The Ultimate Guide To Twitter Marketing

Twitter Overview

Twitter has been around for several years. It’s gone from the mundane “I’m eating pizza for dinner” and “I’m shopping at Walmart” to a sophisticated marketing strategy. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional tweet with a pizza photo or a selfie at Walmart. But, if Twitter is your marketing strategy, you want to tweet lots of content that your followers will read and enjoy. Not only do you want to educate, but entertain, too. When you do, they’ll reply, like and retweet. With the interaction, your tweets will appear in your followers’ feeds and their followers will see your tweets.

If you need help with Twitter Basics, check out Getting Started With Twitter. This Twitter Support article explains what Twitter is and does.

Brand YOU

The good news is …
You already have a brand. You are YOU. Your knowledge, experiences, style and personality have made you the person you are. It’s time to tell the world!

To brand YOU online, take time to decide on things like color scheme, images, tagline and banners. They don’t need to be identical, but they should be similar. As soon as someone lands on one of your pages, it should look familiar to them. You want to be recognized across all social media sites and especially your website.

Color Scheme

Unless you’re a graphic artist, combining colors can be a daunting task. I found a website that will show you color combinations that work well together.

Adobe Color CC is a free website with color combinations, including RGB and HEX color codes.

Grab a spoke with your left mouse button and rotate around the wheel. You can also move the spoke toward the center and back out to the edge of the wheel. By adjusting each spoke, the color combinations are practically endless.

When you find a color combination you like, copy and paste the URL where you can save it. I keep all my notes in Microsoft OneNote, a free Microsoft program.

The OneNote website is at: www.onenote.com
It’s available to use online or it can be downloaded to your computer or mobile device.

Find this section for the Microsoft OneNote Download Options.

I also save an image of the color combinations with the URL. It’s easy to capture an image, then copy and paste it in OneNote with the URL. If you have a PC, you should have the Snipping Tool installed.

You’ll probably collect several color combinations before finding the one you want to use. Keep the URL and image of the one you’ll use and delete the rest. You’ll refer back to your color combination often.

Once you choose a color scheme, use it on your website and social media profiles.

Images

All your images, from your profile pic to images in your posts, should be good quality. Especially photos of you. Only use images according to their license. Some are free. Some need to be purchased. And some require attribution. Attribution means to give the image owner credit. According to the license, you may have to add the owner’s name or website on the image. Or add a line under the image with a name or link to a website.

Tagline

Your tagline clearly and concisely defines who you are. It tells visitors what to expect on your site. Make it short and to the point.

Headers and Banners

Your header is the first impression a visitor sees. Include a title for your site, your tagline and your photo. Use the colors from your color scheme. Make it eye-catching and inviting. Think of it as the front door to your home.

Domain Name

Your first domain name and the one to use for your main website, should be your name. If your name isn’t available, find a version of your name. Add your middle name or initial. Add a word before your name like meet, the or the letter e. If your name is short, you might consider adding workwith. Or add a word after your name like online or talks. I don’t recommend adding to your name unless your name isn’t available. The best domain name is YOUR name with the .com extension.

In my opinion, a .com domain is the best choice. It’s certainly the most popular. And people tend to type .com automatically. I like to get both the .com and .net domain names. The .net version can be used for a companion site or to redirect to a social media site.

Other domain names can be used for sales and lead capture pages.

If you’re with a direct sales company, you can redirect a domain name to your company’s self-replicating website. Follow your company’s rules and regulations. Even if allowed, you don’t want to include the company name in your domain name. You’re branding YOU, not the company. And think about the future. What happens if the company disappears or you leave the company. You’ve spent time, effort and money marketing that domain name. It will all be lost and you’ll have to start again from scratch.

To find a domain name, think about words that describe your site. When you get a list of words, combine them to find a domain name that works for your intended site.

The ideal domain name is:
Short – Hard to find today, but the shorter the better.
Easy to say and spell.
Easy to remember.
Unambiguous – Do you spell it with a 2, to or too?

