Content Creation

The Power of Twitter in Content Marketing

CopyPress

March 27, 2018 (Updated: March 2, 2020)

The rise of social media has changed the way we market our content. It provides the opportunity to connect with audiences in ways that traditional marketing techniques can’t. Twitter is one of the social media channels at the head of the pack. With over 313 million active users, marketers can utilize Twitter to access a broad range of individuals, especially those of a young demographic.

While setting up an account on Twitter is simple, gaining a significant amount of followers is anything but. Fortunately, Twitter provides the tools necessary to connect you with your target audience on a level deeper than many social media platforms make possible.

Your business’ approach to marketing on each social media platform is going to be different and you’ll need to know how to take advantage of the unique tactics Twitter has to offer. Many marketers use social media to simply broadcast content, but if you only post images and videos or solely share links to your blog posts, you’ll be vastly underusing its potential. Here’s how you can utilize the power of Twitter.

Personalize Your Brand

Image via Flickr by Xiaobin Liu

Twitter was built for people to interact with one another. It’s a place where brands can directly interact with their target audience and show their personality. A great way to engage is through Twitter chats. Look for chats related to your industry by searching through trending hashtags and engage in conversations with the users discussing those topics. Truly interact with these users and guarantee that they see your replies by mentioning them in your comments.

Then follow those users, like their tweets, and retweet posts that are relevant to your brand. Build relationships with the users who continue to participate in chats and produce content, and some of them could even become influencers for you when you share your own content. Be proactive and get the conversation started, don’t be afraid to start chats of your own! Just make sure you add relevant hashtags so you aren’t shouting into the void.

Visual Media

You may not always think of using Twitter for video marketing when there are options like Instagram and YouTube, but Twitter offers a great way to spread video content to the active followers you’ve already developed a strong relationship with. Twitter’s native video recording software allows you to record 140 seconds of video and upload it directly to your feed. Twitter also owns the video streaming service, Periscope, that works much like Facebook Live Video or Instagram Live. Using Periscope, you can invite your audience to a live-stream video and do fun take-overs and behind-the-scenes segments.

Don’t be afraid to use images, either. Since most users’ Twitter feeds are mostly full of text, your images will pop in contrast. Use images with bright, eye-catching colors and consider using a template across many of your images that can further emphasize your brand. Avoid using boring stock images, you’re better than that.

Careful Conversations

With Twitter, you need to find the careful balance between adhering to a plan and making your posts feel organic and spontaneous. Users on Twitter prefer a conversational tone and quick-to-digest content, so give the people what they want! However, you still need to integrate your Twitter usage into the overall strategy which involves planning and scheduling posts. Plan to post about the content you put on your blog, figure out how you can integrate content with upcoming holidays, and draw up ideas for responding to pop culture using your brand and content.

Recently, Marvel made a great example of how to integrate a plan with content while feeling spontaneous. The newest Marvel movie, Avengers: Infinity War, was slated to be released on May 4th. Marvel posted on Twitter asking fans if they were excited to see the movie on that date. Robert Downey Jr. responded asking if he could see it early, Marvel said he could, and Downey asked if he could bring some friends. Marvel obliged, and it turns out Downey wants to bring a lot of friends, like, the whole world. So now Marvel is releasing the movie on April 27th.

Unless Downey holds more power than we know, Marvel has been planning this announcement for some time, but they were able to use Twitter to release it in an organic, conversational manner that perfectly fit the platform.

Customer Insights

Twitter is also a great place for less formal research. Once you’ve built up a reliable group of followers, you can turn to them for quick responses to questions. Maybe you want to know how they are responding to your latest product, or maybe you want to know how they feel about some news related to your industry. In addition to providing you with some valuable customer insight, you’ll also show your audience that you care about their opinions which will hopefully make them trust you even more.

If you want to get the maximum amount of response from a poll, it doesn’t hurt to throw in an image. Unfortunately, you can’t have text, an image, and the poll widget all operating at the same time. So you’ll need to create your own image that includes the necessary text for the poll. Remember that most people simply rely on text, so if you make the extra effort to stylize your poll it’ll really stand out.

Influencer Marketing

Twitter has become one of the rulers of influencer marketing. Influencers already have a strong follower base full of active users that latch onto everything they say. By working with them, you can reach a wider audience and hopefully expand your own. When working with influencers, however, avoid limiting their creative freedom too much. They know how to connect with their audience, so give them the liberty to work with your brand as they see fit.

Remember to pick your influencer carefully. There are plenty of influencers out there, so choose one that best reflects your brand. Check out their previous posts and guarantee that how they interact with their audience will not reflect poorly on the standards of your business.

Do not underestimate the power of Twitter in content marketing. Use that power wisely to personalize your brand, connect with your audience, and shoot your business ahead of the competition.

CopyPress

March 27, 2018 (Updated: March 2, 2020)