Twitter

[Tech4Homes]

Everyone always raves on about how good social media is etc but I've had no such luck with three businesses. Two of them are service based and I didn't expect a lot, the third is e-tail and I thought this may have more luck. I only have 20 odd follows on twitter and 40 on facebook which is completely pathetic really!

So what's the trick to facebook and twitter? All I've been doing is posting regularily, sometimes products and often just interesting "related" stuff. On twitter I regularly look at the "find friends" section and add people who look like they may be interested in what I sell.

Am I missing a trick here?

 

[mugatea]

I think with social media a personal touch is required. I dont have that skill but see others using it and building up likes and comments that I could only dream of.

 

[TeodoraRato]

Get your FB friends first to give some reviews about your site on FB and twitter.. instead of posting too much.. post one unique thing and ask your followers or friends to carry on the discussion.. then by word of mouth it may get better by time...

Try Fb's new promote feature to promote your single unique post, that has it all for people to like.. If your site is good enough then you are a success.. cos the promote feature by FB is a gr8 thing..

Twitter has also offering paid tweets to its US users.. try that..

 

[ITsoldUK]

Not a massive fan of using either simply because my customers/potential clients are not crowded there.

It may work if your product/service fits the users/followers need/want profile...maybe it doesn't?

I tend to target WHERE my marketing plan tells me my clients may be...linkedin for example.

HTH

 

[Websitehandyman]

Some times it's not what works for your products or services. But are you also driving traffic to Facebook from your websites ? keeping people interested is a bigger factor to using SM then getting new business.

Perhaps your service is suitable to setting up a Facebook group ?

 

[Young Recruit]

Not a massive fan of using either simply because my customers/potential clients are not crowded there.

It may work if your product/service fits the users/followers need/want profile...maybe it doesn't?

I tend to target WHERE my marketing plan tells me my clients may be...linkedin for example.

HTH

Hi everyone,

I think ITsoldUK has really nailed the issue here. Before embarking on any kind of social media, you really need to be clear about why you are doing it and what tools can help you to do it.

Yes the ultimate goal of a business is to make a profit but you need to decide exactly how social media can help you do that, for example, do you want to raise awareness of your products to your target market, gather market research, foster lead generation, PR or even customer service.

decide on your business objectives first and then decide how social media can help them.

Looking at Tech4Homes twitter feed I can see that you have mostly posted information about products you offer. This type of tweeting will not build you a following because you are basically using the platform as a megaphone to try and sell your products. If you want some followers who might be interested in your products then start tweeting about things that those potential customers might be researching about online. If the things you tweet about are interesting, then people might follow you or even retweet your content.

JA

 

[Ali-v-8]

First leave twitter alone - Its Xmas so focus on FB.
Now pick an Item and find a group that would be interested in hearing about that product and post it on there. Groups with more member means fore response.
When people see your product the will either like share or comment.
If your good with it you create viral advertising and let the people do the work for you.

If the mountain wont come to you, you must go to the mountain

 

[clara_butler]

Twitter is great for information, networking, news, meeting new people and speaking to people you don't know. I have 2 Facebook pages, 1)one is my profile, which I use for communicating with the closest friends/past classmates and sharing photos and a 2) professional page for my company, where I share work, talk with potential clients/clients, and post links to educate on the basics of my services or anything which might be interesting (quotes, images, links etc.). I think both are valuable.

 

[LouisGi]

I'm on the same page with you, I have an pathetic twitter account, I do postings etc etc with 0 result.
My opinion is that twitter is just for personal use or for companies which already are well known and they need a channel to inform their customers.

So the question is which SM should you use... I have no idea, but if you find one please let me know!!!

Cheers

 

[webgeek]

Now that FB is only sharing 2% to 5% of posts with your 'likes audience', you'll either need to pay to get higher visibility (what they want you to do), or post 20 to 50 times as much content, to get the same audience you had a few months ago.

It's a good time to brush up on your Twitter marketing and learn how to use Google+.

 

[beck38]

I think that you don't interact with them often...

 

[Ali-v-8]

????? is that a statement or question or suggestion?? :|
Interaction is a must and constant updates. fresh new images and statements are a plus.

I think that you don't interact with them often...

 

[fashionprintdesigner]

First leave twitter alone - Its Xmas so focus on FB.
Now pick an Item and find a group that would be interested in hearing about that product and post it on there. Groups with more member means fore response.
When people see your product the will either like share or comment.
If your good with it you create viral advertising and let the people do the work for you.

