Using a Twitter Profile to Gain a Following

When you use Twitter for marketing purposes, one of the first things you want to focus on is your profile. This will not only indicate to other users who you are, but whether or not you have something of interest for them. How you create your profile can either encourage or discourage others from becoming part of your marketing success.

Keep your profile highly intentional and well targeted. Stick to the plan and don’t mix your personal profile with your marketing profile. Don’t include unnecessary personal information, pictures of your pets or your most recent vacation, or stories of that funny thing your two year old did the other day if it has no bearing on your marketing.

Use a real name, not a company name. Most people will use their real name, although some people prefer to use a pseudo name when they start marketing on Twitter in case they make a mistake and have to create a whole new campaign. If you use a company name you’re going to turn people off. A real name is a personal connection.

Your username should reflect something important, powerful, and relevant. You can use branding here if it fits. You can also use your profession. Avoid usernames that are irrelevant and personal like soccerguy, catlady021, or sailingfan if they have no bearing on your business.

Make sure you take the time to enter the information that is requested in the profile set up. People like to know who they are dealing with and that there is an actual person on the other end. An incomplete profile is actually a red flag that will keep potential followers away.

Your bio is the place to interject who you are. It’s not a resume or a chance to write a brief cover letter. This is where you can bring some of your personality and even an interest or two into the limelight. You can present yourself as a real person here. This helps to create connection in the right setting.

While you might be tempted to lock your Tweets to feel like you have control over who is following you and who isn’t, this is a bad idea. Remember that this is for marketing purposes. Any locked settings will often prevent someone from following you. Make it an open account. Set up a locked account for your personal Tweets, not your marketing ones.

A headshot is not a bad idea as it gives a face to the name. If you are busy on more than one site, it’s usually recommended that you use the same headshot for all sites. Tweeters are often Facebookers and etcetera. Maintaining the same look will help. However, use something different for your personal accounts. Avoid avatars, especially those that are cutesy and irrelevant.

Marketing isn’t just about being out there. It’s about being out there and getting noticed. Therefore, taking the time and using a custom background in order to reflect either your brand or the proper qualities of your business is a great idea. It shows your potential followers that you are not just here for a day to “see what happens” and it helps extend your familiarity.

Twitter has a very useful tool for helping your profile become more follower friendly. If you take a moment and use the grader (twitter.com/grader) you’ll be able to receive direct feedback in helping your profile reach more users in a more productive manner.

Using Social Networking to Promote Your Company

Many companies today have strict rules about using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the workplace: sometimes access to these sites is completely blocked. Other companies have embraced social media and social networking sites as a new means to market their products and services and increase brand recognition. In fact, there are now employees or online marketing agencies retained by some companies whose sole purpose is to focus on promoting the company via social networking sites.

While it can be difficult in some cases to balance healthy social networking activities in the workplace versus those that affect productivity in a negative way, it is ultimately beneficial to a company to allow its employees to promote the company, provided certain guidelines are implemented and enforced.

As a manager or owner of a company, you’ll likely find that satisfied employees will promote the company not only in the workplace, but also during their personal time at home, via social networking and social media sites. Provided your employees are aware of and understand the social networking policies developed by your company, such promotion should be welcomed and encouraged. Today’s online marketplace is all about brand awareness and visibility – having a team of employees furthering the cause while off the clock translates to cost-effective marketing with a high ROI.

Social Networking Guidelines for Employees
Allow employees to post links to industry-related information, or announcements about upcoming specials or sales. You might even consider paying employees to do this on an ongoing basis. However, some employees might also take their own initiative and do this anyway during their own personal social networking time at home. While this is generally a good thing, there might be reasons you prefer not to have employees engage in these marketing tactics. Therefore it would be worthwhile to instruct employees as to whether or not these actions are desired, and if you would prefer them to focus on any particular method or means of promotion.

Of course, if using social networking to promote your company is permitted, then the postings or Internet discussions by employees should always be supportive and positive. Additionally, managers should make it clear as to what types of company-related information is permitted to be posted, and what is to remain private information. Posting or discussing the wrong types of information, or even worse, confidential company information, can damage a company’s reputation, not to mention an employee’s career and employment.

A refined example of a company’s social networking guidelines for employees can be found at the Oracle website. Aside from the guidelines posted there, additional suggestions for employee’s efforts to promote their company online include using social bookmarking sites to share articles, press releases, or other industry and company related information. Employees can also share videos, pictures and links, and encourage others to become friends, followers or fans of a company’s Facebook or Twitter account, if applicable.

If your company employs a copywriter or web marketer versed in SEO techniques, it may be helpful to have them instruct your employees about the usefulness of keywords. Employees that promote your company online by using specific targeted keywords when applicable will make it much easier for others to find that information and subsequently find their way to your website. Likewise, including hyperlinks in blog postings, forum postings, or other related means also serves to increase ways in which your website can be found.

For additional web marketing resources, articles, and industry-related press releases, visit the resources section of Active Web Group, Long Island’s leading online marketing solutions company. Additionally, be sure to sign up for their free email newsletter, which offers even more internet marketing tips and information.