It is hard to get a message across to consumers, let alone in 140 characters or less. Trying to say everything a brand needs to say in one Tweet is challenging, especially when adding hash tags (#summer) or tags (@michaelkors) because these alone can sometimes take up many of the already small amount of characters allotted. In order to make the most of the tweet keep these things in mind:
Have an Objective
Just like any other marketing campaign, a Twitter campaign needs to have stated objectives. Each Tweet needs have to a clear message and a quality message. Paula Dean, host of several cooking shows, including Paula’s Home Cooking, does an excellent job writing tweets for her audience. Her tweets consist of recipes, tips for keeping your home in tip-top shape, and links to her website. @Paula_Dean
Do Not Add Extras
Since tweets are already short, sometimes people overload them with tags and hash tags. This can create a tweet many will refuse to read. One or two hash tags or tags are enough and will go a long way. Levenger, who sells high end office supplies, posts Tweets that have up to 8 or 9 hash tags in one post. This is tagging overload! Does that convey an important message to you or do you just ignore them? For some ideas on using hash tags properly, check out our other blog, Don’t Ignore the #
Talk About What Matters
It’s hard to get people to care about day-to-day activities of a company. Tweet about things that will make other tweeters more interested in your brand. Starbucks has tapped into various interests, one of them being jobs. If you are looking for a job, StarbucksJobs is a Twitter account to follow. Whenever there is a job opening in the company, the job is posted. It gives a little information about the job, along with a link to a longer job description. This is a great idea for larger companies to use. @StarbucksJobs
Interact
Just posting Tweets does nothing for the brand; customer interaction is necessary in maintaining a loyal following. Whole Foods answers questions their followers have asked and ask specific followers questions. Each tweet where Whole Foods tags a follower further proves that they care about their fans and customers. @WholeFoods
Timing Is Key
Even though Twitter has blown up, and tweets can be sent straight to a mobil device, it is rare that followers will be active at 4 a.m. on a Tuesday to read their Twitter Feed. Also, think about where the audience of an audience is located. If it is an international company, the time in America is several hours different than in Asia, so the tweets may have a hard time reaching a follower. To solve this problem, iTunes has created several accounts that all deal with different time zones. They are able to post the same tweets, but at different times and even in different languages, while achieving the same message for each follower. Try it, search Twitter for iTunes, and the one closest to your location will appear. @iTunesMusic
Twitter can be difficult for many to fully grasp and comprehend at first glace. However, all it takes is a little experimenting and exploration. Give it some time and before you know it, Twitter will be your new social media best friend.
