Writer's Sword Blog

Twitter marketing is sometimes strangely similar to sex—at first glance it seems like a relatively straightforward issue, plugging one piece into its corresponding part. However, just like sex, it’s incredibly easy to fail to recognize many of the finer points and screw up what can be a very good thing. Yes, there are only a handful of fundamental tools offered on the surface of your Twitter account. However, there is a lucrative river of potential capabilities flowing just beneath the surface, made to run faster, deeper, and farther through symbiotic relationships that marry these tools and take advantage of the wealth of external resources specifically optimized for Twitter marketing campaigns.  

If you’re interested in Twitter beyond finding out why Lindsay Lohan is back in court or what your friends are currently eating, and you’d actually like to tap into the true power of Twitter, read our Twitter-list-marketing guide to capitalize on social media marketing opportunities that will help you grow your business at record speed.

How to Create a Twitter List

• Visit the profile of the first Twitter user you want to add to your list
• Click the icon shaped like a person to view drop-down menu options
• Click on “Add to list”
• Enter the details of your list (List names can’t exceed 25 characters. List descriptions can’t exceed 100 characters.)
• Select private or public (other users can view your list)

Twitter Lists Deliver:
Quick and Easy View of Vital Tweet Activity to Keep You Engaged

• Categorized Twitter List Strategy:

  Create lists of categories of people/businesses that are related to your most common client profiles.

  • For example, you could have public lists for 1) Branding/PR; 2) Marketing; 3) Client/Customer Education.
  • You can then easily share relevant information with your own followers by browsing through your lists to find recent/useful/quality/interesting/viral-inducing tweets from people you’re following and retweet them.
    • Use your lists as filters to alternate between topics and keep a pulse on what people on each of your lists are most interested in, which will eventually help you to cater your tweets/marketing to current trends and capitalize on existing traction.

• Private Twitter List Strategy: Client Lists and Prospect Lists

Build private list (vs. list viewable by public/all) of followers/customers/prospects/clients in order to be able to quickly check on those Twitter participants whose tweets are especially important for your business to monitor—be proactive.

• These private lists would essentially feature your herd, your list of warm leads and people you’ve established a touch-point or interaction with. For example, it would be a good idea to herd people into your private lists who’ve actually replied/mentioned/retweeted your tweets as well as those who have asked you for tips, etc.
  • You can check in with these priority tweets to keep track of questions you can answer for them as well as suggest solutions or resources for problems/challenges they’re dealing with, creating a bond or connection to keep current clients happy. This will also help to keep your business at the front of your prospects’ minds, enabling your business to be the first one they think of when they decide they’re ready for your type of service or product. This includes non-competing resource suggestions to help position your biz as a value-added, trustworthy company who genuinely cares about their clients/followers.

• Twitter Analytics:

• Lists can also serve as a crude metrics tool to assess your position in the market or analyze how others perceive your business. This can help you lock down and fine tune the best ways to talk about your company and zero in on your target audience(s).
  • The “listed” section in your profile helps you assess patterns and the general effectiveness of your social media campaign(s). Visit your profile page, click the button/tab labeled “listed” in the “about” section of your public user info and you will see the lists that are following you.
  • • For example, let’s say that you are an article marketing company. Some of the lists that you may see following you might include “make money,” “marketing,” “articles,” or “Great business tips coming through in their tweets, or have a top business tips blog.” Similarly, this can also clue you in to negative trends and enable some proactive spin control and fire-damage management. For example, if you start to see your business name popping up on lists with descriptions such as “Filtering out Twitter’s Biggest Idiots” then you’d obviously use that type of information to assess where you might have gone astray and adjust your approach accordingly.

Everything You Need

And remember that any marketing, especially social media marketing, requires consistent effort for measurable success. Above all, if you maintain an altruistic frame of mind and strive to help others more than yourself you will eventually get everything you need.