While using social media to achieve sales goals is very doable even for small businesses, it doesn’t come without some serious effort and planning. It all starts with knowing what you want to accomplish.
There are many ways to use Twitter to help drive your marketing goals. The trick is identifying the near term goals you want to achieve and then plan from there. So ask yourself, what do you want to achieve? Here are some ideas to consider.
• Follower growth: How many new followers you get every day, week or month.
• Follower quality and engagement: How many users interact with your account.
• Reach: How many users favorite or retweet your Tweets.
• Conversion: How many users sign up for your service or buy your products.
• Brand Building: Attracting new people and leading them to think of your company in a specific way.
Once you identify some key goals, then you should brainstorm ways to achieve that goal. Ideas include positioning yourself as an expert and driving your target audience to your website and to specific sales opportunities. Or you can offer a coupon to drive new business and measure the response. Or you can use Twitter for contests and brand extension. This brainstorming will lead to your planning and scheduling of your Twitter posts. While you may just post what seems relevant at the time, the best way to achieve your goal is to set up a plan and work that plan.
1.) Content Calendar
Executing a plan requires a content calendar where you develop your month long plan for social media marketing posts and campaigns including Twitter. You can now schedule Tweets ahead of time by logging into your account at https://ads.twitter.com/. Or you can use a free social media management tool, such as HootSuite (https://hootsuite.com/).
2.) Build a Large Following
The key to Twitter is to gather a large follower base of the right people and then entice them to interact with your organization. To attract a large following, you need to create a Twitter feed that engages your audience and meets their needs. This is not as much about you and what you want to say as what they want to hear.
Give people a compelling reason to follow your business with a clear and informative bio description. Don’t forget to include your website URL and contact information.
People love pictures. So don’t let words do all the talking. Tell a visually rich story by incorporating pictures and videos in your tweets. Use a horizontal image with a 2:1 aspect ratio for photos to show up completely in timeline tweet previews.
3.) Promote your Twitter Handle
Let your real world audience know about your online social media channels. Promote your Twitter handle on your business cards, signage, website, presentations, brochures, sales media, etc. Your Twitter handle is your user name, and the maximum length is 15 characters. For example, the Twitter handle for this magazine is @palletenterpris.
4.) Use the Hashtag
There are a few key secrets that can open up your Twitter feed to the world. First, the hashtag is a great way to tie your tweet into a larger discussion.
A hashtag is any word or phrase with the # symbol immediately in front of it.
This symbol turns the word into a link that makes it easier to find and follow a conversation about that topic. You might use #pallet, #exportpallets, #EXPORichmond, #biztrends, etc.
When should I create my own hashtag? If you’re launching a new product, offering a promotion or hosting an event, consider creating a hashtag that is short, recognizable by followers, and allows them to easily follow along. Just as hashtags can help, they can also become distracting if you use too many. Hashtags are also a good way to attract new followers by using a hashtag about a popular, relevant topic.
With over 500 million Tweets sent each day, Twitter is a useful communication tool for people all over the world. These simple tips will get you started in turning Twitter into a tool to help you expand your reach online.