If the mountain wont come to you, you must go to the mountain

Hi,

just wondering about the above. Do you mean go on someones FB page and mention your own product? Or are you talking about do a link to FB page?

sorry I am confused. Is it ok to go on someones page and mention your own product? or is it wrong?

thanks for any direction

 

[Ali-v-8]

Actually its a popular way to promote products - You go onto open groups with thousands of people on there an post something interesting and then in the comments post a url - many people use fake accounts to do it.
And yes I have used this method to great effect.

Hi,

just wondering about the above. Do you mean go on someones FB page and mention your own product? Or are you talking about do a link to FB page?

sorry I am confused. Is it ok to go on someones page and mention your own product? or is it wrong?

thanks for any direction

 

[rife]

You can also use a "like ladder" on Facebook to increase your social marketing. This alongside an app and genuinely interesting content seems to work.

 

[webgeek]

Actually its a popular way to promote products - You go onto open groups with thousands of people on there an post something interesting and then in the comments post a url - many people use fake accounts to do it.
And yes I have used this method to great effect.

It's a very spammy approach that goes against the grain of basic netiquette.

Whether it works or not, it is definitely not an approach I endorse and not an approach I'd recommend anyone undertaking, largely because I don't appreciate it when someone spams me or groups I'm in.

I strongly suggest people don't use that technique.

 

[Ali-v-8]

@webgeek - I dont want you to endorse it. I am not asking you to. However one of our clients who used the method has become a massive player in the Payday Loans industry and it only took 4months to reach their second year goal.
They is no negative feedback from it (other than a few people removing the content) - It has no negative effect on your business only positive increases in traffic and brand awareness.
You called it spammy, but you had no real idea on the way the service was delivered.

Spam in my opinion is useless information repeated over and over again.

 

[webgeek]

Using fake accounts to drop links into Facebook groups is a virtual poster child for "spam".

Just because it's profitable, doesn't make it right.

 

[eventdomain]

Using fake accounts to drop links into Facebook

Yup - ofcourse its called SEO, didn't you know hehe. Those pesky ninjas are at it again.....

Hello Friend - how is you today.

I have interesting offer my friend concern of Facebook

 

[printed_com]

To generate a following on Twitter its important to use # in topics so people will find you. You can also use a tool called Tweepi which will find followers either relevant to a topic or somebody else's followers, once you follow people they'll hopefully follow you back. You can then un-follow the people who dont follow you back.

Make sure you're tweeting regularly (three times a day) if you dont tweet enough or over tweet you'll find people will un-follow you.

Hope that helps

 

[Ali-v-8]

What Ninjas???
And its not SEO - its social marketing.

Yup - ofcourse its called SEO, didn't you know hehe. Those pesky ninjas are at it again.....

 

[Ali-v-8]

Why do you optimise?
Why create websites?
Why work?
My job is to make my client money - is that not what all internet marketing companies do?
The "fake accounts" unfortunately exist and will continue to exist - utilising them while you can for your clients benefit is going to go on regardless, until Facebook do something to stop it happening.

Just because it's profitable, doesn't make it right.

 

[eventdomain]

Facebook do something to stop it happening

They will - no worries on that score. They ain't the only ones either, as technology is incorporated in websites eg: wordpress, bespoke designed systems - will stop SEO spam for good hopefully.

I quite enjoy watching SEO's waste large amounts of time submitting, only to find they'll never get in.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Thank you for proving my point ED I guarantee they will be some idiot wasting his time reading what we post

I quite enjoy watching SEO's waste large amounts of time submitting, only to find they'll never get in.

 

[eventdomain]

Thank you for proving my point ED

The only proof is that websites are in it to make money and NOT allow SEO spammers to earn from what clearly isn't any effort of theirs.

SEO agents can either prepare to accept this or take the giant hit that's guaranteed to be dealt out to them. The search engines have already devalued two categories of website, and it aint over as they can do what the hell they like to anyone - other portals/info sites WILL follow suit and many already have systems in place to deal with it.

In short - don't mess with the powers that be eg: Google, major portals, 2nd tier engines, small businesses or whatever. As in, whatever you want, they can cut you down too easily and totally erase link-building/SEO efforts leaving you totally buggered and few options.

 

[sadamata]

Twitter is an important part of Social media marketing.As my experience only a twitter account account with thousands of Follower can't give you optimal result. Here I apply a technique. I just make combined promotion.
I create a Facebook page and also a Twitter account.When I make a tweet I also post the tweet in Facebook page.It,s bring some traffic to my twitter from Facebook also which are converting to my site via Twitter.
It,s work for me. I am getting continuous good traffic from Twitter.

