Using Twitter To Market Any Product Or Service
Introduction
Twitter is a powerful marketing tool and (fortunately for us) most people see only the idle chit-chat going on and miss the real opportunity it offers.
1. First and foremost, Twitter is about connecting with like-minded people.
When you encounter someone with similar interests you can 'Follow' them, and whenever they post something, it will appear on your Twitter Homepage. By watching your Twitter Homepage you can see at a glance what every one you follow is up to. In a similar way, anyone who Follows you can see your posts (or Tweets), at a glance on their Twitter Homepage.
And that's how most people use Twitter. It's all a bit of fun on a social level and a good way to keep in touch with family and friends.
2. Twitter is also a great tool for communicating with customers & prospects.
There are others who take it a step further and actively build a following of people who are interested in the specific products or services they offer. Then by sharing a combination of useful content and subtle plugs for their offerings, they keep in touch, generate sales and build their brand.
3. Finally, you can use Twitter to build valuable backlinks for your website.
The links on Twitter do use the No Follow attribute, which reduces their direct value for SEO (Search Egnine Optization) purposes, but the strategy outlined below includes a couple of steps that get around that!
The Strategy ...
What follows is as close to set-and-forget as we could come up with. Most people will run through the set up totally in less than an hour, though you could spend longer on it if you choose to complete all the options below.
After that it only requires a quick 5 minutes maintenance session a couple of times a month.
In return you'll set up a growing network of people who are interested in your products or services. You'll keep in touch with them on a regular basis -- hands-free -- offering them useful content and links.
And depending on how you choose to set it up, you'll make personal sales of your products and/or affiliate commissions on third party products.
The key here is to deliver useful & valuable content long-term, but in the short-term, the strategy below is laid out to help you kick-start your Following and build credibility.
Twitter Credibility
It's worth noting that your credibility on Twitter is often 'measured' by how many people are Following you and how many you are Following.
If you're Following more than are Following you, right or wrong, most people are probably going to assume you haven't got much of interest to say!
However, if you have a whole lot of people Following you and not so many that you are actually Following, then a new arrival on your page is probably going to assume you deliver interesting/valuable content on a regular basis ... and they will be that much more likely to Follow you.
So for starters, our goal is to build you a good sized following -- or Tribe -- so that when you do have something to say, there's an interested audience waiting to listen!
The Essentials
1. Set Up A Twitter Account
Visit the Twitter site and click the Join Today button. You'll be prompted for your Full Name, a Username, an Email Address and a Password.
Give some thought to your Username .. .this is what will appear in all your links ... http://twitter.com/YourUsername ... so you want to keep it short and simple if you can, but still 'relevant' and readable for a human visitor! You have 15 characters total, so give it some thought and make it memorable.
When you submit you'll be shown your Account detail page ... there are afew things I'd recommend you do immediately.
- Select A Time Zone
- Add A URL for your website
- One line bio -- 160 characters, short, snappy, relevant
- Address or Location if you like
- DON'T protect my tweets ... let anyone read them!
Click save then click over to the Notices page and uncheck those you don't want.
- New Followers: Not Recommended. These can generate a lot of mail that is all much the same. Some people will enjoy seeing the 'activity' for a while ... so just turn it off when you've had enough!
- Direct Messages: You can check these on the Twitter site, or leave it checked and get them by email as they come in. Most of these will be auto replies, but the odd one will be important. Yuo can check it online at Twitter, but I recommend you get them by email so you can respond promptly when necessaery.
- Email Newsletter ... up to you!
Save your preferences and then click the Picture tab. You should load a photo to make this real and personal for your visitors. Remember, this isn't about advertising, it's about real-person communication, so put a human face on your account!
Save that, then click the Design tab ... here you can modify your Twitter page a bit. I recommend you make a few changes so your visitors know that you are a real person and you're making full use of the Twitter site. If you want to upload a background graphic, either a tile or a full sized image, you can do that here as well.
Again, save that and you're done! Click the Home tab and you can make your first 'Tweet'. Type in a message ... anything at all ... just to see how it works. You can always delete any existing 'tweet', so never by shy to post 'something' any time you're on your Twitter page!
Click Here To Set Up A Twitter Account
2. Set Up ViralFollower
This is a one-off step that can have a big impact on your success with Twitter. It's all about getting some early Followers so when your more targetted visitors start arriving, they are more likely to Follow you and read your Tweets.
The link below goes to www.ViralFollower.com and uses a simple matrix system to multiply your efforts and generate a quick following for you.
Just click the link below and on the form that opens, just enter your Twitter Username and Password. No need to worry about the other options ... you can come back for those later if you like.
Click Here To Set Up Viral Follower
This will psot a short message to your Twitter account ... make a note of it ... we will repost that same message automatically from time to time to keep this network growing.
