Savvy B2B Marketing

There is no doubt that Twitter (in the right hands) can be a powerful marketing tool. In one blast you can get your message out to thousands of followers. And if your tweet is retweeted (RT), that single message can go far.

The trick though is getting your message noticed in the virtual sea of others’ constant chatter.

Some of the best ways to increase your Twitter visibility include paying attention to your overall image. Do this by focusing on your Twitter presence and message.

Avatars

Each Twitter user is allowed to upload a picture (avatar) that is then associated with their messages. What you want is something distinctive, something bright, and something immediately recognizable.

Some “do’s” for your Twitter avatar image:

• Do choose a picture or photo that is bright, colorful, and easy to see. Avoid those with lots of detail. I’ve seen some avatars that have minute writing on them that is impossible to read making them distracting instead of informative. Savvy B2B Marketing uses the easily recognizable and effective red Board Room chair to show they are all about marketing and communication.
• Do make the photo represent your image or brand, if you don’t have a logo, then choose something that reflects the message you are sending. Although I am still looking for a logo, my yellow flower in the midst of green has become so “me” that I might just stay with it on Twitter. When people see it, they easily recognize it is SimpleThrift who is posting.
• Do - Get a second point of view on your avatar – Small cartoons don’t translate well into avatars and what you think is a great picture, may not work. I actually asked one person what their photo was – to me it looked like an from a skeletal arm, it was actually a photo of a bare branch. Not sure how it tied into her message but when I see it, I still see the arm.

Messages (Tweets)

Let’s face it; if you are marketing on Twitter, you want people to do something. Tweets are a mini call to action. Usually you want them to go to your website where you can then enhance your message with additional information.

Sometimes, however, you simply want to engage your readers by asking a question “Hey, how many of you saw that show last night on internet marketing – what’cha think?”

Both can be extremely effective ways of tweeting to grow your audience.

Some “do’s” for writing your tweets:

Do think of your tweet as a headline. In the journalism profession we still have dedicated headline writers who are worth their weight in gold. If you can be hooked by the headline, chances are you will stay to read the article.

Here is a tweet I entered for my SimpleThrift account, it contains an informational hook, which includes a mini problem and a solution when you go to the link provided. (a mini call to action).

Avoid The Flu And Still Be Thrifty? What you can do w/o buying everything at the pharmacy http://bit.ly/W5k79

• Do remember that tweeting is not texting. Abbreviate what you can but stick to English. There just isn’t a need for things like BFTD HAK? (Best Friend Till Death, right?) This is simply the wrong audience for that type of language.
• Do remember that your tweet is an extension of your business and of your image. Don’t waste your time and ours by tweeting about the weather or how you feel lousy before you’ve had your first cup of coffee. People who tweet incessantly about the mundane aspects of their lives are people who are quickly removed from the followers list.
• Do remember the advice from a post by Darren Rowse at problogger.net when he collected Twitter tips from actual users and he got this gem: @galadarling - No cat anecdotes! Enough said on that topic.
• Do remember to keep your message shorter than 140 characters and leave enough room for someone to be able to retweet it. If I have to really work at shortening your message so that it can fit in a retweet, it just might get lost in my list of things to do.