With more than 320 million active users, there is no doubt that Twitter is a great marketing tool. It gives you many opportunities to connect with your target audience. Whether you are marketing a startup or an established company, it plays a crucial role in your marketing landscape. That being said, you must be conversant with Twitter marketing etiquette, or you may end up offending customers and alienating prospects. Here are the mistakes you should never make on Twitter.
#1 Not Having a Twitter Marketing Strategy
The first and greatest rule of Twitter marketing is that you must have a strategy. Set goals, work on analytics, and know your strengths and weaknesses. While one of your tweets might go viral, you can’t sit and hope that all the others will. You must have a plan or you’ll be seen as a one-hit-wonder. When formulating your strategy, think outside the box. Test long-term and short-term campaigns, record the metrics for constant improvement, and know how you can use your account to its full potential. Understand your target audience and create a dedicated marketing strategy for Twitter.
#2 Overselling Your Brand
Is it possible to oversell your brand? Absolutely! Many social media marketers tend to forget that social media is all about engaging with people. They focus on getting more followers instead of creating relationships with their audiences. One of the biggest mistakes you can make on Twitter is to focus solely on your brand. The most successful marketers not only share their brands’ messages and drive traffic to their sites, they concentrate on building relationships with their followers and sharing third-party content. For every brand-related post you share, share 4 community engagement or third-party posts.
#3 Not Using Analytics Tools
Truth be told, there are numerous Twitter analytics tools and it can be hard to choose the perfect one. Thankfully, Twitter makes the job easy. The site has its own analytics platform that helps you to know how your tweets resonate with your audience. You can click on tweets to see how they performed and learn about the interests, demographics, and locations of your followers. You can also use analytics tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer.
Truth be told, there are numerous Twitter analytics tools and it can be hard to choose the perfect one. Thankfully, Twitter makes the job easy. The site has its own analytics platform that helps you to know how your tweets resonate with your audience. You can click on tweets to see how they performed and learn about the interests, demographics, and locations of your followers. You can also use analytics tools such as Hootsuite or Buffer.
#4 Ignoring Feedback
Most marketers do not use Twitter to address customer feedback. Experience is everything in this day and age, and you have to monitor feedback if you want fans to become loyal customers. Nurture relationships built from both negative and positive feedback. Ignoring customers’ comments on Twitter is like ignoring emails; however, it’s worse since it’s on a public platform. Put aside your fears and engage with your followers in an open and honest manner. When you respond to negative feedback tactfully, you will be rewarded.
#5 Buying Followers
This is one of the biggest mistakes people make on Twitter. Many new marketers buy followers in order to jump-start their Twitter marketing. They soon discover that it’s futile. It is better to have 100 followers who engage with you than 10,000 followers who don’t know you exist. In addition, if your followers are not genuine, your messages don’t get to them. Always remember that quality overrides quantity. Don’t focus on numbers, concentrate on building honest relationships. Buying followers can also create a bad public reaction. It can ruin your brand and have a negative impact on your bottom line.
#6 Not Using Hashtags or Using Them Incorrectly
Twitter hashtags can help create visibility for your brand and showcase what it has to offer. But using too many hashtags is simply annoying. Limit hashtag usage and use only those that relate to what you’re trying to communicate. If you don’t use hashtags because you think your business is too small, it’s time for a change. Hashtags can expand the reach of your tweets and help you to get more followers. Make sure each of your tweets has at least 1-2 hashtags.
#7 Automating Everything
Many marketers and entrepreneurs schedule every tweet and send automated direct messages. While automation can decrease your workload, it reduces genuine interaction and your followers may start to feel like they are engaging with a corporate robot. When you automate everything, you turn your account into a ghost town. Your followers may start to wonder why they follow you as you are never available. As a result, you get unfollowed. If you schedule your tweets, be sure to monitor your account. Auto-tweeting can lead to epic blunders – and it has in the past.
#8 Publishing Carelessly Written Tweets
“Read my latest post” and “Check this out” are overused Twitter marketing phrases. They are easily ignored, which means you get less clicks and fewer RTs. You must proofread your tweets before publishing them. Followers won’t bother to read tweets with bad grammar and spelling when there are many correctly-spelled ones out there. Never forget that tweets are a type of copywriting; to have impact, they must be legible and attention-grabbing.
