So you decided to take the advice of thousands of Internet marketers and create a Twitter account for your business. After picking the perfect Twitter user name, and tweeting your heart out about your business, you’ve noticed that your Twitter followers aren’t increasing. In fact, you lost a few followers since the last time you checked. You were tweeting (Twitter terms explained here) interesting information about your business and products, so where did your followers go? Unfortunately, the problem is, you probably weren’t engaging them through interesting and informative tweets. Remember, if all of your tweets are sales-y or promoting your business, you won’t keep your followers’ attention. When done right, Twitter can increase brand awareness, customer loyalty, help improve your business and convert followers to customers. So how do you do this? Here’s 5 steps to improving your Twitter following and getting the most out of Twitter.
1. Use keywords in tweets. Think about your target audience. What keywords would they use to search for your business? If your business is a Mexican restaurant in Long Beach, CA, then use the keyword “mexican restaurant long beach.” Or focus on other long-tail keywords like “best happy hour long beach,” or “best chicken street tacos long beach.” These are things your potential customers might be typing in to find your business. Tweets are now indexed in Google so when people type keywords in the search engine, your tweets may show up. This gives you the chance to gain more followers and boost your SEO.
2. Appeal to people who don’t already know who you are. If you want to gain new followers and turn them into customers you need to gear your tweets (and keywords that you use in those tweets) toward people who don’t already know who you are. That means you shouldn’t only use your business name; describe what your business is. Make sure your Twitter profile makes it clear what your business does. Tweet coupons or promo codes for new followers so they can come to your business location and receive a discount or giveaway.
3. Reference other industry professionals. Another point of view will breathe refreshing new life into your tweets. Retweet an industry professional (not a competitor) to show that you’re paying attention to what’s going on in the industry and you aren’t threatened by other expert sources; you’re simply trying to ensure that your followers stay educated.
4. Use a link and a call to action in every tweet. Use ow.ly or bit.ly (websites used to shorten links for Twitter) to make links that lead to pages on your website or other reliable sources (not competitors). This will direct people to your website and help to convert followers to customers. You can also track clicks on ow.ly’s and bit.ly’s so you will know which tweets enticed followers to click in order to write more like them.
5. Be creative. Tell stories, share YouTube videos, share tools and tips that can help your followers, tweet about news and trends and share quotes. Just remember to write something worth reading. If your tweet were to end up on a billboard tomorrow, would you be 100% proud of it? If the answer is no, don’t post it.
Following these tips will help you gain more followers and get the most out of your Twitter experience. Engaging your followers will help turn them into customers who will then recommend your business to others.