Social media marketing is a proven technique that can significantly boost the visibility of your business and while there are different platforms that are suited to different audiences, Twitter is generally successful for the majority. Many business owners struggle to get traction on Twitter and this is often down to a lack of engagement or a solid strategic approach.
While Twitter is a very effective platform for self promotion, if you spend all your time on Twitter talking about yourself and your own business it’s probably not going to work all that well for you. Platforms like Twitter work best if you use them to engage with potential followers and industry leaders rather than seeing them exclusively as a way to promote your message.
What are the benefits of increasing your Twitter engagement?
Focusing on engagement on Twitter instead of self-promotion comes with a number of benefits that will help your business in the long term. These include:
- Building relationships with industry leaders and influencers who might be able to help you in the future.
- Increased visibility in your industry and online generally.
- Increased website traffic.
- Increased authority and respect in your industry and among your followers.
- More loyalty as you engage with your current customers and improve your relationships with them.
- Increased referrals via social media.
Increasing your Twitter engagement also allows you to keep on top of industry related issues and conversations and find out what is really important to your customers. This in turn can help you refine and design your business products and systems to better meet their needs.
How to increase your engagement on Twitter
Increasing Twitter engagement requires a strategic approach and it starts with having a great bio. Your Twitter bio is where you sell yourself to potential followers and most people will check out your bio before deciding to follow you, so you need to make sure it is targeted, interesting and be specific about what you do.
When writing your Twitter bio it’s a good idea to target it to your ideal customer or follower. State clearly what you do, who you do it for and how your business helps your clients or customers.
As well as your professional credentials, it is also a good idea to include a line or two about any personal interests you have. This is a great way to humanise yourself and helps build your relationships on a more personal as well as a professional level. Don’t forget to include details of your website or your LinkedIn profile so people who may be interested in your products or services can find out more.
Growing your following
Getting more followers on Twitter is a long-term process, there’s no quick fix way to get genuine, engaged followers who are going to help your business. If you want to build up your Twitter followers here are a few ways you can improve engagement and increase your visibility.
- Share other peoples’ content. By curating and promoting other blogs, websites and businesses you can provide your followers with a regular source of useful information while also building a positive relationship with the people you’re promoting.
- Join in conversations by asking and responding to questions. Using hashtags can help you connect to the wider community and get involved in other conversations on the same topic.
- Use images and videos in your posts as well as written content. There are a number of new apps available which make it easy to share visual content in Twitter posts and this can really boost your retweets and likes.
It may take some time but building your engagement on Twitter can really pay off in the long term. With higher levels of engagement, your social media marketing will be much more effective, helping your business grow faster.
About the Author:
Jo Macdermott is the Chief Marketing Consultant at Next Marketing in Melbourne. She has 15 years of marketing experience, is a Certified Practising Marketer and is a sought after marketing media commentator. Jo specialises in working with small and medium businesses. Follow her on Twitter here.
