The Simple Guide to Better Use of Twitter for Marketing

If I am not wrong Twitter has found its way to being the featured post on WATBlog more often than not in the past couple of weeks (perhaps months). While to a certain extent it drives the point of our fascination for anything social, it also highlights to a certain extent the traction Twitter is getting online. Interestingly most of the print world is also giving ample space for Twitter in their limited spaces (worth 48 million in fact).

Therefore, and rightly so it has been grabbing attention of marketers as a medium to market in India. Leave celebrities aside, but the sheer number of corporate folks who have joined the Twitter bandwagon is quite encouraging for new and social media enthusiasts.

However, not many of them are using Twitter the way it should be. Most of us know that, however, most of them still don’t. So this post is an attempt in its own simple way to try and get at least the basics of using Twitter right if not the entire strategy and execution.

So here is a small to do that you may want to follow while using Twitter for brand engagement:

1. Have a web strategy

Don’t just use Twitter for the sake of it, instead use it as a powerful platform in the larger scheme of your online strategy. It will clearly layout the approach you need to take on Twitter as well as make the effort more measurable. Don’t just come on Twitter to engage with the audience, because more often than not it wouldn’t be clearly defined. Use Twitter to drive traffic for instance, then you will know what steps to take and what Tweets to make better.

2. Mass follow, but don’t let everyone know

Following loads of people is the most cliched way of marketing on Twitter. It is also the easiest way to figure out if an agency is doing the job for someone or if a ‘Social Media Expert’ is at it (please don’t miss the sarcasm there). Akshay Kumar when he came on Twitter followed a friend of mine, he was following 15 people, at the end of the day he was following 800 or something. I don’t know if it is an account on behalf of the real Akki or a fake one, but either way it was a stupid strategy, does Akshay Kumar who tops the charts even with bad movies really need to follow people on Twitter?

Maybe Akshay is a bad example, but the point is don’t mass follow, it builds a glass wall against personalization. Instead follow people to a small extent on a daily basis and build the mass over time. It will also give you time to track and update proper tweets as well. Be a little discreet Johnny.

3. We do use Google Reader and follow blogs on Twitter Thanks

I don’t quite understand the point of anyone putting up RSS feeds to their company news or blog as updates on Twitter. What exactly are you trying.. SEO? Twitter birds need to talk .. so talk.

4. If you don’t have a personal name and are going to use your brand name

Then talk first and then follow. Twitter users, especially the influential ones tend to find some great mirth in bashing up brands and products even though they love them using Twitter. Consider it ragging on social media. So while following might be an Ok tactic, you are also carrying a brand of SPAM to brand yourself (meaning the original branding like in Angels and Demons). So talk first and then follow if you have a name that doesn’t sound like a proper name.

I hope these points add value to your efforts in connecting with your customers. It is great that you consider this medium one that holds potential,  you are right in thinking so. However, just like how one takes time in new surroundings it is better to take your time than barge in like a Superstar which you are not in Social Media.