How to Use Twitter As a Promotional Tool

Twitter is a popular social media website that allows users to post "micro-blogs" of 140 characters or less. It began in 2006 and is now home to more than 300 million users. Many of these users are actually businesses that promote sales, customer loyalty and new products through their account. As with most social media outlets, consistency is the key to successful Twitter promotion. It is a good idea to create a personal account and become familiar with the way Twitter works, or appoint someone who will post to your account every day. This article will tell you how to use Twitter as a promotional tool.

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   Create a Twitter account for your business. Make sure it is both the brand name of your company and includes the website name. For example, if your business is called Cooper City Promotions, and your website is coopercitypromo, you would want your account to be www.twitter.com/coopercitypromo.
   • To set up an account, go to twitter.com and click the "Sign up for Twitter" button. Input your company description, website, location and upload your logo. Fill out your profile as completely as possible, including common search terms that people use to find your company in the bio section.
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   Use your twitter link on all marketing materials, including business cards, letterhead, website, Facebook account, invoices and all other online or printed promotions. On your next email blast, include a section that asks people to find or follow you on Twitter.
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   Master the use of the hashtag. The hashtag is the "#" symbol followed by a keyword. This can be as specific as your business name, such as #coopercitypromo, or it can be keywords that people use to find your business, such as #marketing, #coopercity or #advertising.
   • Include a hashtag with #deal, #coupon or #bargain, whenever you are having a sale or promotion. There are many aggregate websites that gather all of the day's tweets that include these keywords. Also regularly include any other popular search terms that people use to find your website along with a hashtag on your daily tweets. If you tweet a coupon code, you can track your sales by all the people who use the Twitter-specific code.
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   Find people to follow by using a twitter directory like twellow or Justtweetit.Most Twitter users receive an email when someone new is following them. Add a few people every day, and many people will choose to follow you in turn.
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   Avoid hard sales tactics. Twitter accounts that pressure or only post sales and business-related content rarely keep a large amount of followers for long. Post links and statements that show you are in touch, and on the cutting edge, of industry innovation and standards.
   • If you have a strong relationship with your local community, post stories and links that support the community, other businesses and organizations. This will encourage people from your neighborhood or city to follow you for the latest updates, and they will receive your promotions at the same time.
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   Encourage employees to communicate with the company Twitter account using their personal accounts or specially-made company twitter accounts.Use the "@" symbol before the Twitter user name to direct message people or mention them in your tweets.
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   Announce all new events or products on Twitter, using product shots and details. Schedule your tweets so that they correspond with press releases for products or events. Make a hashtag for each event, such as "#coopershow."
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   Use Twitter-based contests to promote your product. Many businesses have started to give away large items, like gift cards, phones or cameras to people who retweet or direct message their Twitter account during a day or week. The following are good general guidelines to follow when holding a Twitter contest:
   • A contest will not have much impact if you have a boring Twitter account. You must first have a strong base of followers to create buzz about your company's contest. Follow new people every day, target people in your area or demographic and put time into creating a fun Twitter presence, and then hold a contest.
   • Frequent contests of lower value are better than infrequent contests at a high value. Once users understand that you hold regular contests, they are more likely to follow your account on a daily basis, occasionally retweeting your content, and gaining you followers by referral.
   • Be honest with your followers about what they will win. There were complaints recently when companies said they were giving away iPhones, but they were really sending gift cards.
   • You can hold your contest in a number of ways. You can offer it to anyone who retweets, anyone who direct messages you, anyone who uses your hashtag, or anyone who responds in a short time. You may want to try different strategies to see what results in the largest increase in followers or response.
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   Follow the "Trending Topics" on Twitter and use these common hashtags when they apply to you. Trending Topics are listed on the right side of the Twitter home page. Don't be afraid to use the hashtag a few times, if you can contribute good content or conversation.
   • Try to stay away from political trending topics. Kenneth Cole created controversy when he used the #Cairo hashtag to promote his new shoe line during the Cairo riots.
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    Employ a social media service, if you are unable to do all of this promotion within your company. Companies, such as Submitinme or coTweet, provide marketing services that focus on social media outlets like Twitter.
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    Buy a Twitter Promoted Tweet to try to target a new market. Promoted Tweets appear on top of the screen when a user searches for related topics. Go to www.business.twitter.com/advertise/promoted-tweets and use a special link, like 1 created through Google Analytics, to track website activity from Twitter