Unless you have been under a rock or without an internet connection/access to the media/out of the loop then you don’t need me to tell you that Social Media and Web 2.0 is all the rage…. and Social Media Traffic is HOT!!
So I thought I would do a series of posts highlighting how you can get on the bandwagon and cash in on this popular medium. Ill be showing you some of the great traffic techniques; the main sites, what they are, what they do, why you should get involved, and some tools to help you along the way. Sound good??? Todays feature will be on Twitter
Twitter is one of the biggest Social Media sites and is a microblogging site allowing users to send 140 character text based posts called “tweets”.
Tweets are publicly visible messages (by default, although you can restrict them) which can be anything the post originator desires, from how they are feeling & what they are up to, to statements and marketing messages or even calls to action. There really is no limit!
So why should you care and what use is this to you? Perhaps you already think that you know too much about other people through gossip, press and idle conversation…. well there is something about the human mind which is curious in nature and we all love a story, rumour or scandal as much as the next person. More importantly we like to be kept informed and often to feel like we are up on current affairs and goings-on. This is why these type of sites thrive!
The main reason to get involved as a marketer is traffic, the lifeblood of any online business. And boy does Twitter get some traffic!!
What most people don’t seem to realise is that Twitter is still pushing record growth and expanding. The novelty may well have worn off somewhat for the early adopters of Twitter, but the masses are finally discovering it and how to Tweet and overall activity is higher than ever before as the following Quantcast data shows:
Thats some 44M monthly viewers in the US alone in July 2010!! Fancy a share of that or think that some of that exposure would help your business/product/service??
Integration with popular news and content sites (Re-Tweet buttons), search placements within Google and mobile applications have all played their part in increasing exposure to Twitter and the Millions of daily tweets.
I have started to use Twitter with some success and am in the process of building my following (3,514 as at 1st Septmber) and I would like to recommend some of the following tools to help you do the same.
Alex Jeffreys Tweeting With You Free Training - My mentor Alex Jeffreys free Twitter training videos and resources.
Twitterfeed - service that tweets the last posts published in a blog via the RSS feed. You can feed your blog into Facebook, Twitter and more.
and my personal favourite which is not just good for Twitter but for your general market research and trend insights:
Stuff to Tweet - highlights trends not only on Twitter but a number of other news, social media, video and photo sights. This one is golden and well worth adding to your favourites!!
Once again I hope this has provided some value and insight and some useful resources. Would be interested to hear your thoughts and feedback and any experiences so please use the comments box below….
Until next time,
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Hey! $5 gets you a Twitter Social Media Strategy that will drive more Traffic to your website. http://bit.ly/ac6Orq
Comment by sellingwords — September 1, 2010 @ 8:47 pm
Social Media Traffic 1 – Leveraging Twitter http://bit.ly/aSOPav
Comment by stephbro77 — September 2, 2010 @ 8:48 am
Thanks for providing the useful links to research!
Comment by 4wallsrentals — September 2, 2010 @ 10:14 pm
No problem – glad they were useful!!
Comment by Tomharvey — September 3, 2010 @ 12:30 am
Hey! $5 gets you a Twitter Social Media Strategy that will drive more Traffic to your website. http://bit.ly/ac6Orq
Comment by sellingwords — September 2, 2010 @ 8:53 pm
What would you do with more Traffic to Your Website? A Twitter Social Media Strategy for only $5 http://bit.ly/ac6Orq
Comment by sellingwords — September 3, 2010 @ 8:53 am
HI Tom,
I am also with Alex, I think you post here is spot on and a great help, congratulations on your sucess.