3. Set Up TwitterFeed
This is a simple one-off task that automatically post your content to your Twitter account from your blog, or any other blog you like to use. You might also choose to use another newsfeed of interest to your audience, and you'll have new content regularly added to your Twitter page without having to do a thing!
All you need to do is click on the link below, register a new account (free) and then set up one or more Newsfeeds. (It's easier & faster if you are logged into your Twitter account before you start).
Then just follow the prompts to add a new Newsfeed ... copy and paste the RSS feed URLs directly from the web page into the form, check the options, validate the feed and save.
Click Here To Set Up TwitterFeed
4. Set Up TweetLater
This next step is where it gets interesting ... we're going to set up a simple service that will find targetted new Followers for you -- hands-free -- for as long as you leave it running. It will automatically delete people who aren't active and best of all, it will post new Tweets for you at whatever schedule you like.
STEP 1: Account Set Up
First things first, go to the link below and register a new account. This is totally free and only takes a minute.
You'll be offered a Free 7 Day Trial of the Pro Version ... I recommend you take it!
There is no catch, you don't have to give credit card details or anything up front.
They simply let you use the Pro version for 7 days and after that they ask if you'd like to pay for a permanent upgrade. If you don't upgrade (pay) you just revert to the free entry-level account.
The feature set is quite a lot better with the (demo) Pro Account and you can get a lot done in a week!
OK, account set up, the first thing you want to do is add your Twitter Account.
Click the Accounts tab then Add Account. Select Twitter & Continue. Enter your Twitter Username & Password. Then scroll down to the Optional Information.
The first one you want to use is the Auto Welcome. Here you enter a short message that is sent automatically when someone follows you. Read the notes that are posted there, and then add a short message to your new Followers.
Try and avoid 'selling' anything or pushing a link ... hold a bit back and they'll be much more likely to to look over your profile page!
You should check Auto Follow ... when someone follows you, you follow them ... it lets them know you care and is the first step in building a 'relationship' with them.
Leave Vet Followers unchecked ... we want to make this as hands-free as possible.
You can check Auto Unfollow ... if someone stops following you, this will automatically unfollow them ... which frees up 'space' in your account. (More on that later!)
The last option -- an email digest of Replies is a handy way to check that you haven't missed anything important ... though they can get pretty lengthy if you're active. So maybe check it for now and you can always cancel it later if you find it's not something you use much.
STEP 2: Set Up Tweets
Click on the Tweets tab, and you can start adding new Tweets, that will be sent on a pre-arranged schedule .. forever!
They idea here is to add just enough automatic posts on a weekly schedule, so that anyone arriving on your Twitter page will see one or two of your 'Money' Tweets in the immediately visible portion of the page. Your Money Tweets are those with a link to a sales page, an affiliate product or any other place where you make some sales and/or commissions from your visitor traffic.
Your Twitter page shows up to 20 Tweets at any given time, but we want to schedule these automaitc tweets to ensure there is one new 'Money' tweet posted for every 2-3 'Content' tweets.
The RSS feeds you just set up through TweeterFeed are providing most of the 'Content' Tweets, but if they aren't providing enuogh content, you can add a couple of extra tweets here ... links to articles or other content pages are good ... that will be posted automatically each week.
You can visit an article directory like this one, find a couple of articles of interest to your audience, and then make a separate Tweet to link to each one.
Start by typing in your post, use the shorten URL button to give yourself a bit more room. Keep it short and to the point, and give out just enough information to get the reader interested. The idea is to write each Tweet so a visitor can tell at a glance if it's something they want to explore further.
In the scheduler, I'd suggest you set your first message to go off in one hour, and then each successive one a day later. Make sure you select 'recurrence: every week', and add at least seven messages in total.
You'll then have a new message posted every day of the week, mixed up of course with your automatic content from your newsfeeds and blogs. From this point on you never really need to post another message to your Twitter account ... unless you want to!
You will find yourself 'checking' your account fairly regularly ... especially as your following grows ... so make it a habit to post something when you do.
A Few Suggestions ...
Shorten your URLs only if necessary ... a lot of people get wary of these shortened URLs that could be going anywhere. If you have the space, try to let your followers know where you're taking them before they get there!
Once you're set up and comfortable with the system, use the rotating Tweets option to add multiple versions of each tweet. This will mix it up for your followers and help keep them interested.
The main thing to remember is your followers probably aren't going to see every post you make unless the yare raving fans! Your best chance to make a connect is when they first follow you, or when you follow them and they click through to your page to see 'who' you are.
Never underestimate the value of 'curiosity' ... and the number of people who will click on the link in the notification email to try and work out 'why' this stranger -- you -- suddenly decided to start following them!
That's where the next step is particularly powerful ...
