I have to be honest and say from the outset that I have never been a strong devotee of Twitter as a social media marketing tool for business  – maybe for B2C (Business to Consumer businesses) but not really for B2B (Business to Business businesses), which make up most of our client base!

I am starting to change my mind on this though and having spent quite a bit of time recently getting to fully understand the potential offered to UK businesses by Twitter, I have become a convert!

My changed view now, is that Twitter can be one of the best Social Media channels that you can use in your Social Media Marketing campaigns.  That said, an effective Social Media Marketing campaign will require more than just having a Twitter account.  All successful social media campaigns involve active participation across a variety of platforms.  You need to be where your target audience is.  Social Media is all about engaging with your customers and prospects online and forging long- lasting relationships with them based on trust.

How To Get The Best Out of Twitter?

So how can Twitter help?  We give below a few tips to help you get off to a flying start:

Be Original and Unique:

If you are using Twitter to publicise your blog as you should, try and think of an attention grabbing headline that will encourage people to click on the link. Remember you only have 140 characters so you do need to be creative, but with practice you will be able to find a way to produce attention grabbing Tweets that make people take notice.

Be Focused and to the Point:

Stay on topic.  If you have more than one topic, create a new tweet for each.   Remember to include a WIIFM (what’s in it for me) for your followers– make it worth their while to read your Tweets / follow your links.

Value Added Content:

As a rule of thumb do not use Twitter, or any of the Social Media  channels as a primary sales channel.  Instead use Twitter to publish content or drive traffic to content that will add value to them.

Publish your Tweets at the right time of day:

Carry out some research to find out when the majority of your target audience are most likely to be online.  There is no point in publishing some ‘pearls of wisdom’ when nobody is online to see them!  For example if you are targeting students there is little point in posting a Tweet during lecture time.  By the time they go online your tweet will be way down the page and most likely it will remain unread.

Have an Opinion:

Don’t be afraid to have an opinion.  Share your views with your followers.  Do though be consistent in your views – your followers will come to look on you as a reliable and trusted source of information

Include Links:

For most of us 140 characters is just not enough – we can’t say all we want to say in such a short space.  The way round this is to publish the detail on your blog or your website and then link to that content in your Tweets.  Use one of the many programs available to shorten your links e.g. bit.ly to save space.  Whilst adding links back to your web properties from your social profiles is not regarded as ‘link-building’ it will help your organic Search rankings in the long run by driving more traffic to your website / blog.

If you would like more information about our Social Media Marketing  plans or any other of our internet marketing services please leave a comment below or visit GB Web Marketing – Internet Marketing Services for UK Business