If you want to accomplish your marketing objectives, Twitter is an effective tool that you may use. Learn the steps that must be taken to develop a successful marketing plan for Twitter.
Here is a list of ten Twitter marketing tips, graded from easiest to most powerful.
What do Wendy’s, United Airlines, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have in common?
These firms all harness the potential of Twitter marketing to expand their business, engage their audience, establish a community, and give amazing customer service.
Twitter offers more than 217 million active daily users, making the social media site a crucial aspect of your marketing plan. Not only does the microblogging site have a huge user base, but Twitter is also the world’s sixth most popular network and is predicted to expand to over 340 million active users by 2024.
But with 350,000 tweets made each minute and 500 million tweets sent daily, you need to be clever and savvy to win (and hold) your audience’s attention and achieve your Twitter marketing goals.
If you’re feeling scared by this fast-paced network, don’t be. We’ve got everything you need to build and implement a highly successful Twitter marketing strategy that generates results.
How to establish a Twitter marketing strategy
Twitter marketing is the technique of advertising your brand and its products or services using Twitter. It involves building an efficient social media marketing plan to create and publish content on the network. When you market on Twitter, you need to publish the right Tweets at the right time to attract the ideal audience.
But before you start Tweeting, you need to consider the fundamental parts of an effective Twitter marketing campaign. Here’s a basic rundown:
- Audit your accounts. This will provide you with a baseline to work from.
- Check out your competitors’ strategies. Look at what their audience appreciates and examine their brand voice.
- Set clear, measurable goals. Be explicit about what you want to achieve on Twitter.
- Compare Twitter analytics data to your goals on a regular basis to measure your progress.
- Establish your brand voice.
- Use a content calendar to help you design and maintain a consistent content strategy.
It doesn’t stop with posting stuff. Twitter marketing demands a plan to engage and interact with your audience. Twitter is a conversation-based network. It’s crucial to build a two-way interaction with followers by replying to Tweets or direct messages.
In reality, you boost your chances of showing in non-followers’ feeds by interacting with your audience’s answers and mentions. Doing this will boost your visibility as well as brand recognition. These are simply a handful of the many benefits of Twitter for brands.
Some Twitter marketing strategies may involve a plan to advertise on the network. This entails sending tailored advertising or promoted Tweets to a relevant audience. We’ll get into the intricacies of those later in this tutorial.
However, you approach Twitter marketing, make sure your plan is connected with your business goals and the style of the network. With that said, employ these 10 tips to lead you through your Twitter marketing strategy:
As with any network, you need to build a sound social media marketing strategy before diving in, and marketing on Twitter is no different. Understanding how the platform works and how it fits into your broader social media strategy is the key to success.
So, where do you start when establishing your Twitter marketing strategy? We’ve listed the components of a successful foundation below.
Audit your accounts
Does your organization already have an established Twitter account, or maybe more than one? Your initial step should be documenting all existing accounts and which team member has been responsible for them. Remember to check for a Twitter Professional account as well as normal ones.
Once you have your list, undertake a comprehensive review of all the accounts you find. Collect information like:
- How often does this account tweet?
- What’s the engagement rate?
- How many followers does it have?
Twitter Analytics can supply you with these metrics.
It’s a lot of information, but we’ve created a template for doing a social media audit to make this process easier.
Set Goals
Success on any social media site begins with establishing clear, measurable goals. There’s no way to evaluate if your strategy favorably benefits your business until you understand what you’re aiming to achieve.
You want to set SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. So “going viral” doesn’t count. These goals should connect with your high-level business objectives and be broken down into measurable signs of success.
For example, you may wish to bring more visitors to your website. Translate that into a SMART goal by attempting to increase your average click-through rate. You can utilize your baseline click-through rate from your Twitter audit to create a precise feasible objective over a reasonable amount of time (say, an increase from 1.5% to 2.5% in three months).
Check out the competition
You know what they say… keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
While it might feel sneaky, don’t forget to monitor the Twitter profiles of your industry competitors. Analyzing their social media might help you refine your own by showing holes or gaps in their strategy and ways that you can distinguish yourself.
If you want to be extremely clever, build a private Twitter List of your competitors so you can see everything they’re tweeting and debating in real-time. If you want to discover more about competitive analysis, check out our free, customizable template.
Create guidelines
You need a social media style guide to keep your messaging clear and consistent. Guidelines also assist you onboard new team members and prevent errors and mistakes on social media.
Your standards should be communicated with everyone on your social media team and may include components of your entire brand style guide, such as your tone, and facts about your audiences.
But it should also be particular to how you use social accounts, like Twitter, including facts like:
Every kind of conversation—good, terrible, weird— occurs on Twitter, so you want to be ready for everything. Criticism is inevitable, especially as your account expands, so you should plan for how to respond to trolls and manage a PR disaster. Remember, it’s much better to have those resources and not need them than the other way around.