STEP 3: Set Up Friend Finder
The good thing about Twitter is, when you follow someone, they'll get an automatic message that you've started following them ... and curiosity will get the better of most people and they'll click the link in the email to find just who you are and why you might be interested in them!
They'll read what you've posted to your page and if you make a connection, some will start following you.
This is what we're aiming for about when we talk about building a following ... a loyal group of people who have made a conscious decision to connect with you.
They've seen something they like in what you offer and effectively asked you to keep providing more of the same. So if you are using Twitter as a business tool, and being up front about what it is you've got t ooffer, then it makes these 'Followers' extremely valuable as 'Prospects'.
So to set up Friend-Finder, click the Followers tab and then the 'Configure Friend Finder' tab below that. You need to set a few options ...
- check the 'Activate' box
- Leave the filters as they are
- Set Quantity to 40
- Set Retention to 1
- Set Pause to 105%
- Set the maximim number to 200
- With our set up there's no need for the reminder emails
- And finally, set 'Automation' to auto-follow.
Click "Save ..." and you'll be prompted to enter some keywords.
This is where you need to give it all some serious thought. Avoid the over-general terms and get specific.
This system will scan recent conversations looking for people using the words and phrases you enter so ask yourself Who is your 'average' follower? and What are they likely to be talking about?
You can come back and change these as often as you like, so try a few and if you find you're not getting the results you want, you can always try some different keywords.
For now, enter 5 keywords and save ... and you're done.
This system will now search Twitter for people with similar interests to you -- based on your keywords -- and automatically follow them. Most of those will get an instant notification, and some of those will follow you back.
Either way, many are going to visit your Twitter page and some will click through your links to the websites you recommend. All this will happen without you having to do anything at all.
STEP 4: Set Up Affiliate Account
This is free and easy, so while you're here, look for the Affiliates link in the right-hand menu and register as an affiliate. Get your affiliate link and go back to the Tweets tab, and add a new message, using that URL.
Something like "Automate Twitter ... save time & make money. http://www.tweetlater.com/88999.html "
Just set this to be reposted once a week and you've added a hands-free revenue option to your Twitter account.
You never need to a thing with it -- some of your visitors are sure to look it over, some will take the free trial and if they decide to upgrade to 'Pro' you'll earn a commission, paid directly into your PayPal account.
5. Maintenance
The one thing you do have to watch is the ratio of people you're following compared to those who are following you. Ideally you want to keep your Followers higher than those who you are Following. In fact, Twitter may actually block you from following more people once you reach 2000, unless your Followers are the same or higher.
The solution is quite simple ... Twitter Karma lets you 'Unfollow' any of the people you're currently following who aren't following you back.
Just visit the site below, login with your Twitter Usernanme & Password, and it will load a list of all the people you're connecting with through Twitter. It takes a while to load so be patient.
Select 'Only Following' from the drop down menu, let the page load and scroll to the bottom. There you'll see a button 'Check All'. Click that, then check that there isn't anyone selected that you do want to folow. Uncheck those if there are, and then back to the bottom and click 'Unfollow'.
Those people will then be removed from your account automatically.
If you do this spring cleaning a couple of times a month, you can usually leave the rest of the Twitter set up as outlined to run untended, indefinitely.
In reality, as your following grows you will probably find it's not such a chore to make a coupel of posts here and there, and you'll probably get a lot more proactive with it. That's entirely optional though.
Monitize Your Account
Twitter users are already fairly well immune to outright sales Tweets so you'll be wasting your time if all you ever post are links to order pages.
Always make sure you provide more content than sales, and you'll find your followers will pay a lot mroe attention when you do recommend something.
What you recommend will depend on your audience, but there are a couple I've tried that have wide appeal and have worked well for me in various Twitter accounts .... so they're probably worth considering.
TweetLater.com ... By now you know how this works and you should see the benefits ... and most people are open to ideas htat save them time ... so tell your following about it.
People Search ... This is a free search engine you can set up that lets your visitors search for people. It has built in affiliate options, so it's an instant business website, all done for you ... you jsut send traffic.
Use the link above to check out my personal People-Search engine, then click the affiliate link to get one of your own!
Anything free is good ... you can access a heap of free articles, ebooks, software, videos and more at the websites below. And you get a free lifetime memberships if you use these links:
Resale Rights Mastery - Lifetime Gold Membership
PLR Wholesaler - Lifetime Membership
You'll find a lot of the items on those sites come with resale rights and many have a sales website ready to go, so you can set up the website and actually sell the products yourself! (If you need cheap hosting for unl9imited websites, check this one out!
The main thing is, don't over do it. Keep any offering relevant and only offer stuff -- free or otherwise -- that you personally use and recommend.
I hoep you found this useful and I'd love ot hear any feedback you might have on how it's worked for you, or how you improved on any of it! Tweet Me About It!