Twitter as a marketing tool was originally posted Oct 22, 2011 and is part of my Social Media Tutorial series.

WHY USE TWITTER AS A MARKETING TOOL?

Using Twitter as a marketing tool is really not hard to do, but it does take quite a bit of work. Keep in mind that online marketing is not a one-time event. You can not expect results if you simply run a single campaign for a couple weeks and then stop. Even with Pay-per-click advertising you will only get results as long as you are running the campaign. So remember with Internet marketing it’s about long term commitment and consistency.

THE GOAL IS AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT

Point two, online marketing can not be turned on and left idle if you want to benefit from it. It is a must that you maintain a continuous connection with your target audience, even if nobody is listening. Persistence is a key component to a successful campaign so be prepared to work your campaign a minimum of 2 to 3 times per week and several times every day if possible.

I’ve been running Internet marketing campaigns for several years and have found that the best results are obtained when you think of it as a marathon and not a sprint. A phrase I always liked is “it doesn’t matter how you start, it only matters how you finish”. In other words starting strong is good, but maintaining a strong steady pace is far more important to achieving your goals.

How does this apply to Twitter? Don’t post 10 times in one day and then nothing for the next three weeks. Instead, breakup your posts and do one or two every other day. maintaining a constant connection with your readers “followers in Twitter’s case” is more likely to bring positive results then if you just reach out to them occasionally. Not that an occasional message is a bad thing, but that’s better applied to a newsletter or blog post, not social networking but that’s a different topic.