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Top Twitter Blog Marketing Tips

Posted By Guest Blogger 24th of April 2012 Blog Promotion 0 Comments

This guest post is by Lior Levin.

Twitter is one of the top three or four social media marketing tools today, with roughly 12% of online adults using Twitter according to this Pew Internet report.

It’s easy to quickly share promotions and ideas on Twitter, and if they catch on, they can spread quickly, even crossing over to platforms such as Facebook or Pinterest in the process. Since the cost of using Twitter is so low and the process of sharing tweets is so simple, it is an ideal tool for blog marketing.

Twitter’s blog benefits

There are three main reasons why bloggers need to use Twitter regularly:

1. Twitter increases blog traffic

Twitter is a top source of referral traffic, but it is likely far more effective than tools such as Google Analytics lets on.

Many referrals derive from Twitter originally, but Google Analytics isn’t able to track all of their origin points. Entrepreneur Mark Suster explains this at Tech Crunch, saying, “Twitter is an amazing generator of social hooks to websites. Some of that comes from Twitter.com or other Twitter clients. But since many other websites pull in Twitter data, including links, you don’t always know who is referring the traffic to you.”

In order to understand the true reach of your Twitter campaigns, Suster recommends a tool called Awe.sm.

2. Twitter improves your Google Page Rank

A thorough study of the impact of Twitter and Facebook on Google page ranking by the website SEO Moz yielded a strong correlation between high shares on Twitter and Facebook.

Rand Fishkin writes in the conclusions, “Pages that earn tweets + Facebook shares also correlate well with earning links, and send direct traffic on their own—ignoring these services at this point seems foolish.” If you want to improve your website’s page rank on Google, then the data suggests that more tweets and Facebook shares will help get you there.

3. Twitter helps establish your brand

Twitter is one way to reveal who you are as a brand, showing customers what you care about and whether you have anything important to share with them—whether that’s information or a promotion. The key is to connect in ways that prove your brand is consistent and reliable.

Top Twitter blog marketing tips

With these benefits in mind, here are some tips on how to use Twitter for online marketing.

Find influencers

As you look to expand your influence on Twitter, you’ll need followers who are influential and engaged. However, this doesn’t just mean networking with people who follow, or are followed by, a lot of people.

You can start by using Twellow to find Twitter users in your niche and then use Twitter Grader to evaluate the quality of their interactions on Twitter.

Beware of using tools such as Klout, as users with significant social media influence have been routinely undervalued by the Klout algorithm.

You can also search Twitter through hashtags (eg. “#marketing”) in order to find users in your niche. The key is to review what they tweet about by looking at their feeds. Are they active? Do they interact with their followers on Twitter? Are they willing to retweet content frequently?

A quick scan of Twitter profiles will tell you quite a bit about who to follow, and whether those users will follow you back and provide valuable interactions.

Promote your posts

Use engaging titles when tweeting about your website’s content, and link to promotions and information that will meet the specific needs of your followers. This all ties back to whether your company has a consistent focus and a clear brand image that can connect with customers. If it does, Twitter may be an excellent marketing tool for you.

Chris Brogan suggests that beyond tweeting your killer titles, you should also mention if content on your site has sparked a lively conversation, or if users are giving meaningful feedback.

Your followers may want to chip in to the conversation. In addition, you can ask for links on StumbleUpon or a retweet of your content if it’s particularly valuable to your readers.

Be socially proactive

Don’t just wait for people to find you. You need to find followers, retweet their content, and anticipate what they want. It’s your job to spark conversations and to stir up interest, even asking for a little help in spreading the word when appropriate.

Share unique and useful information

Twitter users will only find you worth following if you can point them to valuable content, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. Since it’s generally frowned upon to only post your own information, check out a site like All Top to find the best websites and news in your field. Between retweets of leaders in your field and links from All Top, you’ll provide the kind of content that will make people want to follow you.

As you read information online that’s related to your niche throughout the day, use a service such as Hootsuite or Buffer to set up auto-tweets throughout the day, so you can space out the information you share.

By installing the Buffer button to your browser toolbar, you can easily set up a regular stream of tweets throughout your day and increase your brand’s value to your customers.

Share tweets frequently

The best way to tell your Twitter followers that you’re personally invested in helping them is to retweet their tweets frequently. There’s a good chance that the customers you follow are sharing information that the rest of your followers need anyway, so you can both share relevant information and build your connection with your Twitter followers at the same time through consistent retweets.

Avoid inconsistent profile pictures across platforms

In order to create a consistent brand image, choose one profile picture, whether a logo or picture of a CEO, for all of your social media platforms. PR expert Sarah Evans writes at Mashable, “The first rule for avatars and bios is to stay consistent across social platforms. If you’re sharing information from your business account, decide whether you want your avatar to be your company logo or the face of the president.”

In addition, a profile picture should convey an image that is consistent with your brand.

Don’t spam followers with auto-direct messages

If your goal is to create authentic engagement with customers through social media, then the other golden rule is to never send auto-direct messages to new followers. Auto-direct messages are consistently viewed as spam by the majority of Twitter users and your brand will suffer if you send them.

An authentic Twitter presence

Twitter is easy to start using, but it’s also quite easy to mess up. The golden rule is to be authentic and genuinely helpful.

