As is every major social platform, Twitter is unique in its own way. It connects you to an extremely large community, most of whom are on the platform to be educated, informed, and to keep up-to-date with the latest happenings. And that refers to products they're interested in as well as to everything else - research has shown that 42% of users follow brands on Twitter.
It'd be a shame for any company to let that opportunity slip by, therefore today I'll share 5 simple strategies that can help you attract more leads on Twitter.
1. Monitor people who mention your brand, your competitor, and your product category
Using a social media monitoring tool, you can ensure you stay up to date and aware of any Twitter mentions of your brand, competitor or your product category. This will enable you to locate warm leads on Twitter, the ones already interested in what you have to offer.
Many users might also be mentioning you without using your Twitter handle. It's important that you also set up a system to catch these mentions and reply to them.
Users might be asking for advice or solution, looking to buy your or your competitor's product. They might be complaining about something or praising your brand.
In any case, if you find them in time, you'll get a potential customer. And needless to say, you'll also get perks from other users who have seen your replies to a tweet.
Awario is a social media monitoring tool that can help with this. Awario is able to track mentions of your chosen keywords in real time, and enables you engage with your potential customers.
2. Participate in Twitter chats
Twitter chats attract niche communities. While it's definitely not a good idea to hard-sell on Twitter chats, you should give them a try and join a number of conversations - you'll find niche influencers and connect with people that are truly interested in your industry.
With Twitter chats, the topic of discussion is usually posted in advance, so make sure you have some ideas to share. If not, though, it's completely fine to listen to what's being said and connect with people later outside of the chat.
Don't forget to follow the unspoken rules: no long speeches, no repetition of what's been said before you've joined in, don't be rude and don't change the topic.
Afterwards, follow participants you've connected with and make a Twitter list to keep all key participants in one place.
3. Share retweetable content
It's common knowledge that content you post should be unique and interesting to your audience. However, there are some additional things you can do to help boost the reach of your messages through re-tweets.
Include images
Studies show that tweets with images garner significantly more engagement than those without. This isn't surprising: as Twitter is still a mainly text-based platform, posts with images (or even animated GIFs) stand out and grab audience attention. Also, as the 140 characters limit can be restrictive, an image can help convey a message better than just the available words.
If you are selling a product, even if it's a digital one, include a photo of it. It makes a product look more real, and therefore more appealing to your customers.
Ask for a re-tweet
Don't assume your readers know what you want them to do: tell them. Ask them to re-tweet your content. After all, it's just a simple call-to-action. And studies have shown it works.
Tweet quotes
Quotes, especially inspiring and thought-provoking quotes, can be a great way to get retweets. They can be from thought leaders and experts from your industry - and that can help people associate you with well-known authorities - or they can be your own.
"Teaser" quotes from your own blog posts can help draw reader's attention to your work. These quotes should provide some perspective on your post's content - and, of course, they should be catchy and exciting (where possible).
4. Run contests
Contests are Twitter's most favorite hobby. And this is perfectly justified: retweets and followers jump up every time a contest is introduced.
Choose a prize that's both attractive and relevant to your brand. Also, use hashtags, both simple ones, such as #win, #competition, and more brand-specific ones draw attention and increase public engagement. Use Awario or another social media monitoring tool to keep track of mentions of your contest. After the contest, profile the winner(s) on your Twitter feed, and let the readers know about any other future contest plans.
5. Repeat your tweets
Simple, and terribly effective.
No matter how amazing your tweet is, it's half-life is only around 24 minutes. How many of your followers will be online in that time frame? Not enough.
Many studies have shown that repeating a tweet a couple of times leads to more likes, retweets, and ultimately leads.
Of course, that doesn't mean you should be spamming your information every hour like news channels do, but don't hesitate to reuse the content you already have.
In Conclusion
These are just some effective and easy to implement strategies that will help you with Twitter lead generation.
Keep in mind that attracting new followers is not enough - you also have to convert them. Be clear on what you want from your readers, and use calls-to-action to convey your message - for example, if your product can be bought/downloaded now, ask them to do that.
Don't forget to engage with your leads as much as possible. It's not only content that's king, it's also contact - the two work hand in hand.
And lastly, Twitter may be a powerful platform, but it's only through the combination of social media and other efforts, like SEO, that will truly make digital marketing work for you.