Improve Your Social Media Strategy With Twitter

• by Anna Meshcherova
• in Resources
• tags marketing plan, social media, Strategy, Twitter

Regardless of whether you are an independent artist or working for an organization, investing time and resources in your social media strategy is as important as developing a robust marketing plan*. This blog post is a good starting point for those who are ready to explore and take advantage of popular web offerings. Consider these benefits before strategizing about your digital future:

• Using social media effectively can attract new audiences of all ages;
• You will be able to deliver your messages in a quick and efficient way;
• Not only will you share knowledge with others, you will also learn from the vast resources distributed on social media;
• Knowledge sharing will help you build communities around specific subjects of interest;
• Consistent posting on social media will enhance your transparency and build trust in your work;
• While building trust, social media will also give you an effective tool to restore your positive image in case anything happens;
• You will also boost your technological literacy, thus opening doors to new marketing opportunities;
• With mobile technology on the rise, you don’t have to invest in the development of fancy apps. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn all have free, user-friendly apps;
• And finally, in 2013 and beyond, your overall marketing plan is futile without a well-thought out social media strategy. So don’t be afraid and keep innovating!

For a newbie in the digital world (and even for the more advanced), the following four platforms are the best place to start: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. These are among the strongest players on the market today. If you decide to exclude one of them, remember that you are excluding a large group of potential patrons.

* If you are hosting a Culture Days activity, check out this marketing guide.

Twitter: brevity is key

Social Media Examiner defines Twitter as a “short message communication tool that allows you to send out messages (tweets) up to 140 characters long to people who subscribe to you (followers).” Twitter has more than 288 million monthly active users, meaning that almost 21% of the world’s Internet population is using Twitter every month. So don’t overlook this powerful tool, and use it purposefully.

Before you actually start tweeting and interacting with other Twitter users, take some time to create and outline your PR/Marketing strategy. This step will help you understand the type of messages you want to deliver and work out an appropriate schedule. You can use this PR toolkit to get you started.

Your tweeting schedule needs to consist not only of content that you create, but also of great stuff created by others on the Internet. This way, you will gain more attention and therefore more followers. If you want to broaden your reach beyond your local community, try to send out each of your Tweets at least three times throughout the day. Doing it in different time zones ensures that more of your followers will see the message. To avoid repetition, rephrase the message or slightly shift its focus.

Make sure to diversify who runs your Twitter account. Include your long-time employees, newbies, interns, and volunteers. You need people who can truly capture your business’s voice and speak knowledgeably about the company, but you can also benefit from a fresh perspective from someone who just started working for you. Just make sure that everyone is familiar with your PR/Marketing strategy to keep the process on the right track.

It is very (!) important to respond to people who interact with you on Twitter, including through reposts and mentions of your messages. Sometimes just thanking them for the re-tweeting can suffice, but sometimes you will want to ask a question to engage in a conversation with your potential collaborators or clients.

To facilitate your digital communication efforts, start using social media management apps, such as Hootsuite and SocialBro. SocialBro, for example, lets you manage your Twitter community by interacting with your most influential followers, clearing spammers from your lists, and analyzing your growth and impact. If you want an efficient scheduling tool, use Hootsuite.

- See more at: http://culturedays.ca/blog/2013/08/16/social-media-strategy-twitter/#sthash.oi3hnv5m.dpuf