If you’re not helping your followers, then you’re just trying to use them to make money. The more money you try to make, the less you’ll help followers on Twitter—resulting in a lower return on your social media investment.

The more you try to help followers on Twitter, the more brand engagement you’ll build.

This guest post is written by Lior Levin, a marketing consultant for company that specializes in a to do list app, and who also consults for an inspection company that provides various services in  pre shipment inspections.

About Guest Blogger
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Comments
  1. Hi Lior,

    Twitter is a goldmine for marketers who use the tool wisely. Sensational tips here.

    I enjoyed your point about seeing people as dollar signs. Tweeters sense this a mile away, and your following will drop off. Your clicks will also plummet fast. Want to get? Keep on giving. Retweet, engage. Ask questions, provide answers.

    Maintaining a genuine desire to help fellow tweeters is the quickest way to become wildly popular. Everybody loves a giver. The more you give the more you get. Promote your followers. Shout out follow-worthy people on Follow Friday.

    Share only the best content. Top shelf tweets, or nothing. Establish authority and show up on a ton of lists within your niche.

    Excellent point about a correlation between page rank and increased tweets. I noted a big jump in my blog’s rank after receiving a substantial number of RTs and Facebook Shares too. Social media sites carry a great deal of weight in the eyes of google.

    Thanks for sharing your insight Lior.

    RB

  2. I find it hard to manage my Twitter and Facebook differently. I just find Facebook so much more interesting and relevant, yet it’s a lot easier to attract a much large audience through Twitter. Throw Google+ in there and it just adds to the frustration.

    Either way, excellent post and full of some great resources! I like the rule about the consistent images across all platforms. I’ve always been a huge fan of the power of branding.

  3. I really hate when I get spammed with those auto-direct messages. It makes you look even worse if your following someone you already build a relationship with and you get sent something like, “Thanks for following my page. I blog about…. What are your interests?”

  4. Great post!

    I’m really starting to get into using Twitter to promote my blogs and posts and it’s been fantastic. I didn’t know the power of Twitter and today I appreciate how much benefit using the site is for bloggers and businesses.

    I’m also a member of Triberr and having the additional reach has been a huge bonus.

    Kimberly

  5. Thank you for mentioning to never send auto-direct messages to new followers! I have a *very* bad reaction to getting those. ; ) I know the people mean well, but c’mon, we all know they’re canned.

    One other tip I would mention as far as the profile pic goes is to use a picture rather than a logo, every time. People engage with people, not “companies,” and having a real, living, breathing human being show up in your Twitter feed next to a Tweet just “feels” nicer — more warm & friendly and interesting than a Tweet with a cold company logo next to it, in my estimation.

    I recently suggested to a client that she switch out her company logo for a pic of her on her Twitter profile, and I can tell you that engagement, re-tweets, and new followers have increased since then. Maybe it’s coincidental, but I tend to think not. I don’t feel nearly as compelled to engage with Twitter content that comes from a logo, much better when you sense there’s a “real” person there. : )

  6. Thanks for a very detailed post! I had no clue what twellow was and now I must use it to find others in my real estate and personal finance niche! Thanks :)

  7. Even I think Twitter is the best place to market your blog. But for some reason I am lagging behind in it and not able to use it to its full potential. I was always confused on how to get more followers and more exposure on Twitter. But after reading this post, I think I have got a direction to start raking in the benefits of Twitter.

    Thanks for this very detailed post.

  8. Hi,

    Like mentioned, social networks pop up all over the place, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Pinterest even YouTube, and it can be frustrating at times. However your brand might get more traffic from one of them one week and then more from another the next, so they should ALL be included in your marketing plan.

    As well as likes and shares and tweets having an impact on search results if you promote your actual pages with the search engines, you can bring targeted traffic to your profiles equaling more likes!

    Monitor, and track your results, and be everywhere…

    Thanks
    David

  9. I really hate when I get spammed with those auto-direct messages. It makes you look even worse if your following someone you already build a relationship with and you get sent something like, “Thanks for following my page. I blog about…. What are your interests?”

  10. Justin Bieber built his brand (himself) by twitting and letting followers know where he was going to be = watch his movie Never Say Never for great ideas on marketing

  11. Thanks for sharing such a useful information. I’ll definitely go with the twitter and facebook.

    Thanks again…

  12. I wish more people would read the last point about auto-direct messages. I shouldn’t waste so much energy on this but it’s so ridiculous. I get a couple new followers per day from people trying to sell me their social media expertise and if I don’t follow them back they disappear or they’ll even try to follow me again to see if I’ll notice the second time. If I do follow them back I get an auto response telling me to buy their crap. I hate it. So, you’re using lame outdated spray and pray tactics but I should follow you and make you my “guru”? Uh…. NOT. :-)

  13. As much as possible, whenever I’m working with Twitter, I wouldn’t set any automatic messages at all — as in zip; zero. I’d deal with every single Tweet that I make manually. I remember when I was still new to Twitter. I wanted to see how effective this follower acquisition technique is, and I have to say that it works as long as you’re really active there. There have been some people in the SEO reseller world, and some online marketers that have followed me when I used the #SEO hashtag. You should try it out; add a hashtag to your Tweets related to your industry.

  14. It’s going to be end of mine day, except before end I am reading this impressive article to improve my know-how.

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