How to use Twitter effectively
November 16, 2007 by Kevin
Filed under Social Media
One of the things that I really took from Blog World Expo wasn’t anything that I learned in a meeting or in a session but seeing the sheer amount of people using Twitter. When I first reviewed twitter I thought the application was rather self indulgent and pointless, I kind of discounted it and never really went back to it.
Last week though I saw so many people using twitter, I followed up with a few users and asked them how and why they were using it. Also one of my professors is a big proponent of it, in a meeting with him the other day I asked him how he used it and what his thoughts were.
Here is a list of logical uses for twitter:
1) As a tracking tool- There have been protesters of governments in multiple countries that use twitter to keep people updated of where they are. If they turn up missing or don’t update they have left some sort of footprint behind.
2) As a news source- During the California wildfires people were using Twitter to update the locations of the fires and keep the community informed.
3) Sharing links- My professor is tracking other professors on twitter, they share links amongst each other about important readings available on the web within their field of study.
4) A way to find people with shared interests- On twitter you can track certain keywords. At Blog World Expo people were tracking the term BWE and engaging in conversations about the conference. They were talking about what sessions were good, what sessions people should take, and any other news.
For niche bloggers tracking terms associated with your blog is a good way to find other bloggers in your niche and also draw their attention to your blog. If you use twitter to talk about what you are writing about and what you are following as opposed to what you had for breakfast you can develop important relationships from it.
Not only will you be tracking terms but other people will be tracking terms you write about, thus creating connections on a multiple levels.
5) An extension of your brand- If you have a good sized following on a personal blog, this gives your readership another way to feel attached to you.
I have decided to start using Twitter and really make an effort for the last three reasons alone. If you want to follow me you can:
Do you use twitter? If you don’t do you think these uses can help you?
Its interesting to see the useful ways people come up with to use technologies – its not as daft an idea as it once seemed after all :P
I’ve never used it yet but may do soon.
David
Web Mash
I don’t twitter, though you offer some food for thought. One thing you leave out though: twittering will only work for a group with similar interests, right? What if your professor’s group started also twittering stuff that was relevant to their families? Would the other professors want to read that? So twittering as a form of not pointless communication will require a specific focus. What if you deal with people in many areas of life, and you want to keep those areas of life separate?
Hi Kevin! Thank you for sharing this information. I had no idea what Twitter was all about, but I am willing to try it out.
Is there a way to have our readers subscribe to it so that we know who they are? I know they can subscribe on our b5 blog, but I can’t see who they are. I would like to know who is actually subscribed and regularly reading my blog. Can Twitter help me with that? I will get myself registered and I will come back in a couple of weeks and let you know how it is going.
Darlene
Interview Guru
http://www.interviewchatter.com
Mark- I think that it is so disposable that you could blend both and have it not come across as annoying. Or if they had a professional and personal side they could set up two accounts. I understand with keeping some stuff separate I run into that with the two different types of blogs I write.
Darlene- They have to sign up and they place an avatar on there, you can see who is “following” you on there.
I want to give Twitter the old college try, but it seems hella cumbersome. Within the past month, I’ve already signed up for 5-10 social network sites. And Twitter seems like more maintenance (as in updating) than most. Ugh! Already, I sound like a whiner. Despite the whining, I’m still going to try to keep up with it.
Lucy- there are tools that you can use, you can IM in your updates or do it via text… You never even have to go to the twitter site.
Perfectly said Kevin,
My thoughts exactly, start to finish. I still have to retract my original discount of Twitter.
Best,
Rich
interesting.. I have twitter but I don’t use it much but the ideas you posted are definitely great way to get uses out of it. Mark is right… definitely food for thought
I had no idea twitter could be so beneficial. I always thought it was a lame, n00b only service. Thanks for the info.
Twitter is possibly the most cost effective and useful business tool for any business!
I am meeting with a customer tomorrow am to discuss our SEO efforts for his business in Austin Texas. We just completed a web 2.0 SEO Onslaught for his business and in less than 24 hrs got him 5 of the top 10 spots on the first page of Google. Needless to say he was very excited and very curious as to how we accomplished this.
You can imagine what this could mean to his business; however, if he is unable to convert the traffic we drive to his site – it’s all for naught.
My discussion with him tomorrow will focus on TWITTER and how it can truly help him convert a much higher percentage of the traffic we are now driving to his site. Not only can it help him convert more traffic but the free intelligence he can obtain from his customers via twitter is priceless.
He is a carpet cleaner that has moved into green carpet cleaning.
Utilizing twitter he can, with a degree of effort, get his customers to tell him what their concerns are about carpet cleaning chemicals, any reactions their children are having to cleaning chemicals in their home.
He will be able to keep his customers advised of any improvements in non-toxic green carpet cleaning materials, improvements in techniques, how to tips, and the list can go on and on.
What twitter allows him to do is become the trusted authority, the expert, the one they go to with any concerns when it comes to using cleaning chemicals in the home. And there is nothing more important to them than their children.
Utilizing twitter in conjunction with facebook, blogging and podcasting can create the trust between him and his potential customers that will increase “CONVERSION” on his site.
What is the differ from facebook ??