Building your Business Brand on Twitter
With Twitter becoming one of the fastest growing new web sensations since Myspace or Facebook, every man and his dog are getting on board Twitter and using it as a cost effective (Free!) global marketing tool.
Businesses are Tweeting their way to popularity, creating brand awareness at lightning speed, and driving traffic to their actual website or products, more effectively and quickly than traditional paid advertising.
But like any business, traditional or online, professional branding is essential.
And when I talk about branding I am not just referring to the way your Twitter page looks, but more importantly, the name of your Twitter account that appears.
Twitter accounts are quickly becoming like online real estate.
We have seen the importance and value of having the correct domain name.
I myself have sold domain names that cost me little over $8 for more than a few thousand dollars less than a year later. Domain names are the modern real estate, and Twitter accounts are no different.
So, if you are considering starting up a Twitter account to drive your business through the internet, you need to start at the start, and establish the name that reflects your business, or more importantly, is your business name.
For example, our business Devision made sure we established http://twitter.com/devision and then branded the colours and background of our Twitter account to reflect our website www.Devision.com.au.
By claiming the Twitter handle early we ensured our clients could find us easily.
The other advantage of obtaining the correct Twitter handle is that the search engines pick up on Twitter accounts and will list your Twitter account and your Twitter account”s description on their directories.
For example, type into Google ‘twitter Devision’ and you will see we list up the top, with our description visible.
And as your Twitter account also contains your website address, the cross link will in turn increase your page rank, and therefore your traffic. On average, all my websites I have set up Twitter accounts for have had a 65% increase in traffic to within a week, and the number of visitors grows as the number of Twitter followers link up with me.
the other importance of claiming your Twitter handle is to ensure other people or imposters don’t claim your name first, as anyone has the right to any name currently available on Twitter, whether it relates to them or now.
In fact Twitter handles have become so sought after and valuable that an ‘aftermarket’ website called Tweexchange has been established where user names can be bought and sold, and some of these names are selling at $100,000 or more!
So make sure you get your Twitter handle before moving on to the next step of business branding….
Creating a Twitter brand image for your business
OK, you have established your Twitter Handle and you’re ready to go. Before rushing in you need to first develop a brand strategy, starting with completing your Twitter Profile. Make sure your profile reflects your business in a short paragraph. As mentioned above, your profile appears on Google so ensure it contains the correct keywords that reflect your business. My theory to writing a good profile tag is think of if you had to tell someone you have never met before what your business does, in one sentence. For instance I do website design, so I would say something like ‘Devision offer cost effective professional graphic design, website design, and website hosting solutions throughout Australia’. That would then become my profile on Twitter, and those keywords such as ‘graphic design’, ‘website design’ are found on Google searches, attracting visitors to my Twitter account and my website.
Once you have completed your profile we move on to your image. Now, if you are not a design expert doesn’t mean you can’t have a professional looking Twitter account. Many graphic design and web design companies, (such as Devision!) can quickly design a professional background image for your account, and help set up the correct colours to blend in with your business. Alternatively there are plenty of websites such as Twitterimage and Twitpaper that also provide this service for you.
Your profile/bio image graphic (called an ‘avatar’) should be your logo or closely represent your business. Don’t upload an avatar of a photo you have found online and like…make sure it is a true representation of your business, as this is usually the first think people will see when they are on Twitter, so make they can recognize you!
Promoting your Twitter account
Promoting your business with TWitter doesn’t just have to be online.
Revert back to traditional marketing methods as well and add your Twitter account to your business cards, your email signature, on Powerpoint presentations and of course on your corporate website.
Twitter may or may not be just another online fad, but at the moment it is one of the best free online promotional tools you can use for promoting your business so go out and ride the Twitter wave!
And yes, you will find me at www.twitter.com/devision !
Of course, we keep all our best Twitter secrets for our clients!
So if you want to really know how to promote your business or make easy money with Twitter or social networks, contact me at www.Devision.com.au
© Article by Chris Bourke @ Devision Design Australia
