May 8th | by Landon Fears
It may seem counter intuitive that a powerful marketing technique on Twitter is to promote other Twitter users, but it’s not. Most of the top Twitterers (who weren’t famous before Twitter) are masters at doing this.
By nature, Twitter is a huge community conversation, and all of the interactions are for the public to see. When you show love to others, the public sees it, and will be more inclined to show love to their followers, including you. Here are some great ways you can show your own brand of love to your “tweeps”:
- Retweet (RT) great content – If you see a great Twitter update, then please spread it by Retweeting it. Always be on the lookout for great tweets from your followers. I like to scan my update stream a couple times an hour and pick out any tweets that catch my eye. Also keep an eye out for tweets with “Please RT”, as it is usually of great importance to the user, who will likely appreciate your support greatly.
- Cite Twitter users with web content – When I see a great blog post or web site that I want to post on Twitter, many times I’ll check to see if the author is on Twitter. Most websites will have a link to their Twitter page in the header or sidebar. Go ahead and follow them, and if you have room in the 140-character tweet, try to cite them along with the link. After the link I include something like, “(by @username)”, where the username is the Twitter user. Try and get in the habit of looking for Twitter users on sites and articles you like. It takes a bit of time and effort, but it creates closer connections when the people you follow aren’t complete strangers.
- Utilize Follow Friday to show love – Follow Fridays are a recent Twitter tradition where every Friday, users suggest other Twitter users to follow. The idea is to follow everyone the person you’re following recommends. The standard is to type “#FollowFriday” with a list of the @usernames you want to suggest. Follow Fridays create a great sense of community among Twitterers, and offers the opportunity to discover the updates of new and interesting people.
- Offer brief comments in RTs and Follow Fridays – While RTs and Follow Fridays show your support for a tweet or user, it’s sometimes good form to give a short comment that supports your endorsement. For RTs, give a funny retort or your opinion of the update you’re sharing. For Follow Friday suggestions, tell your followers what makes your pick a great Twitterer to follow. This will give some life and personality to your tweet, as well as show you’re actually paying attention those you’re following and what they are saying.
- Reply and Direct Message (DM) – Try your best to reply to everyone that replies to you, especially if it’s a question or comment you can respond to. If there are too many people to reply to, or you find yourself in a long conversation, take your discussion over to DM so your followers aren’t looking in on a 1-on-1 talk. You should also take the opportunity to use DM to send unsolicited compliments, feedback, and questions to those who are following you. It’s always important to build great relationships behind the scenes as part of your marketing strategy.
- When possible, refer to a person by their first name - You find this easily by simply viewing the name on the top of the right sidebar of their Twitter profile. Doing this shows that you’ve actually taken the time to look at their profile. It’s usually a BIG plus when someone calls me by my first name, even though they are a stranger in “real” life.
Doing these things will certainly get you on the right track for marketing yourself. Those who help others out are the ones who get the most out of Twitter. Twitter is much like the outside world in that if you show love to others, they’ll show it back to you.
You can find Landon on Twitter @Admance and online at http://admance.com.
