Based on the fact that I have my Twitter feed scrolling along the right-hand side bar, you’ve probably guessed that I’m a big believer in Twitter.
As an SEO consultant, Twitter is a great way to get the word out about links, a new article, a new website, etc. Those little links that are added to the microblog posts to Twitter (commonly called “Tweets”) are often trackable, and sometimes they even pass link juice!
As an internet marketer, there is more to be found on Twitter than inbound links and a quick easy way to spread the word about the site. Twitter is also ideal for gauging public opinion of the brand, performing informal market research, and providing on-the-spot customer service.
I wrote an article about using Twitter for business purposes some time ago. It’s amazing to me how many businesses are slow on the uptake for Twitter.
Your customers are on Twitter, and your competitors are on Twitter.
Are you?
Are you doing it correctly?
By “doing it correctly”, I mean this:
- Are you Tweeting regularly? (doesn’t have to be every hour, but every day, every few days?)
- Are you engaging in conversations with customers, colleagues and contributors to your subject area? (This includes the use of @-replies, Direct Messages and Re-Tweets)
- Are you providing useful, interesting information about your subject area? (a good way to measure this is to see how many of your messages have been re-tweeted.)
- Do you know – every day – what people are saying about your brand on Twitter?
If you can answer all 4 questions with a “yes”, “sort of”, or “maybe”, you’re probably doing just fine. If you say “no” to any of those four questions, then you’re dropping the ball on the Twitter campaign.