Going Beyond Twitter's 140 Characters...Turn Your Followers into Loyal Supporters.

Going Beyond Twitter’s 140 Characters…Turn Your Followers into Loyal Supporters.

As much as you can get thousands of followers on Twitter and drive lots of traffic back to your blog using this micro blogging platform, many users feel that engaging with their followers with just 140 characters isn't necessarily enough. Connecting with other Twitter users with such limit can only go so far so your ultimate goal must be to eventually drive these followers to your blog and Facebook fan page where you can engage more with them on a more personal level.

So how do you exactly go beyond the 140 characters? How do you drive your followers to your blog and fan page? How do you convert them into loyal supporters of your business?

First, let's take a look at a three-fold goal when using Twitter:
1. Build followers
2. Create awareness of "you", and
3. Develop those followers into a community of loyal supporters.

With so many applications nowadays, building your following to thousands is not nearly impossible. I use one that's called Tweet Adder. I also highly recommend Market Me Tweet which allows you to brand your tweets. As of the time of this writing, I am a few numbers short of having 7,000 followers which I was able to accomplish in just a few weeks time. So investing on a tool that will make your social media life easier is definitely a must.

While the quantity of your following establishes your social proof, just having it per se does not help if your followers do not really know you. Even with only 140 characters, fortunately, creating awareness is not so hard to accomplish. Notice that I said "you" and not your products or services. Those businesses that joined social media with the whole purpose of just blasting about their services or products will eventually find that this kind of business model is doomed to fail.

Value + Engagement – > Convert to Loyal Supporters
First of all, when you decide to utilize social media marketing for your business, be prepared to give, give, give. You give of yourself, your knowledge, your time, your efforts. This is how you create awareness of you…by providing value. People are normally attracted when you have something great to offer such as great content, tips, advice, discounts, and freebies. This is one of the reasons why you MUST blog. If blogging is not a part of your business model, then it is time to re-consider and add blogging to your marketing mix! It's not even possible to have your social marketing effective without a blog being the hub of it. It is through your blog that you provide value.

I've been asked too many times, "I'm not a blogger, I have a product or service to offer, how will this blogging work for me? I don't think it's the right model for my business."

Case Study: One great example I would like to mention is this company called @BabbaCo owned by a great twiend of mine Jessica Kim. BabbaCo offers different baby products. One that made her particularly known is the Babba Cover which is a cover for a baby's carrier. With a great product like that, you would think that they could do without social marketing but Jessica Kim is effectively using social marketing using Twitter, a Facebook fan page, and a blog. Jessica uses a lot of videos on her blog and on her videos, she's not necessarily selling or promoting her products but she's giving away tips and advices about common issues mothers face about their babies. What a great way to turn your followers into loyal supporters!

So to say that blogging is only for individuals and does not fit every business industry, products or services is inaccurate. If your product is about make-up or clothes or purse, set up a blog about fashion tips and advices! If you are offering insurance policies, set up a blog that offer tips on how individuals can save on their insurance. If you are a financial planner, set up a blog about how people can plan their financial future. If you sell handcrafted jewelries, create tutorials on how to make jewelries. You get the idea.

If you want to truly be successful in social marketing for your business, do not eliminate the blogging platform. It may be time consuming but it is just like any marketing strategy that requires your time and efforts. Find a way to make it happen.

In addition to providing value, you create awareness by engaging with your followers. Yes, Twitter is quite limited but there is still something that you can say even with its character limit to initiate a conversation with someone. The whole idea is to get people to notice you and then lead them to your blog and Facebook fan page where you can connect with them with more than just 140 characters.

My personal favorite way of getting noticed is really just by replying with a comment to someone else's tweets. See, a normal Twitter user does not stare 24/7 on their timeline just to look at the status updates of people they don't even know BUT one thing for sure is that they look at their mentions. Mixing this kind of activity within your social marketing everyday can produce results one mention at a time! It may not necessarily be massive in quantity but you will produce a quality follower by establishing some kind of connection with someone.

I usually spend about 15-20 minutes browsing my timeline from my followers and find tweets that I'd like to comment on. I find people on my follow list that have something great to say and that I know will benefit from what I have to offer.

Another way is by sending a direct message informing of my Facebook fan page. Since direct messaging can sometimes be a form of spamming, you must carefully word your message so that it's not considered spam. Make it personal and transparent that you are a human and not a spam bot.

In conclusion, my formula to develop loyal supporters from Twitter:
Engage + Provide Value = Awareness + Engage More + Provide MORE Value = Convert to Loyal Supporters

Consistent efforts in the formula above is the key and you will soon find yourself with a solid fan base that love you and support you no matter what product or service you offer.

Until then! See you again soon!…

P.S: If you want to increase your Twitter followers, try automating it with Tweet Adder! In social media, it is best to work smart, not hard! I use Tweet Adder to add close to 7,000 followers in a matter of few weeks. This is hard to obtain by manually following. Check out Tweet Adder.

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