Going Viral on Twitter: A Social Media Marketing Guide for Businesses

Twitter has remained one of the cornerstones of social media marketing since it was launched in 2006. Today, virtually every tech-savvy business that maintains a social network presence incorporates Twitter into their marketing strategy. This is because it is a very effective platform: a single 140-character update has the potential to expose your business to thousands of new users while forgoing the high costs of a traditional advertising scheme. However, Twitter’s ongoing popularity can make it quite difficult for your business to stand out amongst a cyber-sea of competitors. As with all social media marketing, succeeding on Twitter requires diligent user engagement and a unique content strategy.



Tweeting with Personality

Twitter is a great platform for posting links to external content in order to gain page views and customer conversions. However, be careful not to overdo it: if the vast majority of your Tweets are external URLs, users might perceive your profile as a spam account. To avoid this, incorporate an abundance of internal content within your Twitter stream. This can include relevant photos and videos, as well as engaging text-based updates. Be witty, comment on current affairs and trends: basically, use your Tweets to build a personality for your brand. This way, users will perceive your company as a unique individual rather than a mere business entity.

When you do post external links, use the additional characters to build intrigue. Ask a relevant question or include a clever description so that users feel compelled to click on the posted URL. Essentially, your Tweets should make users feel like they are interacting with an interesting person rather than being marketed to.

Engage Your Audience

Building and maintaining a large Twitter following requires consistent interaction with your potential customers. Write intriguing content that opens a dialogue, then use the “Reply” button to comment back and forth with users. Remember, every time a user responds to one of your posts, they are essentially marketing your brand to their own followers, so the more interaction the better. Additionally, use the “Retweet” and “Favorite” buttons to actively engage users who post content that is relevant to your business.

You can also use hashtags to properly categorize your posts and reach a larger audience. However, don’t limit your posts to generic hashtag descriptions, which are often overlooked. Research trending tags to include while incorporating witty multi-word hashtags that engage potential customers on a personal level.

Build a Twitter Profile that Demands Attention

One of the highlights of Twitter is that an unlimited number of users can follow your future updates. As you garner a large following over time, your business can reach a tremendous number of potential customers on a daily basis. One of the keys to acquiring a large following is a profile that stands out from the crowd. In addition to being a reflection of your business, your profile should be engaging such that new users feel compelled to click that valuable “Follow” button as soon as they stumble onto your page.

The platform offers some valuable tools for creating an engaging profile. The top of your page displays your business’ name and location, which helps grab the attention of local users. You can also list a website so that users can easily click through to your business’ external page. But the most valuable information listed is your company’s bio: this gives you a chance to be unique and memorable to users who are seeing your page for the first time. Don’t waste your bio to list a generic business description. Instead, write a compelling bio that incorporates wit and humor if possible. Set yourself apart from your competitors by cleverly describing the services and philosophies that make your business unique.

An effective profile also needs to be visually striking. Avoid using the generic background images offered by Twitter. Instead, create a personalized background to give your page a unique appearance that reflects your business’ personality. The same goes for your header image: it should grab the attention of incoming users and stick in their subconscious minds long after they’ve left your page. Finally, there’s the profile photo: this is a good place to include your company logo. Combining these elements, your profile will be far more engaging and memorable than the average generic business page on Twitter.

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