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Twitter Marketing with Vine Integration

January 29, 2013/by Corey Padveen

With the newly integrated Vine app on Twitter, there are new Twitter marketing capabilities that you can leverage for your business.

Recently, Twitter acquired Vine, a video sharing social network that allows users to create six-second clips and post them to their accounts. Twitter marketing has for some time been relatively stagnant. The network was late to the photo sharing game (despite offering Instagram half a billion dollars prior to the Facebook acquisition) and, some could argue, missed the boat entirely with regards to becoming an industry leader in the realm of photo sharing. That said, people still love sharing content, and if YouTube and Instagram have taught us anything, it is that people love sharing visual and video content. Enter Vine.

Twitter marketing took a major step forward last week with the announcement that they had acquired the video sharing social network. So how can you leverage Vine in your Twitter marketing to get the most out of it? Take a look at the tips below to see how you can use Vine with your Twitter marketing efforts.

Get Creative!

Yes, you are only given six seconds to showcase your stuff; but that six seconds can mean making a pretty bold statement in the eyes of potential clients on Twitter. Using the editing capabilities afforded by Vine, you can turn your Twitter marketing into a visual wonder. Six seconds is actually a blessing in disguise. If we have learned one thing from YouTube (and it’s analytics) it is that people tend to get bored. If you are not engaging an audience for the entirety of your video, they will almost surely drop off towards the latter bit. The beauty of these six seconds on Vine is that you would be hard pressed to get someone to turn off your video before the six seconds is up. So get creative and leave an impression with your Vine video!

Treat Your Video Like a Commercial

Dan Zarrella, Social Media Scientist at HubSpot claims that Twitter is a broadcast medium. Do not be confused with conventional forms of broadcast media – Twitter is not a venue in which to solely tout your skills. Granted, through engagement and responses, Twitter can be an excellent channel to drive traffic to your website or a squeeze page – more so than most other social networks – but Twitter marketing needs to be approached strategically, and Vine adds an entirely new element to the world of Twitter marketing. Using Vine’s capabilities, Twitter can be a realm in which a six second commercial for your brand is inexpensive and effective. As noted above, creativity is king when it comes to Vine. And if you can be creative in six seconds while engaging an audience and driving new traffic to your site, then you have mastered Twitter marketing using Vine. This is the new challenge afforded by the integration of Vine – creativity is hard enough without restrictions like time. So it is going to be the great marketing minds that put forth viable and successful Twitter marketing campaigns using Vine.

What do you think of the newest weapon in the Twitter marketing arsenal? Do you plan on integrating Vine into your social media marketing efforts? How? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Fun Facts and Stats

January 28, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media is constantly evolving and at shockingly high rates; these numbers prove that.

Over the course of the last few years, social media has made its way into virtually every aspect of our lives. As such, in this short period of time we have seen some unprecedented numbers when it comes to social media. Below are a few fun facts and figures as they relate to social media as a whole and by network.

Social Media

Roughly one third of bloggers are mothers.
There are more devices connected to the Internet than there are people on Earth.
40% of people spend more time socializing on social networks than they do face-to-face.
AllTwitter reports that every minute of the day:
- 100,000 tweets are sent.
- Over 680,000 pieces of content are shared on Facebook.
- 2 million queries are made on Google.
- 3,600 photos are shared on Instagram.
- Over $270,000 is spent online by consumers.
22.5% of time spent online is spent on social media networks.
70% of adults on social networks shop online.
53% of adults on social networks follow a brand.
57% of marketers say they have acquired a customer as a result of blogging.
44% of marketers say they have acquired a customer from Twitter.
The use of social media has increased more than 350% since June 2006.
65% of traffic on Pinterest is from the United States.
Blogs increase web traffic by 55% for companies.
35% of the comments on brand Facebook Pages are compliments.
Over half of all mobile searches lead to a purchase.
90% of mobile searches lead to some sort of action.

Facebook

Facebook users combined spend over 10.5 billion minutres on the social media network every day.
Only half of all Facebook users have over 100 friends.
People spend over twice as much time on Facebook as they do on Google every month.
AllFacebook reports that in an analysis of over 60 Facebook marketing campaigns, 49 percent reported a return on investment of more than five times, while 70 percent had a return on investment greater than three times.
Less than 0.5% of Facebook users engage with the brands they are fans of in a given week.
20% of Facebook have made a purchase as a result of an ad or post they saw on the social network.
Half of all smartphones are connecting to Facebook every hour of every day.

