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There was a time when using Twitter for business was as simple as a Kim Kardashian memoir. But these days with more competition in Twitter newsfeed – and Twitter changing its business model every 47 seconds – it’s more difficult than ever to get noticed on this powerful – but often perplexing – social media platform.

So, here are 5 Secrets to Using Twitter for Business Successfully…and, of course, profitably:

Using Twitter for Business Tip #1: Overt Selling Just Don’t Work Anymore (Unless Ya Got a Huge Discount)

There WAS a time when you could send out a couple tweets to your Twitter tribe, promoting one of your products or affiliate offers, and watch the car payments roll in.

Oh…how things have changed. (Cue the sad music.)

These days to get your tweet noticed, clicked – and eventually retweeted – you’ve got to AVOID the whiff of marketing that most tweets have. (Unless you’re offering a killer coupon or stupidly amazing discount of some kind.)

This doesn’t mean you can’t SELL on Twitter. Ya just got to be more subtle about it.

Instead of saying: “25% Off My “How to Build Your Own Drone eBook:…” – instead write a blog post that pre-sells your product, such as “[BLOG] 3 Things the Government Doesn’t Want You to Know About Drones…”

And if you ARE going to send out tweets offering discounts and offers, be sure to ALWAYS go with exact money saved as opposed percentage. “Save $34.76 on our New Casmere Sweater…” is better than “Save $25% on Our New Casmere Sweater…”

Using Twitter for Business Tip #2: Questions, Quotes and Cute Stuff Still Rules

I wish I could tell that we’ve evolved as a culture. That pandering to people’s vanity by allowing them to express their opinions, and make them look smart in front of THEIR followers wouldn’t be the fuel that drives the Twitter engine.

But more than ever your Twitter marketing success will be based on your ability to carve out the majority of your tweets for stuff that:

  • Asks people simple/fun questions (that they can easily answer while they’re in the bathroom)
  • Shares inspirational/profound quotes (that they can share with their tribe and take indirect credit for)
  • Leverages the power of celebrities and cute things – like babies or animals – to get people to check out your content

This is because the content in your followers’s Twitter feed comes so fast that ANYTHING that requires people to “think” or take even the most miniscule of action just won’t happen. But that’s okay…because as long as people keep retweeting and sharing your stuff – even if they never read it – this will get your Twitter goodness in front of a HUGE audience you never would have been able to reach.

And getting your NAME and your Twitter presence is like a social media form of water torture. It’s very subtle at first…but pretty soon your follower feels they can trust you. (And eventually that they can buy stuff from you.)

And that’s worth all the cute kitten pictures in the world.

Using Twitter for Business Tip #3: Eavesdrop on Your Customers (Legally)

Want to know a super-easy way to get depressed? Head over to Twitter and check out your analytics to find out just how many of your followers are actually ENGAGING with your content.

Yeah…pretty abysmal, huh?

But worry not..because getting tweet traction with your followers is but ONE pillar of your Twitter marketing efforts. (And with Twitter’s foray into paid advertising, it will become only further marginalized.)

So, what do we do? Spend the next three days wallowing in our sadness and eating three pints of “Cherry Garcia.”

No…we start USING the most interesting – and effective – feature of Twitter: butting ourselves (nicely) into people’s conversations.

This can take the form of things like:

  • Responding to any customer service issue or complaint about our offerings
  • Responding to any customer service issue or complaint about a competitor’s offerings (THe Hotel industry has figured out just how powerful this is)
  • Answering questions – by searching for phrases like “How do I” and our area of expertise – that future leads might have

Now, I know these sound like a huge time suck. And, it’s true these may require more than four minutes a day to manage.

But trust me, it’s worth it. And if you just set up some simeple twitter streams with your search parameters – I use the thoroughly awesome social marketing tool HootSuite which makes this really easy – then literally spending like 15 or 20 minutes a day can be some of the best lead-generating time you’ll spend.

Who knows you might even get more followers than Kim Kardashian?

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About the Author

About the Author |
Michael Clarke is a digital marketing consultant and the author of ten business books, inculding Small Business Marketing Made (Stupidly) Easy. He’s made it his mission in life to help small-business owners avoid the numerous stupid marketing mistakes he’s made.
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