 

[Jack Ramsay]

A good start with Twitter is to find the most influencial business, or people, within your industry and follow them on Twitter. Note who they are following and what they are talking about. Follow who they follow, as following is usually reciprocal, and engage with them.

Hashtags are also a great way to engage on Twitter. Your industry will most likely have certain hashtags# which tap you into a specific conversation. Try to find these hashtags# and involve yourself in the conversations. For example, I work in within the market research industry and found industry specialists by finding and using #newmr, #mrx, #mroc etc. By using these hashtags I immediately can involve myself with those tweeting mostm, with the highest following.

I hope you find this useful.

Jack.

 

[SepticTanks]

I have been using twitter for a while now and have a small following going on, currently it is not delivering the results in a sense of more sales, i generally post latest deals, i have an SEO company doing work on my website and social media as well as the two as far as i am now aware are linked in ways. It is a very interesting topic of conversation though and can take a while to get the mixture of it all correct. your best bet if things are not working when your doing it on your own would be to contact a specialist company who can help you out either by taking control of it for you or teaching you the best practices.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Thats very true - people save money by not enlisting the help of a seo companies / internet marketing guys - but they can also save money by employing them.
We know what needs to be done, where to market, where to display, how to display. It saves you time and as we all know Time = Money.

 

[PDC]

Everyone always raves on about how good social media is etc but I've had no such luck with three businesses. Two of them are service based and I didn't expect a lot, the third is e-tail and I thought this may have more luck. I only have 20 odd follows on twitter and 40 on facebook which is completely pathetic really!

So what's the trick to facebook and twitter? All I've been doing is posting regularily, sometimes products and often just interesting "related" stuff. On twitter I regularly look at the "find friends" section and add people who look like they may be interested in what I sell.

Am I missing a trick here?

Theres no trick as such but its worth remembering the key phrase is social. Its more about communicating with people than directly selling products.

As said take a look at what local business' and people in your field are doing, are they having a lot of direct communication with people in their feed? How are those conversations starting.

I get a lot of followers just announcing their latest offer over and over again, why should I follow a stream of adverts, its not engaging.

Worth also noting that its not about the numbers, you can always tell when one of our local business franchise promotion companies has signed up a new member as they suddenly gain about 1000 followers who are either fake or bot accounts or American spammers, what good does that do their business other than the 'look at all my followers.' If your feed is interesting followers will come organically which is as it should be.

Have some fun with it, but be professional and positive that would be my advice.

 

[empowernetwork]

I have my personal experience with social media sites. You can make so many friends over these sites and get many likes on facebook and twitter but you can not convert all these likes into business.

 

[ncoopie11]

I heard you can buy twitter fans now? Is it worth it when starting up to look like you're making an impact quickly and get investment?

 

[Edesio]

chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/- this is a not bad article.

 

[SepticTanks]

I have always been advised not to buy Twitter followers, or Facebook likes. Any company that can guarantee a number of likes, followers is ripping you of as they are bound to be either fake accounts, irrelevant people and will bring very little in return.

 

[Edesio]

You are right, it is said, that Facebook has been removing accounts and revoking page & app likes that come from fake profiles, malware, hacks and other illegitimate approaches.

 

[kevinclarke]

Agreed - Twitter is a very powerful tool

 

[Edesio]

You can get retweets and followers on twitter this is the main advantage. In my opinion Twitter opens new horizons in marketing.

 

[YODspica]

From my experience twitter is great, have met many contacts, learned about people and went to many events by just reading public invitations from people.

 

[PDC]

I heard you can buy twitter fans now? Is it worth it when starting up to look like you're making an impact quickly and get investment?

You are not making an impact buying followers you are just broadcasting to a bunch of empty accounts, much better to focus on real people and try to connect with your audience.

 

[MancunianCreative]

Loads of rhubarb being spouted here.

Social media IS the internet. I dislike the saying 'my audience isn't on there' - oh really? Over 1Billion facebook profiles and over 500 million on twitter.

They are on social networks. The returns may not be the greatest dependent on your audience and your approach but they ARE on there.

Excuse the generalisation, but I personally find people like to buy from people. You will have more joy when you sell to a person as a person and not as a robot.

I have 2 facebook accounts and a page. I get 90% of my work (from this source) through my personal profile which has 1/3rd of the 'friends'. Be a person. Be friendly and be yourself. The work will come.