Build Your Brand with Twitter
We have talked in several of our posts regarding your brand about FaceBook. It seems to me that after following many of you on Twitter & FaceBook that the one thing you are NOT doing is being social.
Social media is called “social media” for a reason. Social media gives you a reason to interact with another person, it allows you to put a name & personality with your brand image. As I browse through several of your Twitter accounts I see things like this:
You’re probably looking at this thinking: “Gee, that looks familiar…I do that too.” If this is all you do, you will NEVER get followers and people will not click on your links. Let’s see what you can do to make your tweets effective.
What’s wrong with this post? First off, let’s look at the obvious. Where is the link in this post? There are so many hashtags you can’t even read the tweet. We all love to be picked up by bots, because it gets our name out. But let’s be honest, does Twitter really provide you with traffic? Not sure? Go check your Etsy stats and see if people are REALLY clicking on your links to your items from Twitter.
Here’s my shop stats since January. You can see where my Twitter rates…now let’s be honest. What’s the point of using Twitter if it’s not going to help me. Just by these stats alone I should be focusing more on SEO, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, my Blog, and Facebook…I should probably CLOSE my Twitter account. I have changed the way I tweet over the past month, spurred on by my own interest and learning of social media…so hopefully this number of 4 measly referrals from Twitter will multiply by at least 10 by the end of the year.
Here’s another example of a “no-no” tweet…
So what’s wrong with this one you ask? Multiple things. Billy has given us permission to use him as example and for that we are thankful. Billy is new to the promotional world of Etsy through the PromoFrenzy Team and is just beginning. When I began using Twitter, all my posts looked like this too.
Here’s why it’s not good. Like our first example, where’s the link? Everything in the post is clickable, meaning you are actually less likely to have anyone click on anything. Try to think in conversations to gain attention and followers. I’ll be honest 99% of people would never read a post like the one above. Why? It’s too hard to read. Most users think that in order to come up in tweet searches you have to use a hashtag. This is WRONG! Here’s an example. I searched for “Polymer Clay” on Twitter…here’s what I found.
Here’s my suggestion for a better tweet: “Vintage jewelry is my passion. This Victorian Scissors Pendant would look great with a blouse. (insert link)”
Why this is better: The user is stating a fact about him & his store. The user is also suggesting a way to wear this jewelry. With jewelry & clothing this is the hardest part. I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen something and think, “I don’t even know what to wear this with.”
The point of Twitter is this, to get people to CLICK on your link that you’ve posted. Forget about the bots…no one follows bots except the people that use them. Let’s be honest, when was the last time you visited a bot you were tweeting their hashtag with and actually clicked on one of those links? Probably not recently.
There are literally thousands of articles on how to tweet effectively, gain followers, and grow your click-back rates. Just do a simple search for “twitter social media marketing” and you can find a wealth of information. The experts tell you that at MAX you should have no more than 2 clickable links. So if you are promoting an item from your Etsy store, 1 link will be your item’s link and the other your strongest keyword, shown in the example below.
The most important part of Twitter….being social. Here’s a great tweet from an everyday user showcasing part of her real world life…
How do you think the users shown below gain thousands of followers? Because they post relevant material several times a day.
So how do you become “authentic” even through social media mass marketing? It’s actually very easy to do…you can even schedule social tweets so that you don’t forget and so that you don’t have to think about it! I use Hootsuite to schedule my posts, often weeks in advance. Does that seem generic to you? Perhaps it does and perhaps it is. That doesn’t mean these are the only time I schedule conversational tweets. But I have ONE conversational tweet schedule through HootSuite for both FaceBook and Twitter every day on various topics and at varying times.
What kind of social things should you post? You can post anything you want really. From what you’re working on, what you see outside the window, what you’re having for dinner, a recent TV show you watched…anything. We post on a variety of social things. Sometimes it’s a quiz question. Our most popular was when I asked our “fans” when Parker’s birthday was. We had a huge response. Sometimes we’ll quote a book we’re reading or a favorite speaker, author, or quote from a famous person. Sometimes I’ll ask our fans what they want to see. I posted this one day: “Currently I’m busy swimming….in owl buttons….okay, so I’m not swimming….but my studio table is pretty crowded with the little cuties.” Within several hours I had over 10 direct message responses. When this happens, you do one thing: answer back…even if it’s several hours later. Let’s face it, no one lives next to or inside their computer. Remember…be social.I hope these tips will help you to become more social…remember the main goal is to be authentic in an age of technology that allows most to hide and pretend to be someone they are not. While your busy “Building Your Brand” you will find that you’re also getting followers, which translate into conversations, click-backs, views, hearts, and eventually sales on Etsy. Join us next Wednesday as we continue to “Build Your Brand.”
Thanks for joining me today.
>Great advice-I'm going to put this into thought & action! 🙂
>Katie,
I must have missed this post the first time around, but it sure is worth its value in gold. My tweets USED to be all clickable, I suspected it was bad, but…
thanks so much for this post, you will not be able to recognize my future tweets they will be so 'clean' 🙂
>Katie, I always learn something from you and you've made a great article, so clearly explained with examples! One thing I can think of: keep in mind that Direct traffic in your etsy stats often means Twitter:)
>Great post! I need to sharpen my twitter skills too. Kudos to Bill for volunteering to be an example 🙂
>Even though my tweet was the "non-no" 🙂 I have had alot of success with twitter views but i have used some of the tips shared and changed a few of my tweets to see what happens!! thanks for the ideas!! – Bill PaganCellarJewelry.etsy.com
>Wow! Whole new way of thinking.
Thanks for the information.
>Thanks for the reminder Katie… I always use to chat and talk about the product I was tweeting but lately I started doing the usual and I can tell by my stats…back to the old way!
>Katie I love your blog and your tips with each post. There is so much for me to learn from you.
>My first time here, great looking blog and informative posts. I will be back to re-read this! Thanks!
>Thanks for all the information, this was a great post. I am a sucker for tons of hash tags but I try to always have the link in front of them…at least haha.
>Wow, very informative, thanks for the information, now to go and actually do it.
>Very informative and helpful!! I agree – I spend a good amount on twitter and decided to check my statistics out to see where traffic came from. NONE through twitter.
>Great information, Katie. I know I am guilty of the lack of socialization on twitter but I hope to do better! Great post.
>Awesome info… so much to think about. I admit, I automate my tweet and how much traffic do I get from twitter??? ZERO. There just isn't enough time in the day!
>Wow! Super informative and nicely done!!
>Very informative post, and also very useful, thank you so much for sharing that helps immensely. It really does help to get to know a person via the social networking as then you are also getting to know their products. Have shared on Facebook and Twitter for you as I think this is very important to get the word out. 🙂 Thank you for a great post