Posts Tagged ‘Social Networking’

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging tool. It doesn’t have an identity and it doesn’t have a personality. However, there is a prevailing set of norms that govern Twitter use. They’re created by the expectations of the user base.

If you’re just getting started with Twitter, it can be tough to develop a sense of the best way to use your newfound Tweeting power. There is a dominance Twitter culture and a “way of doing things”. Getting into the flow and learning the rhythm of the site isn’t always easy.

Here’s one way around the problem: Follow a few people with big follower bases and watch them for awhile. Learn how they use Twitter and recognize the techniques they use to be a real voice in the conversation.

If you watch a few of the “big boys” doing their thing, you’ll soon figure out how you might be able to use the site effectively in order to meet your online goals.

Learning from the best isn’t a new idea. It works, though. And it works very well when applied to learning the lay of the Twitter land.

Here’s something you should know about the average Twitter user if you’re in the Internet marketing business: The run-of-the-mill member of the Twitter community doesn’t like you very much.

Sorry, but it’s true. And who can blame those folks for feeling that way? They’ve seen their completely legit, commerce-free social networking venue attacked by some of the lousiest spammers in history.

You have the guys with the direct messages featuring affiliate links. You have the robot accounts that work around the clock pounding anyone who was silly enough to follow with link after link after link. You have goons who self-promote to the point of nausea, balancing self-congratulatory Tweets with their sales page links. Ick.

So, unless you’re marketing to other marketers via Twitter, you are going to have to come up with a much better and far more trustworthy approach than the spammers and clowns who’ve already started to poison the pond.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it’s very possible to do just that. If you’re using Twitter the “right” way, you can overcome a built-in bias against marketers.

When a plane crashed and the big news crews didn’t yet have anyone on the scene, they relied on Twitter reports from eye witnesses to patch together what had really happened.

Actor Ashton Kutcher made headlines on all the gossip rags and entertainment shows when he snapped a photo of Demi Moore’s derriere and shared it with the world.  How did he distribute the photo?  He posted the link on Twitter.

Laid off people are finding jobs with Twitter.  Grandma’s are Tweeting to granddaughters.  College students are Tweeting back and forth in the classroom.  Twitter is everywhere, from the kids in the skate park to the senior reporter at National Public Radio.  It’s only a matter of time before we here about the first marriages between folks who met on Twitter.

Twitter is the big story.  Millions of users.  Millions more to come.  It’s growing fast and it’s being used for every purpose under the sun.  That means there’s a place for you on Twitter even if your girlfriend isn’t an actress, you haven’t witnessed a disaster and you’re not looking for a job.

Here’s a hint.  Millions of people.  Interests of all sorts.  Easy to make connections.  Pushbutton simple to share a link with the world.

Are you putting this all together?  It’s a smart marketer’s dream.  When we first started thinking about the potential of social networking as a marketing tool, we couldn’t have dreamed up a better scenario.

Get busy.