Twitter rules the undead
The social media platform defies predictions of its demise
Following in the footsteps of Mark Twain who said, “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” Ross Quintana is pleased to say Twitter is alive.
“People have proclaimed the death of major platforms from Facebook to Twitter for a long time,” he said. “Negative sentiment doesn’t equal platform death.”
Quintana founded Social Magnets. He is passionate about social media, influence, innovation, strategy and marketing. He talked with marketing entrepreneur Madalyn Sklar to dispel the notion of Twitter’s demise.
Backing up his case, he wrote an article about the life and death of social media platforms and tools.
“Platforms often have big money behind them,” Quintana said. “They pivot and gain huge relevance, so you can’t count them out.
“For people who declare a platform dead because it isn’t generating revenue, just take a look at Amazon,” he said. “There is this false narrative that if it isn’t new, it isn’t relevant. Growth and newness are not the same as useful.”
Sklar also stilled the Twitter death knell.
“It’s a vibrant network of amazing people,” she said. “I share how I’m using Twitter and gaining valuable connections every day.”
Cut the spam
Foremost a social network, Twitter is a great platform for marketers.
“Twitter has an awesome feed that lets you to share more information without being spammy,” Quintana said. “Twitter is real-time. You can reach customers at specific moments that can convert to value and action.
“It is hard to get a better social listening tool than Twitter,” he said. “It is a treasure trove of brand sentiment.”
Sklar — who has made a career of marketing on Twitter — concurred.
“It’s hands down the best place to go connect and engage with like-minded people from around the world,” she said. “Plus, there are so many great features such as polls, Moments, Media Studio and more.”
Build a strong Twitter following by being available with useful, timely information. Be sure to respond and engage to show you’re alive and care about those listening.
“To grow a strong following on Twitter, you have to research and reach out to the right people,” Quintana said. “Consistency is the key, you literally have to build your network. It isn’t going to just come to you.
“Get engaged,” he said. “The more you engage, the more real your account becomes and the more people will engage with you.”
Sklar has a secret sauce of Twitter tips:
- Be consistent.
- Tweet every day.
- Go through notifications daily and respond.
- Use Twitter lists.
- Participate in Twitter chats such as #TwitterSmarter.
- Engage. Engage. Engage.
She goes into greater detail in her free mini-class.
Content that answers your audience’s wants, needs and pain points will get you the most traction — as long as you connect to your followers where and when they are.
Quintana said Twitter is a time-sensitive platform, citing BuzzSumo research on what gets traction.
“There is no one type of content that works for all audiences,” he said. “You have to test and look for patterns with your audience.”
He also posted an article about mastering real-time content curation.
Take notice
“Share content that resonates with your community,” Sklar said. “Use images and video to convey your message.
“I like using video because it makes people take notice,” she said. “Since people know me as a resource on Twitter, I share lots of articles that relate to social media.”
Several brands use Twitter to make an impact for their marketing.
“I have done some work with Skype, and they are really nailing it with Twitter,” Quintana said. “Skype is integrating their executive team and product team into the conversations on Twitter. That creates an amazingly authentic experience for their customers.
“When big brands like Skype use Twitter for social listening and top-down engagement, they really set the bar high for agile customer-centric business,” he said.
The MeetEdgar app that helps with social media updates is one of Sklar’s favorite marketing examples.
“I love how MeetEdgar shares super-relevant content in their feed,” she said. “They spend time connecting with people in a variety of Twitter chats.”
Overlooked treasures
Lists should not be an underused Twitter feature. They are great ways to follow topics, people and competition without having to follow them or let them know you’re watching.
“Twitter video is still very underused,” Quintana said. “It really brings the human connection. Twitter is also the best growth engine for building a targeted audience. You can then push that audience to other platforms.
“Twitter also is a beast when it comes to relationship marketing,” he said. “Top-of-mind awareness and real conversations are pillars of Twitter.”
In addition, Quintana advised using analytics to see what is working.
“Then test some more and try new things,” he said. “Everyone has an optimized feed.”
In Sklar’s view, these are lesser-known Twitter features:
“Twitter video is lesser known,” Sklar said. “Everyone posts videos in Instagram stories and Snapchat. What about Twitter?
“You can post up to two-minute-and-20-second videos,” she said. “I prefer shorter ones. I created #VideoReplyDay to encourage using video in tweets.”
Handy tools
Quintana likes several tools that help maximize Twitter activities: Hootsuite, Buffer, ManageFlitter, AgoraPulse and Social Jukebox.
“One of the tools I love and use is SmarterQueue,” he said. “They really innovate when it comes to managing social media and social analytics. I also love BuzzSumo to vet data-driven content curation and research. It’s an amazing tool.
“Another tool for researching target audiences and analyzing followers is Tweepi,” Quintana said. “The filters are awesome.”
For Twitter success, be there for your audience. That doesn’t mean be online 24–7, but respond as soon as you can for real, not with a canned, “Your message is important to us” reply.
“Twitter success starts with optimizing your biography, knowing your target audience, curating content for them and outreach every day,” Quintana said.
He wrote a post about how he grew his Twitter to over 100,000 followers.
“Fear not,” Quintana said. “Twitter is far from dead. It is still my favorite social platform and an absolute powerhouse for those who will learn to use it.”
He and Sklar continued their Twitter revival in a Facebook Live conversation.
About The Author
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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