Twitter

There are over half a billion registered accounts on Twitter but only 140 million active users.
15% of adults user Twitter.
29% of the Twitter user base is between the ages of 18-29, the largest demographic on the network.
Users aged 30-49 represent 14% of people on Twitter and 50-64, 9%.
The average number of followers for any Twitter user is 27.
A quarter of all Twitter accounts have no followers.
40% of Twitter accounts have never sent a tweet.
79% of Twitter users are more likely to recommend a brand they follow.
67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from a brand they follow.
57% of businesses that use social media use Twitter.

61% of LinkedIn users use the social media network as their primary professional networking site.
81% of LinkedIn users belong to at least one group.
82% of users are aware of ads available on LinkedIn.
60% of users on LinkedIn have clicked on an ad feature on the site.
90% of surveyed LinkedIn users find the site to be helpful.
61% of LinkedIn users are registered for the free version of the network.

Mobile

10% of Internet usage worldwide is now done via mobile smartphones.
Roughly one quarter of the world’s 4 billion mobile devices are smartphones.
Nearly 8% of web traffic in the United States is mobile traffic.
29% of mobile users are willing to scan mobile codes (i.e. QR codes) to receive specials and promotions.
39% of consumers who leave a store without making a purchase are influenced by mobile.
91% of mobile access to the web is done for social networking purposes.
Over one third of Facebook users and half of Twitter users access the social networks via their mobile devices.
QR code scans increased 300% year over year from 2010 to 2011.
73% of smartphone users access social networks using mobile apps at least once per day.
One in ten dollars spent on e-commerce in the United States is done on mobile devices.
87% of the world’s population subscribes to a mobile device.

Social Media for Business

27% of small and 34% of medium businesses are using social media for business (expected to reach over 75% in the next three years).
MarketingMag reports that 25% of SMBs have no strategy and only 28% of small and 24% of medium businesses measure their ROI of social media activity.
83% of socially savvy consumers have walked away from a purchase in the past year after a negative customer service experience – compared with 49% of everyone else.
Of businesses using social media, 80% are using it to monitor and extract data related to competitors.
Only 44% of customer questions on twitter are answered within 24 hours.
56% of customer tweets to companies are being ignored – that’s much too high!
55% of consumers share their purchases socially on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social sites.
59% of Pinterest users have purchased an item they saw on the site.
33% of Facebook users have purcahsed an item they saw on their news feed or a friend’s wall.
79% of Pinterest users are more likely to purchase items they’ve seen on Pinterest.
64% of Facebook users have clicked on a Facebook ad.
87% of the Fortune 100 now use social media – with Twitter being the most popular social media network.
75% of the Fortune 100 are on Facebook.
50% of Fortune 100 companies have a Google+ account.
25% of Fortune 100 companies have a Pinterest account.
Facebook is the number one social marketing tool for brands at 83%.
On average companies respond to only 30% of social media fans’ feedback.
40% of young workers rate access to social media at work above receiving a higher salary!
Over 50% of workers aged over 50 use social media every day at work.
94% of corporates use social media and 85% say it’s given their business more exposure.
74% of brand marketers saw an increase in website traffic after investing just 6 hours per week on social media.
65% of corporate marketers use social media to gain market intelligence.
70% of brands ignore complaints on Twitter.
83% of people who complained on Twitter loved the response from those companies that did make the effort.
Only 26% of businesses regularly include a call to action in their tweets.
42% of marketers believe Facebook is critical or important to their business.
Social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing.
80% of US social network users prefer to connect to brands through Facebook.
Facebook is responsible for 86% of social referrals, Pinterest 11% and Twitter 3%.
Over 25% of Twitter users would consider contacting a business via the platform.
39% of companies do not track their social media responses at all, and 55% ignore all customer feedback on Twitter and Facebook, largely because they have no process in place to respond.

