Twitter vs Facebook

[SpuddedDragon]

Hi everyone.

I have been using a facebook page as a marketing tool for my company, and I am thinking about using Twitter too.

I understand how to get the best out of Facebook, but don't know the first thing about Twitter.

I wondered which one you all prefer and why?

Also any tips on how to use Twitter for the business would be very handy, even if it is something you think is obvious!

My company website is www.silverdogcharms.co.uk. We design, manufacturer and retail our own range of silver dog charms.

 

[JElder]

We're running a twitter training course next month, but you are probably a bit far away (Hampshire)

I'm not the social media expert, but the basics are:

Don't pay for followers
Communicate, don't just broadcast
Search for relevant conversations and join in
Monitor for mentions of your brand
Encourage new followers by offering something unique

 

[TallBox]

My tip would be to segment your audience.

Nowadays, everybody has a Facebook account. However, having a Facebook account is rather passive - you let it sit there until someone writes on your wall. Therefore, this might be useful for general information about your business - what it does, where it is etc. The language you use on your Facebook page should be accessible, not too targeted and generalist.

Twitter is a bit more active, with people responding in almost real-time. Use this to run promotions or update your followers of hot news. 'Retweet' (RT) the followers who give good reviews about your business, and don't be afraid to enter into online conversations with them.

LinkedIn is a lot more corporate - use this to maintain your business-to-business connections, e.g. with your suppliers and potential corporate buyers. Everyone on LinkedIn likes to pretend they are seeing 'the bigger picture' () so put up articles that you feel might be important to your sector, rather than your business. E.g. if you run a travel agency, don't put up your latest promotions, put an article from The Economist (or wherever) of how the travel industry is changing post-Arab Spring (or something).

 

[alwaysinamess]

Nowadays, everybody has a Facebook account.

I don't have one, If that makes me some kind of social leper,so be it.

 

[smallpond]

Here's a good place to start, OP.

www[DOT]bfinternet[DOT]co[DOT]uk/news-info/faq/a-beginners%E2%80%99-guide-to-twitter-jargon

 

[bizrep103]

Normally I would always advise business against using Facebook for marketing but in your case it makes good sense. Facebook is the perfect platform to market to your prospects. You could perhaps run a competition and ask pet owners to tag their dogs to your page. The winner gets XXX prize.
You need to give people a reason to log on and engage with your brand.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Twitter is very confusing for anyone who is new to it. Facebook is quite simple, but twitter is a little more complicated.

Basically, you set up a page and call yourself a username, such as SpuddedDragon. This is then your 'blog'. You send short messages, 140 char long, and these appear on your blog.

When you follow another person, their tweets will pop up on your twitter feed (Your profile where your tweets appear and your feed are different). This means, if you follow me and I tweet 'Come and look at my website [LINK]', then it will pop up on your feed.

This then of course means that your tweets will appear on your followers feed (people that follow you).

You can then tweet each other by including @USERNAME in the tweet, for example, '@SpuddedDragon Hello, How are you?' which will all of your followers will be able to see, and the recipient will be notified.

This is great because you can see what your followers are tweeting and you can also interact with your followers.

The next thing is an RT (ReTweet), this is simply where you repost someone elses tweet. It will also be reposted to your followers.

This is great for businesses because if someone tweets you 'Ordered from @SpuddedDragon Great service!' then that tweet is displayed to their followers. Then you can RT the tweet and it will be displayed to your followers.

There is also the 'favourite' option which is basically a save the tweet button. Only useful if a celeb tweets you and you want to keep it!

With your business, you should ask your customers to follow you. This way, you can update them with offers and news from your company to keep them interested. Also encourage them to tweet about your business as people can have followers from 10 to 10,000,000+, imagine having someone with 50k followers who tweets a good message about your business!

One last thing- Don't fall into the trap of 'Get as many followers as possible'. You only want people to follow you if they are interested in your business. There is no point of someone who doesn't care about your business to follow you.

It's pretty difficult to explain. You should get any young people in your family/ teenagers to show you.

 

[SpuddedDragon]

Fantastic reply, thanks!

I have now set up a twitter account. I'm called silverdogcharm I have a huge 14 followers! lol

I am posting general stuff that is focused around my company, I don't want to upset people by constantly trying to sell to them every post!

Facebook has been super for me so far, I have been able to upload loads of pictures and get into groups that have helped me build a following, now it's time to go for twitter.