Make a content calendar
Planning your material requires a little bit of work ahead but ultimately saves you effort and stress later on. Trust us. You’ll be pleased you did it when you’re not struggling to produce a witty, original tweet on #NationalDoughnutDay at the last minute.
A social media content schedule helps synchronize the information you’re posting on all your channels and discover probable gaps and conflicts that you can solve. It also helps you plan ahead and seize possibilities for current or intriguing content, like highlighting your sustainability practices on Earth Day or commemorating your female founder on International Women’s Day.
When creating your calendar, consider:
1. How often do you want to post:
A calendar can also help you examine your material and check if you’re posting a balanced variety of tweets. You want to follow the rule of thirds (number 8 on this list): ⅓ of tweets promote your brand, ⅓ offer personal tales, and ⅓ provide helpful insights from experts or influencers.
However, you can’t set it and forget it. You still need to keep an eye on your Twitter account so you can reply to DMs and mentions and join conversations.
Worried about spending too much time on it? Don’t be— you can handle your social media in about 18 minutes every day.
Tip: Use our free social media calendar template to get started.
2. Analyze your analytics:
Once your Twitter marketing campaign is started, you must frequently analyze your efforts and check your progress against the SMART goals you set.
However, the data accessible to you can be overwhelming. We get it. There are a ton of indicators at your fingertips, including vanity metrics that aren’t always helpful. So think about which indicators truly matter. Getting a lot of retweets from a witty meme is nice, but did any of that engagement convert to conversions or sales?
Collecting meaningful data can help you illustrate the worth of your marketing efforts and provide insights that will help you modify your strategy over time.
Check out our guide to understanding key performance indicators (KPIs) on social to get started.
Crucial Twitter features for marketing
Marketing on Twitter is more than just hitting send on the occasional Tweet. The social network boasts several tools and features that help you get the most out of your Twitter marketing operations.
Of course, depending on your Twitter marketing plan, it might not make sense to use them all right off the outset, but it’s worth investing time in determining which features will help you achieve your goals. So let’s go under the hood and suss ‘em out.
1. Twitter Trends:
Twitter creates fast buzz around numerous topics, and when a particular topic, term, phrase, or hashtag is popular, this is known as a ‘trending topic’ or ‘trend.’
Twitter trends are essential for marketers to get a feel for what topics or conversations are happening on the platform and enable them to understand your audience’s interests.
Twitter is all about relevancy and being in the moment. Checking downward trends helps you to see the issues are on their way out, so you don’t generate a discourse around a topic that’s already been and gone.
Twitter trending topics NBA holidays
2. Twitter Circle:
Everyone wants to be part of the in-crowd, and Twitter Circle is your opportunity to select a small audience of your choice and Tweet only to that group (up to 150 people.)
Only those in your Twitter Circle may view the content and interact with those specific tweets. For marketers, your Circle could be a small group of significant businesses and influencers. You may leverage the feature to establish your brand as a thought leader or give industry expertise relevant to your audience.
3. Twitter Communities:
Social media is all about establishing your brand, building your audience, and building your community. So it makes sense that Twitter Communities are a terrific feature for marketing on Twitter.
Like Discord, Facebook Groups, or even Slack, Twitter Communities allows you to form or join groups of like-minded accounts and curate content related to shared interests.
For example, let’s imagine you’re an e-commerce brand that specializes in organic wine. You could develop a Twitter Community of natural and organic wine lovers, exchange content, create conversation, offer value, and enhance your brand’s visibility across an audience of interested and engaged consumers.
build a new community
However, remember that the aim of Twitter Communities isn’t to be sales-ey. Instead, focus on building a community and developing real relationships rather than gaining conversions.
4. Twitter Spaces:
Available on iOS, Twitter Spaces is the platform’s version of a live audio chat room (something like Clubhouse). Users can host or participate in audio discussions hosted in ‘Spaces’ with some really unique benefits for companies and enterprises.
For example, Spaces are a perfect area to organize Q&As, AMAs, or fireside chats in real-time with an active, engaged audience. Additionally, Spaces can assist in promoting your brand as a thought leader if you organize industry-specific talks and meetings.
al audio on Twitter might still be in its infancy, but given the power of live audio, this is a tool you harness the most to engage your audience in real-time.
5. Twitter Lists:
Opening your Twitter page might feel like entering into a massive, boisterous party with a million conversations happening at once. There’s so much going on that it’s impossible to focus on any one topic.
That’s why Twitter Lists are a fantastic tool for zeroing down on the conversations that genuinely matter to your organization. These lists are curated feeds from selected accounts, which allow you to tune in to important subjects or notable people.
You can make as many lists as you want on Twitter (well, up to a thousand… if you hit that limit, it’s time to log off!). And unlike the main feed, which is ordered by Twitter’s secret algorithm, tweets in your lists are arranged chronologically, which makes it easier to track evolving issues and current events.