That’s a ton of information! Social media is growing more and more important to business every year. We are still at a stage where entry barriers are low and the benefits of using social media for your business are notable and impressive. The proof is in the numbers! Which of these statistics did you find to be the most impressive? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

SEO Demystified: Penguin and Panda [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 25, 2013/by Corey Padveen

For SEO, Google’s Penguin and Panda updates meant a lot…but what did they mean?

SEO has long been one of, if not the most important element when it comes to getting found online. For years, Google has been modifying and tweaking it’s coveted algorithm. In 2012, Penguin and Panda were added to the mix, and for a moment, the world stood still.

Penguin and Panda were two of the largest – and most public – changes to the Google algorithm to date. Effectively, they brought about a new era to content. Unlike the golden ages of the past where keywords were king, Google’s updates put a lot more weight on the quality of content as opposed to, well, it’s contents. SEO is a complicated beast, and not everyone grasps exactly what it is, how it works, or how to do it. That is why firms charge thousands of dollars a year for successful campaigns. Well, this great infographic demystifies the Penguin and Panda elements of the Google algorithm, and puts some SEO elements in perspective. SEO is important, and in order to understand how to optimize, you have to first understand how the engines – like Google – work.

Have a look at the infographic below and let us know how you plan to modify, or have modified your SEO strategies with the Penguin and Panda updates in place. Did you even have to make any changes? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Marketing Myopia: The Danger of Nearsightedness

January 24, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media marketing is an expansive tool, and ignoring it can mean a brand’s demise; and it can mean it much sooner than they think.

First of all, what is marketing myopia? The term, coined by Theodore Levitt in a Harvard Business Review article in 1960, refers to a company’s complacency when it reaches a certain stature.

Effectively, it suggests that companies in growth industries will stop innovating when they reach a certain threshold, and simply ride the wave of success, assuming research and development cannot benefit the company in any way. Levitt explains that, eventually, a company focuses solely on the product and not on the customer.

This myopic and nearsighted view results in lowered barriers to entry, and new companies with a focus on innovation taking charge. The results to the once dominant brands are detrimental, and in many cases, it means their demise.

So how does marketing myopia fit in with social media marketing?

We posted an article about a social media marketing study conducted by MIT and Deloitte. In the study, findings show that brands have three years to get social. Despite these conclusions, only 18% of brands currently feel that social media is essential to business success. This is where marketing myopia fits in to social media marketing.

Many (in fact, most) major players in the largest industries today feel as though the path that led to their current stature is the undisputed path to success. Thus, social media marketing would add little if anything to further success. This mentality, according to Levitt, is what led to the decline (and near disappearance) of the railroad and film industries in the early part of the 20th century. An unwillingness to adopt new techniques and modify strategies can do nothing but hurt a brand.

The MIT-Deloitte study explained the hesitation by big brands to adopt social media marketing as a somewhat paradoxical phenomenon.

In economics, first mover advantage is defined as the advantage gained by the initial occupant of a market segment. Therefore, based on this theory, the early adopters of social media marketing stand to benefit the most. Yet, the study showed that many major brands refuse to move into this new medium without proven results. This is completely counter-intuitive, particularly when companies like IBM and Dell have found such great success using social media marketing after years of research and testing.

As we have noted, brands do not have long before social media marketing becomes as integral a part of every day business as the most essential of departments. By neglecting social in its incipience, brands stand to lose much more than first mover advantage. The numbers show it: companies can simply not afford to overlook social media marketing.

What are your thoughts on social media marketing myopia? Do you believe social media is on its way to being a cornerstone of successul business (if it is not already)? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media is a Must for Businesses

January 23, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media is crucial to the success of any business, and this recent study by MIT and Deloitte shows exactly why…in numbers!

Three years. That is the time frame this study has given for businesses to adopt social media. For many of us, social media for business is a no-brainer. The advantages far outweigh the costs, and the returns are both measurable and remarkable. So why are so many still hesitant when it comes to adopting social media as a cornerstone of their business?

There is always the argument that due to the medium’s incipience, there has not been a chance for longitudinal studies to be conducted, and therefore its viability can be questioned. While this holds true for most media, social is in a class of its own. On a micro level, we can examine Pinterest. Over 1,500% growth in traffic over the last year! Pinterest is just another juggernaut on the unstoppable train that is social media for business, and finally a study shows that.

