Marketing on Twitter Without Looking Like a Twit

140 characters is not a lot to play with. Yet millions of Twitter users are managing just fine with the limitation.

A whole new language has evolved, designed to cram as much information as possible into that 140 character space. But how can a marketer expect to generate sales leads, promote a product or create brand recognition with these strict restrictions? The answer lies in being able to think creatively and make the best of what Twitter offers. This article will show how any marketer can influence the Tweeple by positive interaction and some inspired marketing tactics.

Current Marketing Tactics Just Don’t Work
Twitter is massive and as expected there is a huge population of marketers trying to take advantage of this. The good news for you is that most of them fail to realize the best way to utilize Twitter for a marketing advantage.

One fatal mistake the majority make, is thinking of Twitter as a mini-email marketing campaign. They repetitively bombard followers with tweet after tweet of speculative recommendations like, “This product WILL blow your mind”, or “Make $200 a day on autopilot with ZERO effort”, or even, “I make over $5000 a month using this FREE system” and then leave a shortened affiliate link for the excited reader to click on. This method has already been done to death; it is saturated, does not work and is more likely to result in a complaint and then an account removal.

Do not waste your time and make the same mistake trying these tactics. Instead, be imaginative and allow Twitter to work for you.

Get Creative If You Want to Succeed
Twitter is all about interaction. If you cannot connect with your followers you are going to fade into social media obscurity and your tweets will become invisible. But how do you connect?

This is the million dollar question. How do you get the Tweeple responding, re-tweeting and eagerly anticipating your posts?

Give Them Something
Say you have just created a brilliant new product, should you just write 100 tweets telling everyone how wonderful it is and how it will change their lives?

No – what you should do is post a tweet, or 5, stating that you need a slogan for your new product and the person who provides the best slogan will receive a free copy of your $200 product. Now that is a great way to get your followers interested and involved – it may even persuade them to tell a few of their followers and you could end up with a flood of eager new fans.

But should you just tell them – in 140 characters – what your product is about?
No – it is time to get creative. You inform them that they can find out more information, and get a feel for what your product is about, by having a ‘quick’ look at your site and then you give them a link to follow!

What this does is persuade your followers to get involved, as well as push your site link to them, without it looking like a direct pitch. You should honor your statement, give the winner a free copy and make a big Twitter song and dance about the results etc. What has actually happened is people got involved and probably went to your site to get ideas, maybe a few liked what they saw and may pop back to buy your product – if they did not win the competition.

Followers Are Your Most Important Asset
You can improve your chances of a successful campaign using this technique – especially if you selected your followers carefully in the first place. Any successful Twitter marketer must have optimized followers. What this means is that you should have keyword, or market selected, your followers – but that is an entirely separate article…

This was just one basic idea to show you how a creative marketer can manipulate Twitter to their advantage. Use it, or think outside the box and create your own campaign. Give your followers something interesting to get involved in and they will take notice of what you say, both now and in the future.

About the Author:
Traci Hayner Vanover is an author, publisher, consultant and publicist, with over 20 years experience in the fields of sales, market research and promotion. Traci’s work has been featured in national magazines, books, ebooks, and websites. She is the publisher of Everything Small Business Journal. When she’s not working on ESBJ, Traci works with private clients as a publicist, copywriter and consultant. Find out how Traci can help you position your brand and take advantage of social media by visiting her blog at http://promodiva.com.

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