The New Twitter Brand Pages for Businesses
In early December, Twitter unveiled the new Twitter brand pages, which, according to Twitter, will “help marketers create an even more compelling destination on Twitter for their brands.” And, oh yeah—the new and enhanced Facebook-esque layout will give brands a more distinctive presence on Twitter, too. So when can your company expect to gain access to the exciting new brand page? Soon. The rollout is planned for the first quarter of 2012.
The first improvement is a new banner that will stretch across the page just below the profile information. There, brands can display their company logos, taglines, or other visuals. By allowing companies to showcase their branding more explicitly, Twitter is making steps toward positioning itself as an ideal platform for companies who want a brand-led social media presence.
What’s arguably the most exciting new feature, however, is pinned tweets. You now have the ability to control the tweet visitors see when they come to your brand page by semi-permanently featuring a tweet at the top of your brand’s stream. This is particularly effective for messages that contain rich media, such as an image or video, since the Promoted Tweet (so dubbed by Twitter) will appear auto-expanded. This helps brands customize their page, promote important news or contests, and drive traffic to a specific video, photo, or link.
Twitter is introducing additional features that will further enable tweeters to connect with brands more deeply. The new ‘discover’ button will help you find content relevant to your interests and offer big returns to brands. For instance, brands that tailor their content to the interests and likes of their target audiences will inevitably gain a bigger following and experience heightened engagement with their followers.
The overhaul positions Twitter alongside Facebook and Google+ by offering a brand-friendly environment. If you’re especially keen on gaining access to the new format, keep in the know about the rollout progress, and learn more about the new layout, on Twitter’s advertising blog.
Twitter Time Management Tools and Tips
Contrary to what you might think, you don’t need to spend all of your time on Twitter to make an impact in your social networks. The following Twitter time management tools and tips will help you make the most of your Twitter account and keep you from burning the midnight oil.
1. Create Lists
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the number of tweets in your main Twitter feed? When you’re following more than a few hundred Twitter accounts, your feed might seem more like babble than conversation. Finding the good stuff will take time, and you’re likely to miss what key influencers are tweeting about—especially if you only have time to check Twitter once or twice a day.
Organizing Twitter accounts into lists is one way to hone in on important tweets. You might create a list, for example, of industry leaders or media relevant to your company. But there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. It’s likely that someone in your industry has already created the list you need. So check out Listorious, a user-powered Twitter lists directory; it will help you find and follow lists created by other people.
2. Follow Hashtags and Keywords
You only want to read and share interesting content on Twitter, right? Right. Following hashtags and keywords can help you do just that. Consider using a Twitter search tool like monitter or Twitterfall to help you aggregate tweets by topic, find relevant information to retweet, and engage with likeminded tweeters. It’ll save you time, and help you expand your reach on Twitter, too.
3. Determine the best time to tweet
Here’s another time-saving tip: make tweets when the greatest number of followers will see them. Why? You’ll be able to make far fewer tweets and participate in many more conversations at the same time.
So when is the best time to tweet? Research suggests that users are more engaged with social media at the end of the week. That’s a good place to start, but a tool called TweetWhen will help you determine exactly what day and time your tweets gain the most traction. Another option is to use a social media management tool, such as SproutSocial, that uses consumer usage data to determine the times your messages are most likely to be seen.
Of course there are many other ways to save time and make an impact on Twitter–this is merely a list to help you get started. But if you learn how to use these tools effectively, you’ll become a much more efficient tweeter and have a better sense for which additional Twitter clients and time-saving tools will work well for you.
Twitter Usage Stats – User Numbers, Trends, Tweets Per Week
Twitter usage is continuing to grow and the user numbers don’t lie. Over 200 million people use Twitter and there are over 1 billion tweets per week according to The Next Web. Mobile usage has increased 182% the past year, signaling that Twitter is trending on two screens. Lady Gaga herself has over 9 million users.
While Twitter is often knocked as a celebrity dominated medium, it can still be very important tool for brands for media outreach, driving contest and promotion participation, and winning customers through conversation. Most importantly, perhaps, it is still the most real time media in the world and can be used by brands to broadcast from events or mobilize followers.
Social Media Contest Participation – Effort Versus Reward
The success of a social media contest, as measured by participation, comes down to two basic factors: the effort required to participate and the value of the reward.
Seems simple enough, right? Yet when running a Facebook or Twitter contest it can be deceptively difficult to get this right. Asking fans for user generated video or photos is enticing — who wouldn’t want their foot soldiers to become evangelists? Without the proper reward, however, participation simply isn’t going to happen.