The study conducted by MIT and Deloitte show that social is present in all facets of business, it proves to be an excellent resource for numerous departments, and yet only 18% of businesses have incorporated social media fully into their strategies. Well, that might change as a result of their findings. Three years is the calculated deadline for businesses to go social. Missing the proverbial social media boat can cost businesses significantly. Take a look at the video below to see why that is the case when it comes to social media for business.

Do you agree with the study’s findings? How long would you say it will take for social to be among the most important aspects of successful business strategies (if it isn’t already)? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Marketing vs. Classic Marketing [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 22, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media marketing presents a number of difference when compared to classic forms of marketing.

What are some of the differences when it comes to social media marketing as compared to classic marketing? For decades, marketing made small adjustments, but the basic concepts remained the same. A formula was developed and executed by marketers in nearly every industry. Sure, there were some subtle differences from one industry to the next, but the core concepts remained intact. Social media marketing entered the game a few years ago, and marketing as a field saw some drastic changes that it had never seen before.

The infographic below details some of these changes and highlights how social media marketing is different in almost every way from conventional forms of marketing. It might be hard to imagine, but in each of the ten fields below it is clear that one’s approach to a social media marketing strategy must be very, if not completely different from an approach to classic marketing.

Have a look at the infographic and let us know: did you think there was this much of a difference between the executions of classic marketing versus social media marketing? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Engagement on LinkedIn: Proceeding Without ‘Answers’

January 21, 2013/by Corey Padveen

LinkedIn announced that they will be shutting down the Answers feature at the end of January; how should you proceed with your social media engagement on the business network from here on?

Since 2007, LinkedIn Answers has been a forum on the business-oriented social media network where individuals could post their questions then rate users’ answers based on their quality. The premise was simple: the better your answer rankings, the higher you would rate the next time you posted an answer. (Similar in concept to the LinkedIn Endorsement feature.) Well, over the weekend LinkedIn announced that they will not be continuing with the Answers feature, and that it will be shut down on January 31st.

This brings up an interesting issue: how can you go about engaging on the social media network now that the Answers feature will be disabled?

As we never tire of pointing out, social media is all about engaging, and when a feature like Answers disappears from the engagement repertoire of a social media network (presumably to be replaced with something else relatively soon) it is important – particularly if you were a frequent user of the tool – to restructure your strategy accordingly.

Groups are an excellent way of engaging on LinkedIn. Similar to Google+ Communities, Groups on LinkedIn are forums in which everyone shares a common interest. How is this beneficial? This means that if you are posting relevant content to that audience, you can rest assured that the majority of that audience will be intrigued by what you have to say. In some ways this is even better than Answers because you do not need to rely on people finding your answer, rating it and having your credit build up over time. Be careful, though. Our assumption is that LinkedIn Answers is shutting down because of two things: first, there is little engagement taking place within the Answers forums and the cost far outweighs the benefits people are deriving from it. Second, when someone posts a question related to business, it is not uncommon for some less professional users to simply respond with a sales pitch or a link to their website. LinkedIn is a professional network, but it is more about showcasing your intellect and skills through your profile and your posts, not blatantly selling yourself or your product. Groups – particularly the bigger and more well established ones – help avoid this issue by monitoring conversations for such posts and removing them (and those who posted them) whenever possible.

A second area where you might stand to benefit from engagement is your own, or your company’s profile. Engaging content is always a great way to get a conversation going and maintain it. And questions or calls to action are statistically more likely to drive engagement than simple posts without either of those elements.

It will be interesting to see where LinkedIn decides to go with a new feature. If Answers was not the engagement tool they hoped it would be (despite our thoughts that it was an excellent feature) then hopefully what replaces it will be that much better.

What do you think about LinkedIn Answers being shut down? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Facebook Marketing: What You Need to Know About Graph Search

January 18, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Facebook marketing took a major leap forward with the introduction of Graph Search. So how does this impact your Facebook marketing strategies?

