Twitter can be a powerful business or health marketing tool. Unfortunately, many people don’t know how to harness this power. Let’s discuss it today.

Twitter Benefits

Growing Twitter followers consistently helps:

  • Strengthen brand awareness
  • Raises you above your competition
  • Boosts web traffic to your site
  • Increases number of leads (clients/patients) to grow the business

Obviously, you don’t want just any followers but instead getting growth within the target audience is key.

5 Ways to Attract Twitter Followers

  1. Law of Reciprocity: fb_like_thumbs.jpg

 Simply put, a significant percent of people that you follow will follow you back. Choose accounts with followers that are in your target market.

  1. Provide Interesting and Helpful Content:

While there may be viewers that come to your twitter feed once, they will not return unless there is consistent fresh content and types that engage them. Educating viewers, entertaining them and interacting with them, do this. Content should vary between articles, pictures, videos and stories that portray success or satisfaction. Be sure to throw in news breaking content on innovative techniques related to your services. Don’t forget to insert any events that you are giving or events in your local area that showcase your services or business.

  1. Gratitude Strategy:

Tweeting content from other sites, referring your audience to other people and retweeting will be much appreciated and often prompts influencers to follow you back.

  1. Follow/Unfollow Strategy:

Search Twitter for accounts you would like to reach for your target audience and follow these accounts. Being active on the site with comments and engaging other viewers along with retweets, will get you noticed.

Unfollowing is important too because:

  • The account that you are following may no longer be active
  • You want to keep your follow number below or equal to the number of your followers since Twitter limits you to following 10% more than your followers
  • Accounts with more people they follow than followers is considered less influential
  1. Converse Directly:

Get in touch with your audience directly for chats and see what they are talking about as well. If anyone mentions you in a tweet, reply or at least favorite the comment. With a good mention of you, retweet it out.

You can monitor conversations in Tweetdeck (which you will see in the helpful tools section).

Helpful Tools

Tweetdeck (https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/)

Tweetdeck is a free tool and can save you a lot of time. Monitor search queries in real-time by:

  • Clicking on the search icon on the left
  • Copying the search query with the geocode into the search box
  • Then press return
  • Clicking “add column” in the results window

This will give you a column that monitors that particular search in Tweetdeck.

Buffer (https://ufferapp.com)

The free version enables you to schedule up to 10 posts to Twitter ahead of time.

Fill the buffer with ten posts each morning along with the times to tweet over the course of the day. If you have a brick-and-mortar business, set the times to coincide with your business hours.

Socialoomph (http://socialoomph.com)

Socialoomph is an automation tool for Twitter and social media which is quite helpful. Since its functionality is largely a paid service, save this for a time when you are more active with Twitter and it is part of your routine each day.

ManageFlitter (http://manageflitter.com)

This tool is indispensible for both following and unfollowing your twibe. The unpaid version allows you to follow and unfollow as many as 50 people daily.

Directions for Unfollowing:

  • Select Mange and click unfollow
  • Click on order, select to sort in chronological order- the one on top should be the oldest person you followed that is not reciprocal.
  • Unfollow 20 people

Directions for Following:

  • Select “search” and go to “account search”
  • Click on “refine”
  • Leave “all” field blank. Use the other fields according to the criteria.
  • Select “only show active accounts”. Designate a range- Minimum (100 followers) to Maximum (5000 followers)
  • Click Follow 20 times

Don’t get discouraged about not seeing your follow rate increase overnight. Don’t get down if the techniques are awkward to you initially. If you spend 20-30 minutes each day consistently, on Twitter and the tools I have recommended, it will be natural to you in no time and you will reap the benefits.

If you don’t have the time or need help setting it up, just let me know. Contact Barbara@TheMedicalStrategist.com