5 Twitter Marketing Strategies

Many businesses know how much time, energy, and budget social media marketing requires. They also know that those social media efforts can produce varied results. Clicks, likes, list sign-ups, purchases, and comments are all ways that social media converts leads into customers and members of your community. With so many different ways to measure ROI, it is important that a good marketing strategy includes specific plans for social media, and what the optimal results of the efforts on each platform should be.

Among popular social media platforms, Twitter has become a front runner. Its ease of use and ability to reach wide audiences through hashtags and re-tweets make it a social media marketing platform with easy-to-quantify results. Here are our top Twitter marketing tips for how to use Twitter effectively and make it a substantial part of your marketing strategy:

1. CREATE BUZZ WITH CRYPTIC MESSAGES. 

Credit for this strategy goes to Elon Musk, who regularly posts updates to his Twitter account about plans, newsworthy events, and other information regarding his joint-CEO operations at Tesla Motors and SpaceX.

In March, Musk tweeted a cryptic announcement about a forthcoming Tesla product line that was slated for April. The announcement was simply about better storage battery, but the tweet earned far more attention than a simple and straightforward announcement would have. Twitter is an excellent place to generate buzz. People's responses can give you information about where your market is at, and what they think about your business.

2. USE TWITTER CHATS. 

If you have not already hosted or participated in a Twitter chat, it is something to behold. A hosting organization plans questions, and then releases the questions onto Twitter, accompanied by the chat's hashtag. Many are utilizing this feature to create partnerships and PR for their businesses.

You do not have to manage this type of Twitter campaign on your own. Many businesses partner with others in their industry to build relationships and PR value together. For example, one interesting group that hosts a weekly Twitter chat is a group that promotes better accessibility for people suffering from disabilities. Their chat, #AXSChat, and the hosting organization is made of several entrepreneurs and executives who want to start dialogue and encourage a community that is focused on providing access to people with learning disabilities.

3. MAKE TIMELY ANNOUNCEMENTS.

Once you have a Twitter chat up and running, you can use it to increase conversions by timing announcements about new product lines, along with a chat on how to use them. For example, Buffer, an automatic scheduler for social media platforms, recently used their #bufferchat to educate people about how to use Pinterest for marketing.

At the time of the chat, Buffer had just upgraded to include Pinterest as a platform. This announcement, coupled with the chat, promoted a new product upgrade, informed their audience, and increased their brand value.  

4. KNOW WHEN YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE ACTIVE.

Not only should you know who your target market is–but you should know why they're using Twitter, and when they're doing it. For example, your target market may use Twitter to gather industry data during office hours, and for personal enrichment and networking the rest of the time. With social media automation schedulers, your business can be active in the right way, at the times when your target market will be engaged.

Target those using customers using Twitter in the after hours with branded information, like Richard Branson does with his political and environmental tweets. They are not extremely relevant to the airline, mobile, music, or space industries of which he is a part of, but the tweets do create a brand identity that engages customers.

5. ENGAGE ACROSS PLATFORMS AND DEVICES.

The information market is quickly diversifying with smart phones, TVs, watches, glasses, and cars being routinely produced as internet-ready. Your audience will have access to your marketing efforts through many avenues and operating systems.

Twitter is an optimal way to reach audiences who may not be interested in sitting down to read longer marketing campaigns. Twitter's short and sweet content will appeal to those who are busy and on the move with their mobile devices.

Twitter is a convenient and quick way to reach a large part of your demographic. When done right, Twitter can increase the amount of information that is getting to your current customers, can help you diversify your product and marketing lines, and can build your prospect list.