Posted on Saturday, 7th March 2009 by CopywritingCat
Today’s WSJ (the Saturday edition) includes an article on “How to Twitter” by Julia Angwin, on page W3. The piece is set up so the author bravely sets forth to open a Twitter account and learn the rules and processes along the way.
Predictably, she has trouble. She writes, “I spent a surprising amount of time trying out tweets in my head.” She had trouble finding followers. At first, she says, she was “the loneliest of social creatures” and “a leader without followers.” Nice prose, but she misses the point.
When I talk to clients and present online courses about any marketing project, my first question is, “What is your strategy? What do you hope to gain?”
Naturally most of my clients (and most people I meet in social marketing) are doing this to get business. So our objective is pretty straightforward.
We look for followers who will appreciate what we offer. They may become buyers, associates, affiliates or sources of information. We follow people who are potentially buyers, associates, affiliates and/or information sources. We figure out how to juggle the follow/follower ratio, keeping in mind both the rules of Twitter and our own goals. Reciprocity is not always desirable and in fact may be undesirable.
The author figured out some techniques, but she seems to be operating mechanically. For instance, when she included a URL in a tweet she attracted more followers. True - but I suspect the reason is related more to focusing on a topic than the presence of the URL. The same holds for using the RT.
Finally, Angwin was baffled about how to thank others for feedback without “spamming” followers who weren’t interested. With just a few techniques and a more targeted following, this question doesn’t even arise.
I might not have paid so much attention, but I’m offering a new mentoring course, Copywriting for Social Marketing, targeted to folks who use Twitter and Facebook for business. Click here to learn more.
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Tags: copywriting, social marketing, Social Marketing: Blogs
Posted in Social Marketing: Blogs, Tweets, Facebook & more, Social Media, copywriting
