Some time ago, I received the question from @Jessevandoren – who is launching his gaming platform soon. www.nicegames.nl – how he could generate as many followers as possible on Twitter, so that when he goes online, it won't go entirely unnoticed. Of course, it would be even better if all those followers happened to be his target audience as well.
The impact of Twitter
Jesse understands very well what Twitter can mean for him at such an early stage. Not many people stop to consider the impact social media can have in such a case, especially for an online service or product like a gaming platform. There are many people who know their way around Twitter well but who don't get the most out of it.
You can use Twitter very effectively for your online marketing and communication. But why is this so important?
Get the most out of Twitter
Research has shown that tweeting entrepreneurs with many followers secure more assignments than entrepreneurs with fewer followers. Twitter makes it easy to introduce your product or service to your target audience. However, to do this, you need to create a certain level of support on Twitter, which is often where things go wrong. Many entrepreneurs make only minimal use of Twitter. How do you get the most out of Twitter? Below are a few handy tips to keep in mind.
Do's and Don'ts
Finding your target audience is important. To do this, take a look at your competitors' followers and, even more importantly, who do they follow? You can also search for keywords related to your product or service, or for specific hashtags. Follow your target audience and look for important information you can glean from them. Read what is on their minds at the moment. You can easily pick up on trends with Twitter. You can use all this information for market research or usability studies, among other things.
Simply advertising your product or service is often perceived as spam and therefore has a high irritation factor. This causes you to lose followers, and what we actually want is to generate followers.
So, only tweet relevant, fun, special, or interesting information. For example, browse blogs for articles and/or videos to share. You can use Google Reader, which monitors your favorite blogs and news sites for new items that you can potentially tweet.
To draw attention to yourself and your company, you need to actively participate in discussions on Twitter. Respond to people and ask for feedback; you will learn a lot from this. What are the needs of your target audience? Ensure that your biography aligns well with your company and is clear.
It is nice for people to see a face behind a company so that they can identify with you and feel personally addressed. Do be careful not to get too personal, though; we all know, for example, how much value we Dutch people place on football. So, it is better to tweet fanatically about your favorite football club on your personal Twitter account.
It is also important that you do not neglect Twitter. Tweet at least twice a day, but don't overtweet. You will quickly notice the impact on your follower count if you tweet too little or too much. It is also important to keep an eye on what is being said about you and when. Unfortunately, it is the complaints that spread rapidly. Take the tragic case of the Twitter war between T-Mobile and Youp van 't Hek as an example. However, research has shown that positive Twitter users have more followers than negative ones.
When Twitter is used as a marketing and communication tool, a whole new world can open up for you. Just a little time and attention. Integrate this into your daily work and it will quickly become a habit.
Success!