You may wish to construct lists of your competitors’ accounts, key thought leaders in your field, and your own team members. Remember that lists are public, so be mindful when naming them.
Cultivating your lists may take a little time, but ultimately they help you use Twitter efficiently and intelligently.
Here is a list of ten Twitter marketing tips, graded from easiest to most powerful.
1. Optimize your profile:
Having an on-brand, professional Twitter profile helps you make an outstanding first impression on new followers. Consider how each piece of your profile helps to strengthen your brand and inform audiences.
Handle. This is your account name, and it’s how audiences can find you on Twitter. Generally, you want your handles to be consistent throughout social platforms and include your company name.
Profile photo. Your profile photo appears next to every tweet you send, so you want it to seem sharp. utilize your logo or wordmark, and make sure to utilize the proper size for a clear and clean image.
Header image. Your header image appears on your profile page, and you may want to refresh it more often than your profile photo. It might reflect current campaigns, provide information, or offer insight into your corporate culture.
Bio. Your Twitter bio is the spot to explain to visitors to your account who you are in 160 characters or less.
URL. Include your company’s website or the latest campaign link (just don’t forget to switch it out when you’re done!)
Location. Set your business’s location or leave it blank if you have a global presence.
World-famous fast food giant Wendy’s does a wonderful job of optimizing their profile with relevant photographs, a snappy bio in the company voice that tells the audience exactly what type of brand they are and offers a relevant URL to their homepage.
Another thing to consider when improving your profile is putting a pinned tweet. This function allows you to ‘pin’ one of your tweets to the top of your Twitter profile and is a wonderful opportunity to show visitors to your account who you are, and what you’re about, or highlight any viral tweets.
Our earth needs action, not gestures. We have planted our 150 millionth tree, but our work is only beginning.
Today, we’re going all in. New appearance, renewed commitment. This is our manifesto for a brighter future. Let’s construct it together! Share the video: https://t.co/qPDmunltl2
2. Engage with your audience:
Twitter is a pretty conversational platform. Although you may (and should!) use images and videos, getting fans and connecting with followers demands developing a true, appealing voice and engaging with your audience.
If you haven’t fully hit on a brand voice yet, this is generally the first step before leaping on board and engaging with your community. Here are a few tips.
Show personality. Your brand voice should be consistent across all your channels and communicate your brand values. Are you edgy? Funny? Inspirational? Bold? These attributes should be represented through your tweets.
Be human. No one loves a tweet that sounds like it originated from a robot or a script. Twitter users want to know there’s a genuine person listening and connecting with them from behind your account. Opt for straightforward, approachable language over jargon and abbreviations.
Be original. Don’t tweet the same message again and over. Posting identical messages across your social media accounts is a big no-no. Each of your tweets should be unique, or else you’ll seem spammy.
Be honest. The objective of Twitter is not to get followers by any means necessary; it’s to help you interact with customers and create trust with them.
Engaging on Twitter is a vital component of an effective Twitter marketing plan, so you must ensure your accounts are regularly watched and active and that someone is answering direct messages and mentions. Twitter conversations move rapidly, so it’s evident to your followers if you’re not checking in regularly, a failure to be responsive and timely will hurt your brand.
Busy accounts may need numerous team members monitoring them, like UK grocer Sainsbury’s, who do an outstanding job of reacting to customer queries. Individual team members sign their names to offer a personal touch to their customer support.
Hi Rosemary. I’m sorry about the wifi at the store. Can you tell me what time you visited please? I’ll look into this for you. Nick
But even if only one person is responsible for your Twitter account, you’ll still want to select a backup team member so that there are no gaps in coverage and engagement.
3. Run a Twitter poll:
Twitter doesn’t offer as many creative alternatives for engagement as a network like Instagram or Facebook. It’s pretty focused on conversations: replies, mentions, and cinema-worthy tweet threads.
However, one exception to this structure is Twitter polls. Twitter polls allow you to post questions and offer up to four responses to choose from. Polls are a terrific method to engage your audience because they’re simple and engaging. And if there’s one thing people love to do on Twitter, it’s express strong opinions about little issues.
And they have benefits for you, too. Polls enable you to get feedback and thoughts, learn about customer preferences, tease product ideas, and more. They’re no alternative to in-depth research methods, but they do deliver quick and helpful insights.
4. Schedule your tweets for ideal publish times:
Take your Twitter strategy to the next level by scheduling your tweets ahead of time rather than posting them manually one by one.
Scheduling lets you streamline your time on social media and keep on top of your content calendar. That way, you never miss sending a crucial tweet because your afternoon meeting ran late.
You can also take advantage of the optimal times to post and enhance your engagement by scheduling your tweets. These timings are based on Twitter interaction; your particular audience may be more engaged at various times. By measuring your performance with analytics, you may learn what times are optimal for you and change your posting schedule accordingly.