Facebook marketing has become relatively standardized in the past few years with the exception of a few minor changes. Apart from the introduction of Timeline and the subsequent modifications to the EdgeRank algorithm, businesses have not had to make many major changes to their Facebook marketing strategies. Well, it looks like that might be changing. A couple of days ago, Facebook publicly introduced their newest feature: Graph Search.

Facebook’s Graph Search does quite a bit in terms of pushing forward the Facebook marketing platform – both internally and externally. To date, Facebook’s search components have been uninspired at best. The limits of Facebook search reached no further than looking up friends and businesses. What Graph Search does is it gives new life to the dying search features Facebook has been struggling to keep up with. Essentially, this seems to be a first step in Facebook’s quest to catch up to Google in the world of online domination, and it means a lot of change to strategy for Facebook marketing professionals.

Some months ago, Google+ introduced Communities. We posted an article about Google+ Communities and noted how they were far superior to anything Facebook was doing in terms of promoting business on a social level. Graph Search appears to be a pseudo response to Communities (and Google in general), and below are a few key points marketers should take away when it comes to Facebook marketing with Graph Search.

1. Facebook Marketing Becomes More Local

The ‘Like’ count on Facebook has always been a focal point for businesses. After all, the higher your ‘Like’ count, the more perceived credibility your business has to the Facebook audience. Well, what Graph Search does is it makes your ‘Like’ count much more important, and introduces an entirely new element to it.

One criticism local businesses often have when it comes to social media marketing is that, because they are local, they do not stand to benefit from a social media program. While there is plenty of evidence to the contrary, Graph Search adds another argument that even the most skeptical of local businesses cannot ignore. Using Graph Search, Facebook users can now search for specific businesses that friends like in a given area. For example, someone can search for “Restaurants my friends like in Los Angeles” and see results of restaurants that their friends have liked in that particular area. So the quality of your ‘Likes’ now matters far more than it did before. While there is no shortage of services that businesses can use to buy additional ‘Likes’, they will have little to no impact on results generated through Graph Search. The screenshot below is an example of this.

Promoting your business to a local audience becomes all the more important with the Graph Search capabilities. This is an element that should be taken heavily into account when Graph Search goes live and marketers are putting together Facebook marketing strategies.

2. Engage with Your Audience

We stress engagement so often, that it almost sounds like a broken record. But in the end, engagement is what will drive a successful social media marketing campaign. In addition to boosting your EdgeRank score, engaging with your audience will also improve your Graph Search results. By maintaining an active Facebook page and engaging with your fans, you stand to reap a whole set of new benefits from EdgeRank. Recommendations and conversations are the cornerstones of Facebook success, and your ability to get found using Graph Search will only increase when you are engaging with your audience – local or otherwise.

3. Prepare to Invest More in Your Facebook Marketing

Like Google AdWords or other paid search campaigns, Facebook’s Graph Search will require somewhat more of a commitment to your social media marketing budget. Garnering local ‘Likes’ will cost a bit more than conventional Facebook marketing, but the benefits will be much greater. It is no secret that Facebook has been looking for a means to increase their revenues from businesses, and this new tool seems to be one of the ways they intend to do it.

Simply building a page and hoping for the best will generate few quality results. As we have noted in the past, an effective social media marketing campaign requires commitments of both time and resources. Graph Search will mean both of these. Building and executing campaigns to effectively drive local traffic to your page will not happen overnight, but if it is done properly, it can certainly mean added benefits from Graph Search.

Visit the Graph Search page and find out more about what this tool has to offer. Let us know what you think by telling us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Social Media Report 2012: The Highlights

January 17, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Social media has undergone quite a bit of change in the last year, and the recently published ‘State of Social Media: The Social Media Report 2012’ from NM Incite and Nielsen reveals some interesting statistics that should not be ignored.

In the last year, social media has evolved and proliferated considerably. In nearly all aspects of both business and every day life, social media has become fully integrated. The 2012 Social Media Report from statistical bureaus NM Incite and Nielsen highlights how these changes have manifested.

Below are a the four most notable changes from a business perspective, and some explanations as to how these changes should affect decision-making when it comes to social media strategies for your business.