Here’s a simple chart to illustrate the point:
A Twitter contest that only requires someone to retweet or become a follower and offers the reward of an iPod, for example, is going to result in high participation and more followers.
A Facebook contest, on the other hand, that offers a free six pack of Coke to the winner of a finger painting contest who is first required to fill out a series of web forms to enter, will result in low participation.
It goes without saying that there are many types of rewards, including those intangible in nature, such as the pride a Wikipedia volunteer might experience in exchange for editing services. A reward could be considered high from simply offering a finger painter the chance to have his/her creation posted on a Facebook page with 1 million fans. In this case, the recognition is the reward and should be evaluated as such.
In developing your social media contest strategy, don’t take for granted the effort required and make sure your contest has the adequate incentives. Doing so will result in a high participation and will turn your contest winners into brand evangelists.
The New Twitter Brand Pages for Businesses
In early December, Twitter unveiled the new Twitter brand pages, which, according to Twitter, will “help marketers create an even more compelling destination on Twitter for their brands.” And, oh yeah—the new and enhanced Facebook-esque layout will give brands a more distinctive presence on Twitter, too. So when can your company expect to gain access to the exciting new brand page? Soon. The rollout is planned for the first quarter of 2012.
The first improvement is a new banner that will stretch across the page just below the profile information. There, brands can display their company logos, taglines, or other visuals. By allowing companies to showcase their branding more explicitly, Twitter is making steps toward positioning itself as an ideal platform for companies who want a brand-led social media presence.
What’s arguably the most exciting new feature, however, is pinned tweets. You now have the ability to control the tweet visitors see when they come to your brand page by semi-permanently featuring a tweet at the top of your brand’s stream. This is particularly effective for messages that contain rich media, such as an image or video, since the Promoted Tweet (so dubbed by Twitter) will appear auto-expanded. This helps brands customize their page, promote important news or contests, and drive traffic to a specific video, photo, or link.
Twitter is introducing additional features that will further enable tweeters to connect with brands more deeply. The new ‘discover’ button will help you find content relevant to your interests and offer big returns to brands. For instance, brands that tailor their content to the interests and likes of their target audiences will inevitably gain a bigger following and experience heightened engagement with their followers.
The overhaul positions Twitter alongside Facebook and Google+ by offering a brand-friendly environment. If you’re especially keen on gaining access to the new format, keep in the know about the rollout progress, and learn more about the new layout, on Twitter’s advertising blog.
Retail Social Media Edition – Ranking the Big 4
This is a post in a series ranking the Big 4 social media sites — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare — for B2B, retail, and real estate. Read the introduction for background.
For retail social media, there is a clear loser — LinkedIn — though mainly for a lack of effort. LinkedIn simply doesn’t play in that space and never will. That leaves Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare to vie for retail supremacy. Unlike B2B and real estate, however, there isn’t a clear winner. This is fitting since all seem to offer their own virtues and can compliment each other nicely in a social media campaign.
1. Facebook
Facebook gets the number one slot for its sheer volume. 500 million users can’t be sniffed at. With more and more people communicating through Facebook, and more and more young people ditching email and choosing Facebook for all of their communications needs, it is a powerful and still largely untapped medium.
Retailers can set up standard or customized pages and interact with customers like never before. Facebook promotions have been very effective in building consumer loyalty and driving repeat purchases.
2. Twitter
Twitter offers the most potential for viral promotion for retailers, and is a great way to jump start interest in a product or brand through competitions and promotions.
Being the fastest moving source of info on the planet, Twitter is also an excellent way to get in touch with media, since every reporter known to man seems to use it. That said, Twitter can quickly become all-consuming and turn into a full time job if you let it. Building a following takes blood, sweat, and tears. It’s worth the commitment if you have the resources, and eventually you’ll build your list and start to see the needle move. If you don’t have the resources, focus on Facebook, which doesn’t require constant updates to be fruitful.
3. Foursquare
Though Foursquare has savvy interplay of mobile and brick and mortar, it get the #3 spot, because, simply put, it still hasn’t achieved critical mass. Though the same Foursquare promotion could easily be promoted on Twitter, the geo-location feature actually requires a store visit. Retailers using Foursquare can offer incentives for bouncebacks and repeat purchases and, like Facebook, reward customers for being loyal followers. Last, in a nod to small business, it doesn’t require 24/7 monitoring and maintenance to be effective.
4. LinkedIn
See intro pp.
Given that the basic version of Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare is free, all of them have played in a role in the tremendously democratizing force that social media has become. If resources allow, it’s a good thing to do all three. If they don’t, it’s more than acceptable to pick one or two and get the most out of them. In retail, you can only go wrong if you stay on the social media sidelines.