#9 Not Being Social
Many Twitter users are on the platform to engage with their families, friends, peers, and their favorite brands. They follow brands in order to learn more about them and to know about promotions and new products. They expect you to be approachable and communicative. Don’t make the mistake of constantly posting promotional content. Create a two-way conversation with your audience and make them feel valued. Build a rapport with them and educate them by posting important industry content. They won’t think twice about buying from you.
#10 Not Having a Consistent Brand Voice
Big companies like Microsoft, Google, and LinkedIn pay attention to their brand voice. Brand voice refers to the style of writing and the tone of communications. These mega companies understand that their corporate tone of voice determines how customers perceive them. They also know that a unique and recognizable voice is what sets them apart from their competitors. Your brand’s personality is determined by the content you share and the words you use. Always have a consistent brand voice. Never tweet in a different tone or go off-topic as you may alienate your following.
Most marketers do not use Twitter to address customer feedback. Experience is everything in this day and age, and you have to monitor feedback if you want fans to become loyal customers. Nurture relationships built from both negative and positive feedback. Ignoring customers’ comments on Twitter is like ignoring emails; however, it’s worse since it’s on a public platform. Put aside your fears and engage with your followers in an open and honest manner. When you respond to negative feedback tactfully, you will be rewarded.
#5 Buying Followers
This is one of the biggest mistakes people make on Twitter. Many new marketers buy followers in order to jump-start their Twitter marketing. They soon discover that it’s futile. It is better to have 100 followers who engage with you than 10,000 followers who don’t know you exist. In addition, if your followers are not genuine, your messages don’t get to them. Always remember that quality overrides quantity. Don’t focus on numbers, concentrate on building honest relationships. Buying followers can also create a bad public reaction. It can ruin your brand and have a negative impact on your bottom line.
#6 Not Using Hashtags or Using Them Incorrectly
Twitter hashtags can help create visibility for your brand and showcase what it has to offer. But using too many hashtags is simply annoying. Limit hashtag usage and use only those that relate to what you’re trying to communicate. If you don’t use hashtags because you think your business is too small, it’s time for a change. Hashtags can expand the reach of your tweets and help you to get more followers. Make sure each of your tweets has at least 1-2 hashtags.
#7 Automating Everything
Many marketers and entrepreneurs schedule every tweet and send automated direct messages. While automation can decrease your workload, it reduces genuine interaction and your followers may start to feel like they are engaging with a corporate robot. When you automate everything, you turn your account into a ghost town. Your followers may start to wonder why they follow you as you are never available. As a result, you get unfollowed. If you schedule your tweets, be sure to monitor your account. Auto-tweeting can lead to epic blunders – and it has in the past.
#8 Publishing Carelessly Written Tweets
“Read my latest post” and “Check this out” are overused Twitter marketing phrases. They are easily ignored, which means you get less clicks and fewer RTs. You must proofread your tweets before publishing them. Followers won’t bother to read tweets with bad grammar and spelling when there are many correctly-spelled ones out there. Never forget that tweets are a type of copywriting; to have impact, they must be legible and attention-grabbing.
#9 Not Being Social
Many Twitter users are on the platform to engage with their families, friends, peers, and their favorite brands. They follow brands in order to learn more about them and to know about promotions and new products. They expect you to be approachable and communicative. Don’t make the mistake of constantly posting promotional content. Create a two-way conversation with your audience and make them feel valued. Build a rapport with them and educate them by posting important industry content. They won’t think twice about buying from you.
#10 Not Having a Consistent Brand Voice
Big companies like Microsoft, Google, and LinkedIn pay attention to their brand voice. Brand voice refers to the style of writing and the tone of communications. These mega companies understand that their corporate tone of voice determines how customers perceive them. They also know that a unique and recognizable voice is what sets them apart from their competitors. Your brand’s personality is determined by the content you share and the words you use. Always have a consistent brand voice. Never tweet in a different tone or go off-topic as you may alienate your following.
Twitter might be easy to use, but marketing on the platform can be a difficult endeavor. Many social media marketers struggle to leverage demand generation from Twitter. While making mistakes is part of life, some can be shocking and downright embarrassing. Some can even make your brand to trend for the wrong reasons. Avoid these Twitter marketing mistakes and make your brand stand out for all the right reasons.
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