Despite Twitter marketing being a bona fide part of the social media mix for quite some years now, brands still often struggle with the basics. One of the questions most frequently asked, along with how often to tweet, is indeed what to tweet. All too often, marketers fret about coming across as unprofessional or losing their corporate tone of voice – which often leads to some very dry, product-led tweets – a major no-no in Twitter terms.
Through Twitter, brands now have access to a more active, albeit smaller audience than research. This is according to recent data from social and analytics start-up Optimal, which suggest that if you’re looking to build a following quickly, Twitter may well be the channel of choice.
Assuming that a brand is trying to convert Twitter users into followers, and ultimately into customers, there are certain strategies that can help achieve this. As with most marketing efforts, clear calls to action are essential; they will entice a social media audience to focus on the specific way that you want to them to interact with your content. The best Twitter CTAs invite engagement with your promoted tweets, and include, but are not limited to:
1. Requesting a retweet
The beauty of being retweeted is twofold: firstly and alluringly, it generates increased awareness as your content is shared among various new communities; secondly, it encourages followers to become true advocates of your brand.
Of course, you need to invite this action by giving your audience something valuable in return.
As a rule, try to be consistent in spelling out the word ‘retweet’ rather than using ‘RT’. And stick to the general guideline of keeping formatting clear and simple so people know what is required of them.
2. Invitations to download
Tweets are the ideal means of promoting new content via links, so long as you give people clear directions and offer an incentive to click. According to Twitter, tweets in timelines that explicitly ask people to download from an included link enjoy an average of 13% increased clicks. In search results, tweets that ask for a download increase clicks by on average 11%.
3. Ask for a follow
According to Twitter, tweets that directly request a follow increase responses by 258%. We would suggest that this is down to offering something juicy in return – so to improve effectiveness, be sure to clearly highlight the exclusive content on offer. Competitions with attractive prizes are a surefire way to incentivise followers.
4. Ask for a reply
You know the phrase, ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’? It might not apply to all spheres of life (my oft-ignored requests to my husband to mow the lawn, for instance), but the Twitter community are a generally obliging lot when approached in the right way. In fact, tweets that ask for a reply increase replies by an average of 334%. A personal, conversational tone or additional exclusive incentives improve response rates further still. Hmm, perhaps I should try that approach with my husband.
Over to You
Do you engage in regular Twitter marketing – and if so, which CTAs elicit the best response rates in your experience?
Photo: Webtreats
