6 Effective Ways to Use Twitter as a Lead Generation Tool

Christian

joint venture marketing

As you may or may not now, Twiter.com is a hot social networking community right now.  According to compete.com, in November, 2008 Twitter had approximately 3,478,239 people visiting the site.  Twitter grew 640% between November 2007 and November 2008.

So how can you harness all this growth into a relationship building system for lead generation or joint venture alliances? How do you provide value, direction, and an authoritative impression in the minds of your followers?

Here are 6 effective ways that I’ve found to contribute to the Twitter community that can be beneficial to your business or consulting practice.

1.    Target your market to follow the right people

Ask yourself, “Who’s my ideal client?” Once you define your target market, finding other people who share an affinity for your products and services is much easier. Twitter may have over 3.5 million users, but that’s not your audience. More than likely your universe is much smaller than that.  Even if you’re in abroad spectrum market such as “online marketing” or “social networking specialist” you’ve got to narrow down your focus to a definable niche, industry or demographic.   Instead of being a “social networking consultant” to all companies, being more to less is a smart idea. For example, narrow your target audience or define a specific program for Graphic Designers who want to increase their sales by using social media.  Once you’ve got your target market clearly defined, you go can use Twitter based tool sites such as TwitterGroups, http://twittgroups.com/showgroups.php or the Twitter advanced search page, http://search.twitter.com/advanced to find other Twitter pages that contain specific keywords to find specific people.

2.    Offer actionable advice

Once you define your target audience and search them out, you should be focusing your tweets on solutions to issues, concerns, cares, and problems that your target audience may have. Focus your Twitter posts (tweets) on providing useful and actionable solution to problems that your ideal clients are facing. You don’t want to use blatant sales pitches here. Remember, your objectives are to offer advise, direction, and act as an authoritative source of answers to your target market. Offer them advice (not just rehashed information), case studies, software, specialized articles, etc.  Anything that may help them do their jobs better, easier, faster, more efficient or provide them a higher level of achievement, joy, and satisfaction.

3.    Use your 140 character wisely

Just because your have 500, 1,000, or 5,000 followers doesn’t mean they’re all going to read your tweets.  It’s human nature to only be interested in things, ideas, and tweets that are important, interesting, or provide value to what’s going on in your follower’s life at this moment.  So consider what your followers want to hear about. This goes back to number one on our list. Targeting your market. If we’re searching out a specific audience, your tweets are essentially your headline. The reason why someone is going to take the action to click your link in your tweet to find the benefit that you’ve promised in your headline.  Don’t just write, “marketing ideas for Graphic Designers”.  Even though you’re talking to a specific group of people, the phrase “marketing services” is vague, undefined, and abstract. Use a more defined, tangible, and clear benefit in your tweet, such as “Traffic conversion best practices for Graphic Designers”. See the difference, one is a general blanket statement, yet the other is focused to solve specific problem that your target marketing may be facing.

4.    Your offer and call to action

Obviously you can’t provide much of a solution within 140 characters. So providing a link back to your site, ideally your Blog first before directing them from Twitter to another site.  Think about your end objective here. If you’re trying to build your opt-in list, then posting your tweet with a link to another website defeats the purpose. What I like to do is write my tweet as a Blog post on my site first, then copy and paste my Blog post link into the tweet box. This way, I have the opportunity to get a new or returning visitor to my Blog where I can provide useful solutions to their problems or concerns, but I can also present them with the option of joining my opt-in list. You can see an example of this on my Blog if you click here.

5.    Frequency of your tweets

If your serious about using Twitter as a lead generation tool, you’re going to have to tweet a minimum of 3 times a day. I’d suggest once in the morning, once midday, and one at night. Reason being is that your target audience is online at different parts of the day. If your followers have  a large following of themselves, your tweet will only be seen by a small fraction of your followers.

6.    Tracking your results

One way that I’ve found to track your tweet subjects is by naming your Blog post the same as what your use for your tweet post. For example, if I create a tweet called, “8 quick tactics to find joint venture partners”, I’ll create my Blog post to be, www.christianfea.com/8-quick-tactics-to-find-joint-venture-partners. I suggest you use Google Analytics to track your website traffic. It’s very in-depth, easy to use and it’s free. All you have to do is copy and paste your Javascript code into your Blog page header and every page on your site will be tracked. If you don’t know how to do this your Webmaster can set this up for you in less then 10 minutes. By doing this you’ll know exactly how many visitors you’ve gotten to visit your site and your can test different tweet topics to see which ones generate more clicks for you.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A joint venture marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.
Join his JV Wealth e-zine.

joint venture marketing

joint venture marketing

58 Replies to “6 Effective Ways to Use Twitter as a Lead Generation Tool”

  1. I agree with everything you say but I think it is necessary to tweet much more than three times a day. Sound difficult and time consuming but it is really pretty easy and quick. I tweet things from the articles I write.

