4 Ways to Use Twitter to Capture Customers

By Nathan Hangen
Published February 25, 2010

social media how to article Twitter marketing is on the edge of going mainstream, and although much of the market doesn’t quite accept it yet, the truth is that it’s coming, and now is the time to get in on the action.

I began as a direct marketer, doing business face-to-face at a kitchen table with a phone call and a handshake. Back then, getting customers was tough work. These days, they are all over, just waiting to be found.

On any given day, there are millions of people looking for something on Twitter, be it a cup of coffee, a snack, a nice book to read, or just something to help them pass the time.

Add the fact that smartphones and other mobile devices have given the average consumer the means not only to find what they want online, but also to talk about it, and you’ve got the perfect situation for finding new customers.

View Comments

7 Tips for Driving Targeted Traffic With Twitter

By Chris Garrett
Published February 16, 2010

Social media has many uses—from making contacts to performing customer service—but driving quality traffic to your site is Twitter’s secret weapon. The big question is this: How can we get more of that lovely attention we crave?

As my recent poll shows, generating incoming traffic is the number-one need that people have right now, and for good reason. Traffic translates into:

Attention, engagement, conversation and recognition
Spreading your message far and wide
Prospects and subscriber opt-ins
Customers, increased sales and leads
Media and interviews, which lead to more attention

… and last but not least, an ego boost.

In a previous article here I mentioned the many benefits of Twitter for your business. Now here are seven key points you need to know if you want to get more targeted traffic from Twitter:

View Comments

6 Powerful Social Media Persuasion Techniques

By Jeff Sexton
Published February 11, 2010

Let’s be honest, you don’t just want your voice to be added to the conversation; you want your voice to be heard, repeated, and valued—and your message to be influential. Ultimately, you’re after influence.

So what better way to understand social media than by looking at the fundamental principles of influence as taught by Dr. Robert Cialdini, professor of psychology and marketing at Arizona State University? In his seminal book, Influence, Cialdini covers six “weapons of influence” that are hardwired into our social and cognitive minds. In other words, we can’t help but behave in accordance with these laws of social interaction.

Does this sound like something useful to keep in mind during your social media engagements? Well, let’s take a look six powerful persuasion techniques:

View Comments

9 Ways to Get More From Twitter

By Chris Garrett
Published January 19, 2010

If you talk about social media, invariably someone is going to say something I’m sure you’ve heard a lot: “I don’t have time to chit-chat. Time is money, and I don’t care about a bunch of nerds’ opinions anyway.” …or something along those lines! Twitter is often the target of such criticism.

Now, reading Social Media Examiner, you might be surprised to hear that sometimes I think people who say this have a point. Sometimes.

Fact is, if you see Twitter or any other social media service as a venue for chit-chat, and that’s how you use it for hours a day, then you’re likely better off doing something more productive with your time.

On the other hand, there are ways to get a lot of value out of Twitter. As with most things, it all depends on how you use it.

We programmers have a saying: “Garbage In – Garbage Out.” This essentially means you get out what you put in. If you put in chit-chat, don’t be surprised if that’s all you see in return!

Here are nine benefits I’ve personally seen through my couple of years of Twitter usage.

View Comments

Fun Social Media Promos Feed Souplantation Customer Frenzy

By Casey Hibbard
Published December 1, 2009

Imagine marveling at Peru’s Machu Picchu ruins, and a guy nearby asks if you’ll take his picture. But it’s not just him; he’s proudly holding a paper cutout of a smiling tomato.

What, exactly, inspired this traveler to carry a cartoon tomato to one of the wonders of the world?

In a word, fun.

He’s just one of nearly 140 people who vacationed with the tomato, named “Sweetie.” These fans of the restaurant Souplantation, or Sweet Tomatoes in some markets, were enthusiastically participating in the chain’s latest social media promotion, “Where’s Sweetie?”

View Comments

How to Add Retweet Buttons in Your PDF Documents

By Michael Stelzner
Published November 3, 2009

Yes, Twitter is hot. Have you noticed this growing trend: retweet buttons showing up on websites everywhere?

Did you know you can add retweet buttons inside your PDF files? The benefit: readers can effortlessly share your great work with their Twitter followers—just by clicking a button in your PDF file.

Below I lay out how to do this in six simple steps. By the way, if you like this article, please click the retweet button you see above.

View Comments

The Marketing Power of the Retweet: An Interview With Dan Zarrella

By Michael Stelzner
Published October 12, 2009

I recently sat down with Dan Zarrella. Dan is a social media and viral marketing scientist. He’s also the author of the brand-new book coming out called The Social Media Marketing Book by O’Reilly.

What’s really unique about Dan is that he makes science practical for the social media world. He takes a deep look at what’s going on with social media activity and he extracts knowledge or nuggets that are really amazing and very helpful for marketers.

Dan has contributed to major websites like Mashable, Copyblogger and ProBlogger. He has also developed a number of tools for Twitter, including TweetBacks, which is a great tool that actually helps bloggers display tweets related to a blog post on their website. He also works at HubSpot as an inbound marketing manager.

View Comments