Developing a Twitter Marketing Strategy the Easy Way

Many people from many different industries just don’t get Twitter. They’ll tell you there are better places to market your content. Why? Because these same people don’t know how to do it properly. That’s where we come in. Here’s a quick guide for developing a twitter marketing strategy and promoting your digital publications on the vast Twittersphere.

The #1 Rule for Marketing Your Publications on Twitter

Twitter folk hate sales pitches. They’re on the site to socialize, catch up on the latest news/trends, and, of course, tweet about what they’re doing at the moment.

Frequent Twitter users know that the site is all about conversation. Interacting with prospects and engaging in conversation are the names of the game here. You should not use the site if you’re not planning to do these. Be there, answer questions, and show people that there’s so much discussion to be had for your publication.

Optimal Times for Marketing on Twitter

It’s important information to know, so here are the best times to tweet:

• Weekends: tweets on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays have higher CTRs (click-through rates) than the other weekdays.

• Mornings vs. afternoons: tweets in the afternoon generally perform better than those posted in the morning.

• B2B (business-to-business) vs. B2C (business-to-consumer): for B2B, tweets during weekdays result in higher engagement rates than on weekends. For B2C, engagement rates are typically even between weekdays and weekends.

• Retweets: 5 pm is primetime for retweets. Try tweeting around this time and in the afternoon if possible.

• CTRs: 12 pm and 6pm see the highest click-through rates.

Now, to maximize both ROI and conversion rates, your tweets in general, should avoid sounding like promotions. For example,…

• They should not include excessive hype or super exaggerated claims. These are the staples of a classic hard sell.

• Your tweet should deliver on its promise of content and not mislead people.

• They should not contain “spammy” words that will make users second-guess your authenticity.

Promoted Tweets

Promoted tweets are purchased by advertisers to reach out to a higher number of people. Their main purpose is to spark engagement from followers. If you incorporate them into your marketing strategy correctly, they can net you the results you’re looking for.

Promoted tweets can fall between $0.20 to $4.00 per engagement. Per engagement refers to how users are interacting with the promoted tweet, for example, clicking on it, replying to it, or marking it as a Favorite. The person paying for the promoted tweet must do so after one of these conditions is met.

Generally speaking, your promoted tweet should resonate with your audience and your brand, drive traffic to your publication with a compelling CTA, and communicate your message concisely.

Quick Tips for Maximizing ROI on Promoted Tweets

1. Shorter = Better

Studies from Twitter insist that promoted tweets under 100 characters drive more conversions and receive 18% more engagement. It’s all the more reason to keep yours brief but poignant, and attention-grabbing information such as statistics and compelling questions do a great job at accomplishing both.

Here’s a good example from Udemy, an online learning platform. Their promoted tweet is short and sweet. It proffers an interesting question and follows it up with an immediate solution.

2. Interactivity matters

Why? Because including video and images in your promoted tweets can net you 52% more retweets and over 300% more engagement. Supplementing your tweet with a relevant video is a great way to introduce your publication and/or emphasize a point from it.

3. Simple CTAs

Getting Twitter users to subscribe to your content or view your publication on your website can be challenging. But it gets a lot easier if your CTA includes all the necessary information to do so. A sure-fire method of improving engagement rates for your promoted tweet is to employ a classic CTA technique: listing a benefit and a subsequent action. For example, your tweet could say, “Streamline your publishing workflow and create stunning online magazines. Sign up hassle-free with Joomag.” The first portion emphasizes the benefits (streamlining, creating stunning magazines) while the second half suggests an action (signing up hassle-free).

Twitter is fertile ground for marketing your publication. After all, 42% of its user base is following brands, so building a strong presence is definitely worth your time and effort. Just remember that it’s all about the conversation! Interacting with your followers is just as important as marketing your publication.