  5. Great article. I have a question though, I’m the owner of a website developing company, would you say I should only follow people in the website development business? I understand why following them is important, but If I want to try and attract clients, shouldn’t I be following people who are in a position to hire a developer to create a website for their business; and that could be any business that’s out there?

  6. Thanks for the tips. As a budding young artist who is only just now considering going commercial with my work, these tips might really help me get off to a good start selling my work, rather than toiling in vain for years before I finally make a name.

  7. Thanks for the tips, I’ve been hearing so much about this “twitter” thing and I’ve been pretty confused about the whole thing, you really helped clarify a lot of the questions that I had about it. Glad I found the blog!

  8. These are great suggestions, I’ve been using Twitter for a while now for social networking but now I see that there is potential to use it in more constructive and beneficial ways.

  9. I wasn’t very familiar with Twitter before reading this article, and I’m starting to see how useful it can be for social networking. This is very relevant advice on creating and maintaining social connections that are of course always so important whether online or off.

  10. I have never used Twitter because I just believed it was another social site similar to myspace or facebook. But I can definitely see the potential for what purposes it can serve! I am trying to get going on my own business. So this info is definitely helpful! Thanks!

  11. Very interesting. I´m already Twitting and I think it is really a great tool to keep in touch with your clients and team mates. Here in Portugal we have a great handicap, in my opinion: We can not receive the tweets in mobile phones.
    I also think that 3 tweets a day is not enough.

  12. Interesting article…I’ve been hearing a lot about Twitter over the past few months, and your perspective makes the entire idea seem a bit easier to understand. With social networking becoming such an important marketing tool, I feel that bookmarketing this article will prove beneficial to me in the future. I work in the maketing and graphic design business, and we definitely continue to look at social networking as a way to broaden our genre of marketing.

  13. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. So many things you say get me to thinking about how i can put your ideas into good use in my situation. Now I can better use Twitter. Thanks again and keep the excellent advice coming!

  14. This is good advice for sure. I am sure I can use this for my own lead generation for a non-profit activity that I am planning.

  15. Great advice on writing. I can definitely use these tips to more effectively target my specific audience. Great job, keep up the good work!

  17. Good information. I have been wondering how to effectivley use Twitter for a while, and this clears some things up. Thanks!

  18. This is a useful and timely article. I remember when Twitter first hit big. I signed up but at that time hadn’t really figured out how to harness it’s social marketing power. You’ve laid out a few ideas here that I never thought of. I’m most intrigued by the three daily tweets and your idea of using Analytics to track the tweets. That one I might play with tonight!

  20. I didn’t even know what twitter was before reading this post. I think it contains a good overview of using twitter as a marketing tool. At least now I have an idea of what twitter can be used for.

  21. ofcourse you have done a great job to those social network interested guys like me.furthur u brought to light the concept of Twitters.i feel this will be very useful for all the social network aspirants..once again thank you..expecting a lot from you..

  22. I think twitter is a great way to conduct business, but sometimes the short messages aren’t enough. That’s why I use twitter to get the leads and then have them dial my number, and I pick up most my business that way.

    Thanks a ton!

  23. I think twitter is a great way to conduct business, but sometimes the short messages aren’t enough. That’s why I use twitter to get the leads and then have them dial my number, and I pick up most my business that way.

    Thanks a ton!

  24. Great informative blog Christian! Good point about using tweets frequently to be taken serious. Call to action is key! Good stuff.

  25. Like you said, twitter is huge, but I never knew it could be used for something like this. This is a great article with lots of helpful advice. You have definitely done your homework. Thanks!

  26. Yes, the article is very interesting to read and you have provided the useful information.It helps me a lot to continue my business…thanks for your article…..And i too have heard something about twitter and it’s all that you have said above is correct and added more information about twiiter….

  27. Thank you for the great article. I am new to the term Twitter and after reading your article and doing some other research i now have a better understanding. I found the information you wrote is beneficial to my bussiness. THANK YOU!!

  28. I’m looking at ways to use Twitter in service and recruiting practices in higher education, but even though this is a somewhat different motivation a lot of what you say seems to have relevance there. Thanks for your tips and insights!

  29. I had no idea Twitter could be used as a marketing tool! You have some great ideas for taking full advantage of its possibilities.

  30. I think the tracking feature is rather ingenious, knowing which of your topics are getting a lot of views may be much more important than some will admit.

  31. Thanks Christian for the advice on tracking the tweets. That is really an easy and simple way to get a good idea of what tweet is being read and which aren’t to help fine tune the timing and the content. Keep up the good work.

  32. If you had said to me a couple of years ago that I’d be doing a lot of blogging and tweeting, I probably would have thought you were referring to some sort of acid indigestion or gastric reflux complex! However, the advent of all the new social networking tools has become an essential component of marketing and lead generation. I know that better than most anyone else, as my job was eliminated in the past year, and I’ve come to rely on these tools to keep connected and ensure that my name and skills are not far from the top of my colleagues’s minds. Keep up the good work – I’ll be checking back frequently!