When scheduling Tweets, you should look to get the optimum time to post recommendations (based on the past performance of your own posts) directly in Composer:
Scheduling a Tweet in Composer and looking to get optimum time to post recommendations
You’ll never be able to schedule 100% of your tweets. You still need to respond to remarks and join conversations, which happen in real time. But for stuff you’ve planned before, like campaigns or links to blog pieces, you can save time with scheduling.
5. Let’s get visual (for higher engagement):
A picture is worth 1000 words, which is especially beneficial on Twitter, where you only have 280 characters to work with.
Visual materials might help you communicate more with each tweet. For example, accompany an educational tweet with a chart or infographic, or emphasize an inspirational message with a striking photo.
A video may help you capture and hold attention, which is perfect for product launches or campaigns. Plus, adding images and videos to your tweets is a definite method to enhance interaction. Tweets with images get up to three times as much interaction, while tweets with videos get up to 10 times as much engagement.
GIFs bring another wonderful complement to your tweets and a 55% increase in engagement. You can add them directly to your tweets through Twitter’s GIF library.
As a bonus, photos (including GIFs) and movies don’t count toward your 280-character restriction.
Tip: Ensure your videos are suited for mobile since Twitter says that 93% of video watchers watch on a portable device.
6. Master the art of the thread:
Twitter threads allow you to share a stream of tweets in successive order. Think of a Twitter thread as an opportunity to add longer-form content within individual tweets. This format is helpful for narrative, offering additional information, or reporting updates.
Erica Schneider, Head of Content at marketing agency Grizzle, conducted her own research into the usefulness of Twitter threads and found that thread tweets with a link caused a 508% increase in engagement compared to a single tweet with the same link. Something to think about when you’re setting out your Twitter content strategy!
Twitter thread messages lead to more engagement
7. Become a hashtag expert:
Hashtags are a feature on every social site, but they were born on Twitter. And they remain an excellent tool to enhance your engagement and discoverability on the platform.
Understanding how and where to use hashtags on Twitter will make your content more impactful and help you reach new audiences who share your interests.
Find the right hashtags. Use hashtags that make sense for your industry and niche. Checking out what hashtags are popular among your competitors can provide insight.
Create a branded hashtag. This is a hashtag specific to your business, which may be used to collect and organize content about your brand. They’re perfect for marketing campaigns and finding user-generated content.
This year women finally returned to the largest race in the globe. With a formidable squad packed full of character, we followed @EF_TIBCO_SVB throughout their journey to the Champs-Elysees.
Follow trends. Twitter’s Explore page highlights the current popular topics, including hashtags. Joining these conversations will help new audiences discover your posts. Just make sure you grasp the context to avoid any awkward errors.
Don’t overdo it. One to two hashtags for each tweet is optimum.
8. Tune in with social listening:
Twitter isn’t only about speaking— it’s also about listening. “Social listening” implies paying attention to conversations on Twitter that provide insights into your customers and community.
Not only can you find out what people think about your brand and products, but you can also benefit from other current topics and discussions. Social listening helps you enhance your messaging, create loyalty and trust, and proactively address pain areas and concerns. Some of the topics you should pay attention to include:
- Your business name
- Your competitors’ names
- Industry hashtags or buzzwords
Relevant trending topics
Use Twitter’s sophisticated search function to find out what people are saying.
Build up streams that will monitor keywords, hashtags, mentions, and other critical data.
9. Run an ad campaign:
Once you’ve gained a grip on using Twitter organically, it’s time to step up and launch your first marketing campaign.
Advertising on Twitter can help you increase your following, market your products, boost visitors to your website, and more. You can opt to promote your account to get new followers or promote individual tweets to enhance engagement and campaign awareness. Twitter Ads allow you to target your audience very selectively and give granular statistics on campaign results and cost-per-action. As a result, you can contact the proper people with your campaign and rapidly learn what campaign messages are most effective.
10. Use UTM parameters to measure your success:
If you’re ready to go a little more advanced with your social media data and analytics, then say hello to UTM parameters.
These are brief text codes that you may add to your links in order to zero in on traffic and conversions. They can define the source, media, campaign name, and more.
By capturing this data, UTM parameters show you exactly how visitors come to your website, which tweets are most effective, analyze the ROI of your influencer initiatives, and more. They’re tremendously valuable for understanding how your Twitter strategy (and other social media activities) affect your business’s bottom line.
Conclusion:
A great Twitter marketing approach gives you leverage in a competitive market. It helps you stand apart from the throng while keeping your audience engaged. More importantly, it enables you to stay top of mind for your audience.
Use the procedures indicated above to get started with Twitter marketing. And make sure to invest in sophisticated social media management software like Sprout to make your job more efficient.
