Having a picture other than yours as your avatar is the first and most common mistake that many people make. Most new users post funny picture company logos, or their pet’s pictures instead of their real picture. Even if your avatar picture is very cute, most people would find a real picture of you more personal and friendly. A real picture of you makes you seem real and confident in other’s eyes. If you’re going to upload a photo of yours, then choose the one where you are smiling, because a smile is the most appealing facial expression.

Direct messages sent through the autoDM tool are generally impersonal and assertive. Avoid using them, as they may lower your follower count. TweetLater is another such tool for automatic messaging, which sends messages automatically to those who follow you. A message which says ‘thanks for following me’ is good enough but sending impersonal and automated messages promoting your product will usually only generate a frown from others.

Do you have any followers over the network? If you want to have followers, create an interesting profile page that will charm people. Some other methods can be to follow others and to post updates frequently. If you keep following other people but fail to update your page, you won’t get many followers.

The answers and replies should be short and within 140 words. Answering even one Twitter question in a day will let others understand that you are paying attention to the community. You can even post trivial things, for example, your plans for the day or the night. Tweets are excellent tools for starting conversation, re-tweeting others, or to comment on others.

Check your numbers regularly. It’s not a good idea to follow many people if you have very few followers. Try to establish balance between the two. Follow the people who follow you, and try to make the people whom you follow your followers. This is a sure-shot way to establish friendship.

By using Tools like Tweetdeck, you don’t need to stay online round the clock. By using such tools, you can divide your followers into groups. This makes tracking them easy, especially if you receive a direct message or reply.

Using the site absolutely for marketing purpose will lead to a loss in followers. Twitter is a social network, and no one will be interested in a person who keeps talking about his business all the time. Respect others and their views too.

Before you start promoting your product, strengthen your relationship and learn the art of communication.  Don’t bombard people with promotions even if you have a good list of leads. Send marketing tweets only once in a while.

These are a few of the common mistakes that many tweeters, both old and new, make. Go through them, and try not to commit them yourselves.

Capitalizing on Twitter’s Popularity

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1. Capitalizing on Twitter’s Popularity
2. Maximizing Twitter Traffic

Twitter marketing

Here are some ways to use Twitter as a marketing tool effectively:
You can use the Twitter Search to know public opinion about your business. A lot of gossiping occurs in Twitter everyday, and quite a few of them may concern your product as well. Pay heed to both the appreciations and the criticisms. Learn from the criticisms, and think of ways by which you can improve the product. Adjust your business, if possible or required, to increase the profits.

Keep your followers informed. When you sign up for Twitter, send tweets to all of them. Also select the right people for you to follow on the network if this is your first attempt at using twitter as marketing tool. Choose them who use the site for a similar reason as you i.e. marketing. That way you get to learn a lot from them.

Check if the people you are following are also your followers. If you have many followers, then you can start sending marketing messages. But don’t do this rashly. Send social and community messages chiefly, and intersperse them with promotional messages. Remember, Twitter is mainly a social network, not a commercial marketing product.

You may advertise any promotions you are running via tweets. But again, don’t go to extremes about it; rather do it properly and sweetly. A single bad tweet may make you lose out on many followers.

There is something called a Twitter Slap in the network. If you have already followed 2000 people, and have less than 1800 followers, then the network refuses to let you follow anyone more. So check your numbers frequently, choose the people you follow discreetly, and try to increase the number of your followers. The last point is also extremely vital for successful online marketing.

Greet your followers with warm tweets. These personal etiquettes build stronger relationships, the secret to effective marketing. You cannot send promotional tweets to complete strangers on the network.

Never post impersonal tweets right at beginning, purely meant for business. A tweet like ‘hey guys, check out my business’ won’t do you good in any way. Try strengthening relationships before promoting your product.

You can capitalize on Twitter’s popularity only if you know the rules of the game. Try to learn as much as you can about the network. Follow the gurus, and learn from them. Knowledge about how things work is crucial for success.

Many businessmen are now turning towards twitter marketing to promote their products. If you are one of them, then remember the points above before you launch your own campaign.

Related posts:

1. Common Mistakes on Twitter
2. Maximizing Twitter Traffic