This really has focused me on the power of twitter
Comment by vinceaudritt — September 3, 2010 @ 9:54 pm
Vince. Hope things are going well for you too and thanks for your comments. Let me know if you need any help with your endeavours and speak soon,
Tom
Comment by Tomharvey — September 3, 2010 @ 9:57 pm
Free Website Traffic Tools For Social Media: If you want to get thousands of visitors who wish to indu… http://bit.ly/aBvcWZ #socialmedia
Comment by socialmedia247 — September 4, 2010 @ 8:49 am
Growing Twitter Traffic a Bonus for Lawyers Using Social Media … http://bit.ly/9BrQu2
Comment by supertraffix — September 4, 2010 @ 8:54 pm
Congratz on your success. Twitter is truly a great social network site to generate traffic! Traffic = Business
Comment by Justin Dupre — September 16, 2010 @ 1:32 pm
hey tom, thanks for the support you left at my blog.. great site you have here, keep up the good work. i need to get into gear and get a product together now, e-book i guess.. will bee back to get some ideas here…
nicky
Comment by nicky — September 20, 2010 @ 8:25 pm
Hey Tom,
Twitter has been on my mind on and off and it's true that it can be useful if you work it the right way. Your number of followers is quite respectable. I hope they are also responsive. I read in several places now that it's not necessarily the number of followers but how you keep in touch and if they even read your tweets.
Good post to remind me of twitter and with nice resources too.
Cheers,
Vance
Comment by Vance Sova — October 7, 2010 @ 11:31 pm
Hi Tom,
I like your article.
It's usefull for me to know more about Social Media Traffic.
Have a nice day!
Warmly,
Trisno
Comment by Trisno — October 10, 2010 @ 11:26 am
Hi Tom,
kudos for the informative post and for sharing these twitter resources.
As you said twitter may has worn off its novelty but it is still and will be a source to drive targeted traffic to any site one wants
Comment by Steve — October 12, 2010 @ 6:51 am
The only problem with Twitter right now, is that it is full of marketers who are marketing their products to each other. Obviously you can build a targeted following but I always follow back anybody who follows me.
I would say that about 70% of tweets on my account are from people pushing their products.
Comment by andybeveridge — October 25, 2010 @ 7:30 am
Andy, good point well made – started to see a lot of Twitter users advertising Tweeting services on Fiverr now – apparently a good source of promotion for CB products – but as you say can often be saturated with promos. Think the key to Twitter is to treat it like you would your list (and any of your marketing activity) – balance delivering value and great content along with selected promos which will genuinely help your followers. All the best
Tom
Comment by Tomharvey — November 3, 2010 @ 11:11 pm
Trisno, thanks for your visit and glad to be of help. All the best, Tom
Comment by Tomharvey — November 3, 2010 @ 11:16 pm
Vance
Great to see you over here again – hope all is well. I have tried to build my following gradually not just blindly adding people for the sake of it, you will see that I don't tweet to often either – probably not ideal but im working on my twitter activity and learning more strategies as I go. Would love to hear how you are getting on and any tips. All the best
Tom
Comment by Tomharvey — November 3, 2010 @ 11:19 pm
Hi Tom good post buddy!
However I have to agree with Andy Beveridge with his saying about IMers just marketing their stuff!
I however use twitter to give something back! 90% of my tweets with links affer something of value! I.E. my free ebooks on my blog or something of value thats people can use for free!
There is a saying that I like: "Give someting of Value to the World and the World will Flock to You!"
So for my 2 pennies worth have you thought about adding a section in this post about Branding your Tweets with a link back to your own blog? (ask me if you need more info!…..;-}
All The Best Buddy.
-Phillip
Comment by Phillip — November 26, 2010 @ 10:14 pm
Philip
Thanks for your visit and your input – its so true and all important to offer value. Too many people chase the money when they should focus on delivering value which in turn will attract people and money! Thanks for your insights and speak soon,
Tom
Comment by Tomharvey — November 27, 2010 @ 1:05 am
So Twitter is where it is at
there are loads of great shortcut tools to you could recommend
cheers
j
Comment by john — December 19, 2010 @ 1:04 pm
John
Thanks for your comment and visit. Im still experimenting with Twitter and will update useful tools as I go along! Speak soon
Tom
Comment by Tomharvey — March 4, 2011 @ 7:22 pm