1. The Impact of Social Media on Marketing

It is no secret at this point that social media plays a major role when it comes to marketing. The report makes that clear early on with three key statements. First, it highlights the importance of word-of-mouth when it comes to consumers’ decision: “Social media enables consumers to generate and tap into the opinions of an exponentially larger universe.” (2) Essentially, this relates to the term coined by social media expert Erik Qualman, ‘world-of-mouth’. People no longer need to use friends and acquaintances as resources when it comes to purchasing a product. Review sites, blogs and microblogs (i.e. Twitter) allow prospective buyers to seek out first-hand reviews of a product from anywhere in the world before making their decision. Consumer are now more informed than ever, and brands’ hihglights and flaws are no longer relegated to individual client experiences.

This relates closely to a second point made with regards to social media’s effect on marketing: “Social media is transforming the way that consumers across the globe make purchase decision.” (2) The report deems this phenomenon, ‘Hyper-Informed Consumers’. As noted above, there is no shortage of information on new and existing products as a result of social media. Therefore, consumers are able to research every aspect of a product before making a final decision.

Lastly, the report notes an aspect that we continually stress as one of the cornerstones of proper social media marketing: Engagement. In fact, the report focuses in particular on an issue we constantly stress: “Though roughly one-third of social media users find ads on social networking sites more annoying than other types of Internet advertisements, research suggest that there are opportunities for marketers to engage with consumers via social media.” (2) The statistics clearly show that aggressive, self-promotional marketing via social media can hinder a consumer’s decision to buy, but the opportunity to engage directly with consumers is made available in a way that had previously never existed.

2. Mobile is on the Rise

Apps and mobile media were in the spotlight when it came to social media in the last year. The image below shows just how many more people are accessing brands via their mobile devices.

It would be hard to suggest that these numbers are not significant. In a single year, the number of people accessing the mobile web and mobile apps increased over 80%. This upward trend suggests that we can see continued growth when it comes to mobile being a driving force behind social marketing. And this is something marketers should keep in mind when devising strategies for clients. Mobile is not to be ignored! It should also be noted that when it comes to spending time online, people tend to spend it on social networking sites. With regards to mobile, 30% of time spent on mobile web is spent on social media.

Furthermore, in the last year, the amount of time consumers spent on social apps increased by 76% – time spent on apps now accounts for more than a third of social networking time. Effectively, if you or your client are not engaging with the mobile audience, then there is an entirely untapped market of millions engaging with competitors who are.

3. The Unprecedented Growth of Pinterest

Pinterest is quickly becoming one of the most popular social networking sites, and its business uses are growing every day. With the introduction of business pages a few months ago, and the subtle yet powerful business capabilities Pinterest has to offer, we can expect to see its use in business increase even further. Below are a few key statistics about the demographics using the photo sharing social media network, and a graph showing the shocking growth of Pinterest’s popularity in the last year.

In the coming year, Pinterest will certainly continue to evolve and grow, and this unprecedented level of growth in its incipience suggests that it will become even more of a powerful business tool in the coming year.

4. Social Care: Customer Service Through Social Media

According to the report, one third of social media users say they prefer social care over conventional telephone-based customer service. What is social care exactly? Social care is is customer service via social media. Effectively, it is using social media – a very public sphere – to deal with customer complaints, questions, comments and any other client interaction. While some companies use social care in a manner that is simply directing clients to call a customer service line, those using it correctly are engaging with clients on social media in real time as an issue arises.

This does two things. First, it creates a public sphere in which leads can see how you deal with your clients. And second, it provides a degree of control over what is said about your brand and how it is perceived. If you simply bury your head in the sand when an issue arises, it remains on social media networks for anyone to see, and not engaging as a crisis takes place can be devastating. Considering the fact that the findings show that 47% of social media users engage in Social Care, not taking advantage of the potential it has to offer can be quite detrimental to the public perception of your brand.

You can access the full report here. There is plenty of useful information available to marketers in the report, and we thought the points above were some of the highlights. We would love to know what you think other key takeaways might be, so please share with us in the comments below or on Twitter!

Twitter Marketing Done Right: 3 Tips to Maximize Your Twitter Marketing

January 15, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Twitter marketing can be an excellent resource, but only if it is done properly.

