Relationships are so important to successful social media marketing and maybe especially so for Twitter. Here are some tips on how to build strong and positive relationships on the social platform.
Be Genuine and Be Polite.
Be honest and be polite in all of your tweets, direct messages and in all of your interactions. Show appreciation. Reply to direct messages, even the ones scheduled to automatically be sent out upon making new connections. Respond to positive and negative criticism/comments – people expect responses. Unanswered customer service concerns may quickly transform into lost customers and public relations nightmares. Also remember that a relationship requires both giving and receiving. If you want to gain supporters online, you will need to offer your support to others.
Don’t Be Afraid to Network.
The very basis of Twitter encourages networking so get active and get into communication with industry influencers, prospective customers, members of your community, other brands, et al. One way to quickly reach out to others is to mention them or their companies in tweets (using the @ symbol). When it comes to social media success, what you receive equates to your level of engagement and interest.
Participate in Twitter Chats.
Twitter chats are live events that allow your tweets to be seen more visibly by a specific audience and by anyone who searches the hashtags for the chat. It’s a great way to meet others, to make new connections and to establish your company as an expert on a subject.
Connect Outside of Twitter.
Connect with your followers in other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to strengthen and build upon relationships.
Aim for Quality.
Tweets about products and services are both acceptable and welcome but they should not be your only tweets. Social media is not the place for the hard sell and your followers may quickly become bored, or worse, be taken aback. Your tweets will do best if they are interesting and offer valuable content to your audience.
Also, never blindly follow others simply hoping to receive follows in return. It’s also important to avoid blindly re-following accounts such as spam accounts, quality will always be a reflection of your brand and quality comes before the quantity of followers in your network.
Gain Brand Advocates.
People in relationships with your brand will frequently favorite and retweet which increases your influence and reach while allowing you to gain new followers with much greater momentum. Brand advocates are some of your most valuable assets – offline and online.