B2B Social Media Edition – Ranking the Big 4
This is a post in a series ranking the Big 4 social media sites — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare — for B2B, retail, and real estate. Read the introduction for background.
Not every social media application is right for B2B marketing. Yes, there are tools that allow you to post the same content to the Big 4, but that ignores the nuances of each site and can make you look spammy and out of context. In the end, picking the proper channels and doing right by them will drive the most value.
Here’s how we rank the the Big 4 for B2B -
1. LinkedIn
LinkedIn has basically taken the posting functionality of Twitter and Facebook and optimized it for business. Also like Facebook, they now allow businesses to set up their own pages and accumulate followers.
So why not just do Facebook? If you’re like me, your LinkedIn contacts are business people who want business information and will have a genuine interest in the information you’re providing. Don’t be shy about asking for followers and posting interesting content that reminds them of who you are and informs them of important milestones, new hires, and client acquisitions.
2. Twitter
Let’s be honest, Twitter is a pain the @ss, especially for Type B’s such as myself. You need to post frequently and do a lot of interacting to build a following and make it work. That said, you’ll find a lot of general and industry Media on Twitter, and if you work the relationships, you’ll be able to slip in your news and other timely content items.
As I’ve said in a previous post about building real relationships behind Twitter, it’s important to press the flesh with your Twitter network in person. Get that Type A go getter in your company a Twitter account and send him/her off to industry conferences to hob-nob and meet the media. You’ll see your posts getting much more traction and respect, and the publicity will follow.
3. Facebook
Imagine logging into your Facebook account to see what your friends are doing and seeing something in your news feed about the latest advances in PVC piping. Construction guys aside, I probably only Like your page because you’re a friend of mine, you suggested it, and I feel obligated to follow it.
Unless your B2B product or services cross into areas of social and hobby, you can feel free to leave Facebook alone. It simply isn’t the right context for B2B communication in most cases.
4. Foursquare
Of the big four, Foursquare is most blatantly geared toward consumers. Unless you’re trying to — okay, I honestly can’t think of a real Foursquare/B2B scenario. Can you?
If you insist on doing all of the Big 4, do yourself a favor and use a service like Hootsuite to manage your accounts. You’ll be able to post simultaneously, which is nice. More importantly, you’ll have the option to NOT push content through certain channels.
In summary, don’t stress yourself out thinking you’re missing something if you don’t do everything. Internet marketing, like traditional marketing, is about making choices, and it’s more important to do one or two things well than everything mediocre. B2B companies will find the most fruit with LinkedIn and Twitter, and should focus on building those channels first.
Growing your Personal Brand By Connecting Twitter to the Real World
There are two types of tweeple in this world: Celebrities and non-celebrities. If you’re Conan or Ashton and you’re a twilebrity, you won’t have any trouble finding followers. Same goes for guys like Matt Cutts and Copyblogger, big names and Twitter captains in their field.
For these guys Twitter is a bona fide marketing channel, one that came from a previously minted fame or celebrity, not the other way around. Conan noted in his super funny sit down at Google that the “Legally Funny on TV” tour was sold out with one Tweet, which pointed people to a website. One free and all powerful Tweet.
If you’re Joe Tweep you don’t have the opportunity to leverage Twitter to capitalize on your already established fame because you aren’t famous. In this case the road to a meaningful following is going to be arduous and winding, and — if not done properly — may not be worth it at the end of the day.
The easy option is to solve your non-celebrity by gaming the system. There are sites out there that allow you to pay or trade for followers, like boosttwitterfollowers.com, where you become a VIP member, and you essentially pay to follow people who promise to follow you back (I haven’t tried it) for as little as $49.99 per month.
The problem with this and other spammy services is that regardless of the faux-credibility received from the size of your following, there’s still no brand. Yeah you might have 100k followers, but who are those people? Why are they following you? If 99 percent of those followers were brokered, then all you’ve got is a very large and very soulless following. No brand means no trust, that no one will re-tweet or connect with you in a meaningful way that will result in more business.
The real means to a legitimate Twitter following is through hard work and networking. Good followings are grounded in real people in real communities, as you likely have with your friends on Facebook and connections on LinkedIn, where you know the people and they are likely to comment or Like what you’re doing.
For Tweeple who aren’t concerned with celebrity but still want to use Twitter as a business tool, you’ll need to find a community of tweeple and establish legitimate two-way relationships. And the best way to ensure your followers read and retweet your tweets is to meet them in person.
