Twitter marketing can be an effective way to promote your brand and engage with your target audience.
That is, of course, as long as you get it right.
As is the case with any social media network, marketing success requires an understanding of the platform as well as its audience behaviors and preferences.
If you are making the below 7 horrible mistakes in your Twitter marketing, you may need to adjust in order to effectively promote your brand.
1) You're Just Re-Posting Facebook Messages
In an attempt to make the platform more convenient, Twitter allows users to simply re-post any updates they place on Facebook.
Here's a pro tip: never take advantage of this feature. Your audience follows you for updates tailored to their network of choice, and simply re-posting Facebook updates undermines your efforts to accommodate your audience.
2) You Keep Talking About Yourself
It may be a marketing tool, but Twitter is no use for self-promotion.
The goal is to engage with your audience, not to launch futile efforts of getting users to buy your product.
Twitter is social media; would you want to engage with someone who keeps talking about themselves? Ask questions, share insights, and talk about your industry - but don't just self-promote.
3) You Don't Post Frequently
Keeping an active brand Twitter account can be challenging because of the frequency with which you should post to become and remain relevant in the eyes of your audience. Studies suggest that optimally, your goal should be tweeting 3 updates per day.
If you tweet less frequently, particularly if you go down to fewer tweets than once per day, your engagement will drop drastically. That does not mean you should tweet every 5 seconds, but finding multiple times per day to spread your message and share your insights can significantly improve your Twitter presence.
4) You Go For Hashtag Overkill
We've all seen them: brands who try so hard, they induce nothing but eye rolls.
Hashtags can help you insert yourself into conversations or get a brand conversation going, but don't overdo it. Too many hashtags in one tweet, and your updates will become both unreadable and unsuccessful.
Generally speaking, limit your tweets to 1-2 hashtags that are relevant to your brand.
5) Your Tweets Are Too Long
Twitter gives its users a 140 character limit.
Because that's short to begin with, some brands try to maximize their space and get every last bit out of it. But in fact, shorter messages - particularly those under 100 characters - actually get significantly more engagement. In addition, they allow you to add visuals that tend to increase your likes and retweets.
6) You Insert Yourself Into Trends Artificially
The internet is littered with examples of brands who sought to gain awareness by attaching themselves to a trending hashtag, only to fail miserably.
A classic case was the fashion house Kenneth Cole, inserting their spring collection line into a #Cairo hashtag surrounding the Arab Spring revolts in Egypt. The rule is simple: before inserting yourself into a trending topic or hashtag, be sure that your brand and content is actually relevant to the discussion.
7) You Don't Respond to Mentions
Twitter users love the platform because it enables them to get in touch directly with brands to leave both positive and negative comments.
Not engaging with these mentions, designated with the @ symbol, creates resentment and represents a significant missed opportunity. Combing through your mentions on a regular basis allows you to amplify the message of positive messages, and address any concerns before they get out of hand.
Used correctly, Twitter has immense potential for your brand. But the above mistakes can prevent you from ever achieving that potential. Only a strategic, honest, and professional approach to the platform can help you establish and grow a Twitter presence that will actually benefit your brand.
