Truth to tell, social media marketing has only been really limited to Facebook and, as an on and off campaign, YouTube. But it hasn’t really, to reference the community lingo, hashed out the propensity of Twitter in working for your business.
Facebook is more popular as a social media tool because it has closer access to the fan base and has a more panoramic view of what has been uploaded. Twitter, on the other hand, crunches everything you want to say to just 140 characters.
Yet it’s precisely because Twitter has that meta-tag feel to it that this became its drawing power. In the fast-paced, attention span deficiencies of the internet, it’s like taking a quick peek on how the mind of your company works without overloading the brain.
Statistics
Let’s begin with statistics to give you a bird’s eye view of Twitter’s more mathematical impact. In a study done by Carnegie Mellon University, it was concluded that only 36% of tweets are worthwhile reading, 25% are trash and the remaining fraction are so-so.
Questions posted on Twitter, sharing information and links to the tweeter’s content rated highest on the popularity contest. Tweeting your current disposition or what you’re doing, negative sentiments and, surprisingly, use of too many Twitter symbols, like hashtags and @, are a huge turnoff for a lot of people. Note that one or two symbols are fine, but bombarding it with too much # is grating to the eye.
The Pizza analogy
Michael Tasner of Huff Post Small Business used a pizza company’s Twitter to show what an effective tool Twitter can be. For Twitter to be successful, about 10 to 15 tweets spaced out in a span of one day should be sent out.
Using the pizza analogy, it’s interesting for people to know a little something about your company. Like say, you tweet: “On this day in 1972, we opened our doors for the world, and gave them a taste of what true Italian pizza tastes like.” For a lot of people, this brings back a lot of memories about the first time they tasted pizza. With just a little play in words, the tweet evokes a nostalgic feel about our childhood or our parents’ childhood.
If you’re also following a chef who likes posting photos of his pizza creations, you can tweet, “Now THIS is a pizza folks. RT @pizzaartist Check out my latest creation The Greek Pizza. Spinach, Feta, Tomato, and a secret ingredient. bit.ly/4321”
Retweeting is always a positive thing for anybody because it suggests admiration, honoring and a desire to connect. Who wouldn’t want that?
What to Tweet
Chris Brogan for his site suggested a couple of ideas what to tweet. Here are a few examples:
Rather than saying what’s on your mind, tell us, “What has your attention?”
Twitter is an opinionated community so it’s good to ask questions.
As mentioned earlier, retweeting is always a good thing.
“Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things,” Brogan wrote.
Speaking your mind in just 140 characters isn’t exactly a walk in the park. It takes imagination to compress your thoughts and creativity to the play of words to catch attention. But this is what makes Twitter worth the effort.
img c/o pixabay