 

[fisicx]

I have been able to upload loads of pictures and get into groups that have helped me build a following

And how much new business has this generated?

 

[SpuddedDragon]

None yet, I only joined Twitter today lol.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

What ever you do, don't send automatic DM's each time someone follows you, just don't!

I recommend you add a little note in your packages saying something like 'We are now on twitter, please tweet about us, it will really help us out!' Then stick your username.

Just one recommendation from a tweeter could generate a few sales- it's just as good as word of mouth.

Here is something for you to try- find out something in common with your customers (I guess it would be that they own dogs) then write a blog post with some helpful information, usually something that everyone does but they don't know the correct way to do it, such as trimming a dog's nails. Then, in that post, include a link to one of your products that is linked to the topic. Tweet that article on twitter and see how it goes. Maybe you could use analyatics to see how many people click through to the blog, then to the product, then adds it to cart, then buys it. Do it a few times and tweak it to get the most sales.
(By writing a useful article, you'd probably get more interest than writing something like 'What I think about dog's' or some other drivel).

 

[SpuddedDragon]

Another very useful post!

I'm up to 21 followers now, so growing slowly but it's all good.

Do you think I should get a professional to write the blog? I design and make charms, I don't know much about other topics like grooming or training etc.

 

[fisicx]

No, I meant the facebook pages. You may well find that the fb page is great for intersting with animals and their owners but not much use for making money.

Focus your efforts into promoting the site. Adwords can be very lucrative if you have the right combination of keywords, advert and landing page. Banners are not so effective but they are cheap. And then there is the good old forum
Sig. Be active on the animal forums, there are hundreds to choose from. Be helpful and friendly and people will click on your signature links. Try commenting on all the animal blogs. The links will be no follow but you can get good traffic if you are regular and popular. And all it will cost you is time. Allow a couple of hours each day for promotion and marketing.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Unless your business is entertainment based or fashion based /hoobies ect do you really think it is worth the effort !!
To me its a total load of waffle !!!!! This is reflected in the results from Facebook after it went public They nose dived people thought that Leemans had made a return !!!
If somebody is looking for a product or service they dont go to facebook or twitter !!!!!
Members of a site may like a product but rarly anything other than a product that is music or fashion related .If when they do like a product it does not mean they are going to make a purchase !!!!

You stand a really good chance of boring anybody that logs on to death .Its highly likley that nobody will actully care about your social networking campain meaning your only going to bore yourself to death

 

[SpuddedDragon]

I can see both sides of the debate.

Facebook has been a great kick start and my new Twitter account can only help raise awareness of my brand and products, but I agree it's time to move over to Google Adwords and forums etc.

I need to find innovative ways to do my marketing that don't cost too much. I want to put as much money into my new designs and products but I am in a catch 22. My company will be more successful with a larger range of designs, but this requires the sales to fund it.

I haven't got involved in Linked in yet. What are the views on it?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I have noticed quite alot of effort has gone into your site It looks good !!
How well SEOed is your site ? You might want to get an expert involved and look at optimising it for what ever searches are relevent to your products

 

[SpuddedDragon]

Thank you for the compliment.

The website has been well SEO'd by the designers. I have listings in the main directories and I am climbing the Google ladder!

I think it's best to give it a couple of months before I get external people to look over it. The site is only a few weeks old so I can't really make a fair judgement on the work the web designer has done.

I spoke to many many web designers, both individuals and companies before I decided whom to give the job to. The guys I used appear to be very good.

 

[fisicx]

The website has been well SEO'd by the designers.

No it hasn't. Unless of course people are searching for: 'The Smiling Staffy'.

 

[SpuddedDragon]

This is where it's so tough, because so few business owners including myself know very much about the complex world of SEO etc.

I have just sent an email to the web designer to see what they say.

How do you find a good SEO expert? All I ever hear is to avoid the cowboys who don't know what they are talking about!

 

[fisicx]

There are plenty of good people here on the forum.

Have a good read of the google guide: http://static.googleusercontent.com.../search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf

At the very basic level you need to have the keywords people use in their searches in the page title, on the headers, in the content in in the links leading to that page.

I can't make any comment on your site as that's only permitted in the website review forum.

 

[SpuddedDragon]

I understand you can't comment, I am considering upgrading my membership on this forum.

I think it's only fair to give the website designers a chance to comment or improve my SEO before I start to employ the services of others.

Your posts have made me think though, so thank you.