. Excessive use of direct messages may result in you being identified as SPAM. Also Check descargar videos de twitter

Think of the first direct message as meeting someone personally or sending an email to someone you don’t know. If the first thing you do is try to sell to him, he will probably ignore you or mark you as SPAM . Instead, you should see the message as a way to establish a deeper connection with your followers. For example, you can tell them that it’s nice to be in touch and thank them for following you. Another good idea is to ask them what kind of content they would find interesting.

Ideally, each message should be personalized for each follower. Of course, this task can be a bit difficult if you have many followers. In that case, you can count on free tools like  Social Oomph , which allow you to automate a direct message to your followers. However, remember NOT to greet your new followers with an offer. Try to build a personal relationship. This will then bring the sales.