Time and time again we stress the importance of a strategy when it comes to Twitter marketing and other forms of social media marketing. Where Twitter marketing differs, however, is in the approach you take to promoting your brand. As we never tire of pointing out, Twitter is not a realm apt for self-promotion. And if you approach the social network as a place to simply tout your brand and aggressively pursue conversions, you will be disappointed with the results. So how can you go about conducting your Twitter marketing in an efficient manner so that you get the most out of all the social network has to offer from a business perspective?

Below are three pointers that should help you get the most our of your Twitter marketing efforts. Twitter can be an exceptional tool for driving business, but your strategy must be in line with Twitter best practices in order to see the best results.

1. Establish Your Goals and Measurement Criteria

There is an entire world of untapped leads and potential clients on Twitter, and heading into the social network blind may leave you stumbling to get on track. Therefore, before embarking on your Twitter marketing campaign, you should first define both your goals and how you plan on measuring said goals. If you jump into Twitter expecting that your first tweet will garner dozens of retweets and loads of conversions and followers, you’re going to be disappointed. (Unless of course you’re a celebrity, in which case we appreciate you reading our blog!) Your strategy needs to include a few key criteria. Below is a list of things to consider when launching your Twitter marketing campaign.

Who is your target audience?
Are you looking for followers in a geo-targeted area or worldwide?
Are you hoping for conversions on a website or at a location?

Once you’ve answered these questions, it is time to get a little more specific.

Do you already have a set of followers? If so, how would you categorize them? If not, how do you plan on acquiring them?
If you are looking for followers in a specific location, how do you plan on finding them?
What do you consider a conversion from Twitter? Is it s click through? A download? A subscription? A purchase?
Are you hoping to use Twitter to increase your current business or start something new?

The answers to these questions are essential before you begin marketing on Twitter. Once these goals are defined, you can establish your measurement criteria. This is a little trickier, because in order to measure the success of your Twitter marketing, you need to have answered the third question in the second set of bullet points above: What do you consider a conversion from Twitter? Once you have this answer, you can set up the appropriate criteria for monitoring the success of your campaigns.

2. Design Your Messages Around Your Niche

As you begin building your audience, you are going to want to keep them captivated. One devastating mistake many marketers often make is sending out nothing but self-promotion. While you might be the expert in a given field, constantly telling people about it and ignoring engaging content will get you nowhere. You will want to design your messages around the niche you wish to target in order to keep them engaged. Below are a few helpful tips to consider when drafting your messages and content.

People love advice and garnering knowledge, so share what you know to showcase your expertise as opposed to simply stating that you are the expert.
Quick, entertaining content is a great way to engage with your followers. Share fun facts and quirky anecdotes that people want to see.
Focus on a designated subject or theme that stretches across all of your messages. Keep your content on track so that the niche audience you build stays engaged.
Do not bombard you followers with links and promotional content. Once in a while a message like this is fine – but this should under no circumstances be your starting point.

Engaging content should be the focal point in drafting all of your Twitter messages. One goal that should always be present is to convert your audience members into brand advocates. We can’t all be Coca-Cola or Harley Davidson – we have to work to get our fans coming back. And, as with all social media, content is king when it comes to boosting your audience.

3. Narrow Your Audience with Twitter Lists

Twitter Lists are a fantastic way of segmenting your audience into appropriate categories. Say you have a thousand followers. Great! But not all of them will be following you for the same reasons. Some might follow you because they are in the same industry. Some might follow you because they are interested in your online product or service. Others might follow you because they live in your area, and are already physical customers. Each of these three categories will respond to your content differently. Lists will help you engage with all of them in the right way.

Once you have segmented your followers into lists, you will be able to design campaigns and messages to go out that are geared towards engaging with one of these groups specifically. The industry members might not be interested in your sales and promotions, but they might find some of your industry-relevant messages much more useful. Your physical customers may have no use for online promotions, but they might jump at the chance to collect in-store offers promoted via Twitter. Take this into account when setting up your campaigns, and use the Twitter Lists to your advantage.

These are just a few of the best practices when it comes to Twitter marketing. Over time, your Twitter strategy evolves and some of these points change and disappear while new ones are added. But to get the most out of your Twitter marketing when you are getting started, these pointers should certainly help.

Can you think of any other best practices when it comes to launching your Twitter marketing? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

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