  33. i think that you offer good advice about social networking. and i like the idea about being more to less, this was an interesting article, and i learned from it. thank you

  34. Thank You! The infromation that is shared here is outstanding. Its may be not a big deal to some, but knowing your target market will save you alot of headaches. I’ve found that this information will help anyone that wants to create more traffic, and how to target a smaller audiance rather then trying to broadcast to a whole bunch of people with wasted results. Keep posting the great info.

  35. Thanks! Your article was inclusive enough as well as succint. I didn’t have to muddle through a lot of “jargon”. Creating target audience had to be first and foremost, the rest of the points are almost moot without doing that.
    I like your idea about tweeting at least 3 times a day. Though you have already narrowed your target audience, as you say, they will be on various times of the day.

  36. You have some Great Input, I found your blog Very informational, Also Simple and Not so Diffucult to understand thanks For Writing Now I am a bit more Knowlegable about Marketing on Twitter!!

  37. Christianfea,

    Actually this is the first time am hearing about TwitPwr. Since am a new user, your article provided me an overall idea about what TwitPwr is. Thanks dear and keep going

  38. this blog is great! it has many things and many advices and i agree with you and this article isnt dificult to understand!Keep doing the great work!

  39. This post is really helpful for building up Social Media for Business in the UK. I have recently heard of the term “twitter”. I will be going to UK in a few months. This article will definitely help me to establish my business there. Keep informing us by your posts.

  40. I have a Twitter account and check it often throughout the day. I think that your ideas are great and really smart too. I know that tweets that are focused on things that I find interesting and important are always going to catch my attention first.

  41. Thanks for the advice. I’ve never heard of this site before now. I would love to check it out. Sounds very interesting

  42. Thank you, Christian! I’ve been looking for clear, precise and UNDERSTANDABLE information on using Twitter for LG for weeks. You’ve made my job a lot easier.

  43. Really informative article Christian,

    I loved hearing Perry Belcher’s simple explanation of the Social Networking Revolution. Previous communication has been from one media to the many but Social Networking gives us ALL the opportunity for ‘many to many’ communication. The light switched on in a flash. Yes that’s why Social Networking is becoming so important for so many of us.

    The times of being fed solely on what the Barons want us to believe is changing.

    And for this reason I’d encourage everyone I know to start Social Networking .. Whether it’s to tell others of their business or their interests in general or just that it’s snowing today .. It’s generally REAL.

    I’ve come to your site now in response to someone talking about your article at Twitter. And in turn will tell the people who are following me there to read it too.

    I’ve only just started Twitter and now FaceBook .. Branching out to Red Bubble and Flickr for my art work. As a beginner I still have a lot to learn about targeting my market and tracking results * Will take on board all you have said. Thanks a million Christian.

  48. I am continually blown away by the effect of Twitter and I’m even creating content and video tutorials for social media marketing because I tested and effectively was able to never have to use paid advertising or pitch anything or buy leads or any of the scary stuff where I am admittedly “expert challenged.”

    And it’s nuts how one day it just blows up and you wish you knew why people all of the sudden love you, but won’t argue, hey?

  52. Christian – Great post.
    #4 – I think it looks very self-serving and removes some of the “open” nature of the web and social media and twitter to ALWAYS be driving people back to your site/blog/whatever. That said, it’s a great idea and one I’ll be employing more. LOL. Just not with EVERY tweet that includes a link. As a user, I enjoy when another Twit sends me off somewhere I haven’t been before, WITHOUT having to go through yet another gate (THEIR particular blog/site). BUT….if the point of using twitter is to market one’s services, then Tip #4 is invaluable. I would just say, use it with some moderation.

    #5 – For frequency of tweets, I love BigTweet.com – it lets me tweet instantly from any webpage I happen to be viewing. So I can easily clip some text or the link itself (in violation of tip #4, lol). But it’s a great app and tool for a twitter user.

    Thanks for the tips!

  53. Relevant points you made. However if I see someone tweeting constantly about their business I will unfollow and quickly.
    The tool is good for soft promotion but agressive promotion is a no-no.
    If people are interested what you have to say they will take a look into the detail and read more about you.

  54. Very useful post, Christian, many thanks!
    I have been wondering about people missing Tweets and so:
    * how often to send them (thanks for your thoughts & also Suzan’s response), and
    * whether to re-send the same Tweet 3 or more times a day, if it is a key one, say link to my Blog / article?

    Many thanks,
    Susanna777

  56. Hi, thanks for a great post with specific suggestions. For the past ten days, I have been on a quest to find the best ideas on using Twitter as a business tool. I found some good suggestions here that I had not seen. I particularly liked your thought about tracking posts back to visits to your blog by using similar names.

    Shallie Bey
    Smarter Small Business Blog

  57. Pingback: How 1 Tool Can Raise Your Twitter Marketing Consciousness | Small Business Internet Marketing and Consulting

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