When the domain name is written, make sure there are no hidden words that spell something else. By that I mean, the end of one word could combine with the start of the next word to spell a new word.

Save

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Cover Photo

Congruent to your brand

Color Scheme

Your photo

Text

Size

Header photo recommended dimensions are 1500x500 pixels.

How To Create A Twitter Header Photo

Twitter Profile

Twitter Bio

Profile Pic
Close up
Smiling

Location

I see a lot of Twitter profiles with clever locations. Planet Earth, Global, Worldwide, Online, Longitude and latitude coordinates. But, think about people who are looking for people in a certain city, state or country. Clever locations won’t get you found online.

City – Optional but beneficial
State
Country – Only if this is as specific as you are willing to get.

Link

Your website
Preferably your name.
Not your network marketing company.

Text

A little about you personally.
Lifestyle, fun, hobbies, family.
A little business.

Write your bio in first person Make it personal and even a little fun. Use I instead of we or she/he. Twitter is a social site. Think party atmosphere or at least a fun lunch with friends.

Some people think writing in third person will make them appear professional. But, it only makes them look arrogant and harder to approach.

No bragging. Avoid using words like guru, mentor, coach and expert. Most people who use these terms really aren’t a guru, mentor, coach or expert. They probably don’t know any more than you do.

Protected Tweets

If you’re creating an online presence, why protect your tweets?

Tweets

Every time you tweet, it has the potential to be seen by each of your followers. Twitter doesn’t filter the tweets. So, all your tweets show up in your followers’ feeds. But, will they actually see and read it?

It depends on several factors.

• Your follower must be logged into Twitter and on the feed page of their account.
• If they have a few new tweets, they might see yours.
• If they follow hundreds or thousands of active tweeters, they probably see a small percentage of their tweets, and read a small percentage of those.

Are they looking at their Twitter feed?
How many tweets do they get in their feed?
Are they even reading any of them?

A text message is the most common way to tweet. Remember, you’re a professional. Don’t tweet in all capital letters. It’s considered yelling. Refrain from swearing or any derogatory words or phrases. A tweet written in positive terms is best.

Images with or without text stand out from plain text tweets.

Watermark your images. A watermark can be your logo, name or website. You can try to make it blend into the image. Or it can be prominently displayed, usually at the bottom.

Quotes

Affirmations

Success Quotes

Motivation and Inspiration

Fun and Interesting

Hashtags

Your tweets are seen by your followers. And only your followers that happen to catch your tweet as it scrolls thru their feed.

One way to broadcast your tweets beyond your followers is to use hashtags. To create a hashtag, start with the symbol pound sign #. Then add a word or short phrase. Whatever you add after the # is all one word, no spaces.

The trick is to find hashtags that people search. Consider using trending topics. You’ll find them down the left column of your Twitter feed. Other hashtags could be a location, like a city, state or country. A location can also be a place, like a restaurant, store or sports venue.

Hashtag possibilities are endless. But, it’s best to keep them short. Even #free or #mlm will help promote your tweet.

Where To Find Images

There are free and premium photos available on the Internet. I’ve found several websites with quality images. Some are free, others require attribution. Attribution means you must give the image owner credit. You are responsible for the images you post on your website. Don’t risk being fined. Read the license agreement before you download images.

My favorite free image and image editor sites.

Automate Twitter

Tweet Jukebox
Crowdfire
Statusbrew
Social Oomph

(NOTE: Include a description and link)

Followers

Who To Follow

Follow your target market. Your target market are the people or companies you want to attract. When you follow, some will follow back.

Beware: Fake accounts. Fake accounts may be hard to define. But, as you gain Twitter experience, you’ll start to recognize them.

Follow the followers of the leaders in your company.

Follow the followers of the social media experts.

Keep it clean.

Your tweets are a reflection of you. Remember, you’re a professional marketer. And you want to attract professionals. One rule is: Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want your mother to see. Don’t post anything that would embarrass you, your family or business associates. And don’t follow accounts filled with porn, bad language or anything that is counter to your values.

Get Social

Interact with your followers. Welcome tweet.
Tweet, Like, retweet.