How to use Twitter for marketing

This is the third and final article in a series of three articles on Twitter.

So you’ve read about Twitter & Tipping points, what it’s for and who uses it… so now’s the time to start using Twitter to effectively market and promote your offering. The sky’s the limit for how you can integrate Twitter into your marketing, but here are few ideas of how to use Twitter and in what capacity:

• Start small:
  Use the Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com) to find tweets about your industry or niche. Follow the tweeters, wait for them to reciprocate, and gradually build up a list of interested followers. Use Twitter to announce new blog posts, exclusive articles, company insights and open-ended questions targeted to a specific and qualified group.
• Build buzz:
  Offer enticing hints, or functions of your upcoming product to build a buzz. Drive traffic to a microsite or page that continues the dialog by asking the visitor to subscribe to an email list for the official announcement of your product.
• Re-launch an old brand: What better way to enter the world of E with Twitter. If your brand has finally made the big move to online, Twitter is a great way to start building online relationships versus the traditional style.
• Inject personality:
  If you work in the marketing department of a large, faceless corporation and need to add a personality, Twitter is for you. Assuming you don’t step on any legal or branding toes, use Twitter to put a face (literally, a profile pic of you) out there and engage with your customers. They’ll appreciate knowing someone is there talking to them.
• Manage your brand reputation:
  Similar to Google alerts and when used in the same way as above, Twitter can be a great way to see (in real time) who’s talking about your company, products or services. PR and journo’s also use Twitter to gather info about sources, allowing you as a company to offer yourself as a resource from the start. Alternatively, if the story is about your company, you can get a head start on rectifying any negative situations. **Note: Subscribe to the RSS feed of your search, and let the semi-real-time tweets come to you.
• Have frequent downtime?:
  If you’re like Twitter and growing quickly, use Twitter to post 140 character notices of system status and ETA’s for your loyal followers. They’ll appreciate it, just like the actual Twitterverse appreciates it from the guys behind Twitter.
• Job hunting/hiring:
  Remember that all Tweets are searchable. Always. Don’t tweet anything silly, but do tweet about insights, information, posts and more to increase your chances of getting hired by a like-minded employer. Hiring? Tweet what you need and for when, and wait for the responses.
• Exclusive deals/sales announcements:
  Your loyal followers will appreciate feeling exclusive. Offer sales or rebates to them by giving a Twitter-only coupon code for them to redeem online or in-store. What’s more, say as much on your website and increase followers of your brand.
• Increase site/blog visibility:
  If you use WordPress, use the plugin that automatically updates your Twitter status with the URL of your new post. Conversely, use another plugin that links your recent Twitter updates for display on your site itself.
• Increase interaction:
  Ask open-ended questions, link to polls, and get people involved in your brand. People love to share their opinion, especially those using Twitter – otherwise they wouldn’t be using it
• Promote Twitter on-site and invite to follow:
  A no-brainer. You can’t get followers if no one knows you exist. Display your new Twitter URL and ask to be followed. Remember that the viral component of Twitter means that a follower’s followers might appreciate your brand as well.
• Customize your background-image:
  With some Photoshop, knowledge of CSS positioning and some cleverness, you can use your Twitter bg as yet another brand builder/enforcer. Here’s a tip: Your bg is fixed to the top left, with the Twitter content in the centre. Modify your bg to have your topline info at the top left, and all your followers will see it.
• Be fun, be open, be candid, be YOU:
  Do it.
• Create curiosity:
  Intrigue your followers, make them want to know more about your product, you, or your brand (which are sometimes one in the same).
• Have more ideas?
  Share them below!