As I’ve continued to grow my media marketing options, it has become evident that ‘following’ everyone is not the best tactic to use when using Twitter as a business marketing tool. While it will require a bit of patience and a well thought-out strategy, it can be easily accomplished. Twitter is popular for businesses because of the no-cost, no-frills way it’s designed.
The path to increasing your targeted Twitter following has several parts:
- Finding and following the right people
- Posting relevant information and news to keep them engaged
- Making sure you never spam followers with auto-tweets or posting the same information and URL over and over
- Follow only smart online marketers who are leaders in their industry.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these tactics:
Find the Right Way to Follow People on Twitter:
Before you start following people, make sure you have a few interesting posts. Most people on Twitter will not follow you back if your Twitter feed is blank.
After you’ve created a Twitter presence, start following your target audience. The easiest way I’ve found to locate my target audience is to go to Search.Twitter.com and type in keywords related to your target audience.
For example, if you are selling an iPhone application, type in keywords like “iPhone,” “bought an iPhone,” “iPhone app,” and other related keywords that people may have used to discuss their iPhone needs. Follow these people. If you post interesting, relevant things, there is a good chance they will follow you back.
You can also find your target Twitter following by clicking on the “Find People” option on your Twitter page; type in keywords and relevant industries and locations to find your followers. Start following these people.
Post Relevant Information & Keep Them Engaged:
Post interesting news and reviews about your product, but don’t forget to also post related industry news. For instance, if you sell a particular gadget, also post news about other gadgets.
An important tool in gaining focused and targeted followers is to use retweets. If you see a relevant post by another Twitterer, retweet them. Not only are these Twitterers more likely to follow you, but you also gain access to their followers. Just click on the “Followers” tab on their Twitter page, and start following.
Be generous with your retweets—it’s one of the few tried-and-true ways of gaining a following.
You can also utilize search.Twitter.com to search for your brand name. This is a key research element to find out if your customers are happy. Be sure to follow them and thank them. If you find angry, disgruntled customers, follow them, retweet them, and ask them how you can remedy the situation.
This could lead to people reaching customer service reps on Twitter, and then telling the Internet all about the great service that came from a company they had just recently been bad-mouthing.
Never Spam Your Followers:
If you spam your followers, they will unfollow you quickly. Spammy posts could be: Posting the same URLs over and over again; only posting about your own products; having a Twitter handle like: MyAwesomeProduct100 instead of: NameofMyProduct; and asking insincere questions.
If you sell cars, it would be insincere to post a question like: What is the best car on the road? Twitter users are very savvy and jaded consumers. They know when a brand is being disingenuous.
Next week – Part 2 😉
Jeannine Grich, owner of Accurate Business Services, a VA practice, is an author, writer, speaker, and VA Business Coach, specializing in providing professional business coaching to established and start-up virtual assistants (VA’s). For her FREE article, “What’s Holding Back my Business Success?” or “Finding or Expanding Your Niche”, Visit: https://VAbizcoach.com; or contact her at: [email protected].
Ready to find out how to take your business to the next level? Schedule a 30-minute complimentary session to discuss your business, and how coaching can help you GROW, here!
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