A Twitter presence for a business can vary based on your goals. As an online business, your main focus should be acquiring new customers, supporting those you captured and building upon your brand’s image.
Today we will discuss the available resources Twitter offers to boost your online sales, keeping your followers happy and develop a good strategy to follow through.
Know Your Keywords
Twitter allows you to search tweets using any keyword. Your customers are probably searching for your product, but may simply be using a different word, than what you normally use. Take the time and search through Twitter for your common keywords and make a list of those terms. Compile different tweets using these keywords and start testing. It may take time to see results, but in the long run, you will find that your exposure relies on a certain few.
Hashtags play a role here as well. The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. This became an easier way to categorize a tweet, and clicking on a hashtag shows you more tweets in this category. Let’s say you’re having a sale on your overstocked t-shirts. Tweeting out the message “Big #sale on our awesome #tshirt” will boost your chances in getting seen.
Tip: Always link when tweeting out a message with a call to action. Simply stating you’re having a sale, and not providing a direct link to your store is a poor strategy.
Spread Out Your Tweets
No one wants to follow a spammer. Even if your tweets have beneficial content, tweeting out a handful at once clogs your followers stream, and they are more likely to unfollow. Use a tool like Hootsuite (our favorite and has great analytics) to schedule your tweets. This also allows you to capture your audience at different times of the day.
Make sure to tweet out engaging and relevant content to your audience between your marketing tweets, so you’re not just broadcasting noise.
Tip: Remember international customers are on a different time zone, so if you’re targeting them, making sure your tweeting when they are online.
Start A Conversation
You’ll see this stated in every article, blog or Twitter strategy ever written. Sure it’s easy to say, but staying engaged is hard. You do need to put in the effort to interact and converse. Reply back to a tweet you found interesting, re-tweet it with a nice message or simply ask a question. Think of what would make you happy. If someone re-tweeted you with a nice message or replied back, you’d be thrilled for this positive response and engage back. Go ahead give a try, karma is usually on your side here.
Tip: Use the @ symbol when mentioning someone or another product even if it was not directed to them. this increases your chances of being heard and shows trustworthiness. Eg: “@PotentialCustomer We ship next day through @FedEx to be sure your shipment gets there on time.”
Listen In On Your Competitors
Twitter gives you the power to stay in the know and ahead of your competitors. Create a competitor list, using Twitter Lists and listen in on their conversations. Learning from what others are doing can give you ideas on capturing new leads and keeping your customers happy. Learning from others mistakes allows you to jump a step ahead.
Tip: You don’t have to follow them to do this, just make sure the list you create is private so your not being obvious!
Stay Active
Our best advice is to stay active and present. Long absences or reply time shows poor support. Keep tweeting and reply back quickly. Never ignore negative remarks and handle them with grace and kindness. You never know who is listening, and even if your customer leaves unhappy, you at least did your best to help, and others can see that. A good way to stay in the know, is to to activate Twitter emails, or use a phone app to get notified.
Tip: Wazala’s social promoter, helps you remember to tweet out announcements based on actions you take in your store. Added a new coupon code? Simply tweet it out with a click.
Twitter can truly broaden your reach. Just start slowly and learn the basics. Once you dive in, you’re sure to stumble upon inspirational ideas to better your business. Just remember to share back and engage. Want to know more? Take a look at our promote page on more tips to market your online store.
Happy Tweeting and don’t forget to follow us for news, tips and promos!
