Bridget Willard | SaaS Marketing Agency

Category: Social Media

  • Yep. Twitter Works if You Work It.

    Twitter works and requires work. Yes, Twitter is more than the POTUS or a Pop star tweeting. Twitter is an equalizer. It makes conversations possible regardless of economic or geographical boundaries. It allows people to express themselves and find others that think the same. It allows us to widen our circle as well — learning from the perspective of others and exercising empathy.

    Sure it takes time (work) to participate on Twitter. Almost everyone who does, sends me a tweet about how well it works. Like any relationship, you have to put in time. It’s a long game not something you can hack.

    Okay my rant is over. Now, what made me write this article is a response to an article by Neil Patel.

    Twitter is the Best B2B Marketing Platform

    Anyone who follows me knows how much I believe in Twitter as a B2B relationship marketing platform. An article by Neil Patel “12 Powerful Twitter Marketing Tips [That Actually Work]” came across my way via Robert Nissenbaum.

    Instead of commenting on his blog, it was suggested that I write my own post. So, here it is.

    Set Up Twitter Right – The First Time

    “Your Twitter handle has to be recognizable, easy-to-remember, and short enough for people to easily tag you.” Neil Patel

    I totally agree with Neil. You need to set up Twitter right the first time. Don’t follow anyone until this is done. And make your bio something that makes sense. If your grandma doesn’t know what your Twitter bio means, then rewrite it. Think of a city sign or slogan that makes sense.

    Well, if you didn’t do it right the first time, there’s no reason why you can’t fix it now. Think generic keywords. A bio is how you are found.

    “Incorporate some personality or humor. Don’t be afraid to tell a few jokes or say something original.” Neil Patel

    Neil recommends using humor but if it’s too inside baseball, people won’t engage. Show personality, but be careful that you’re speaking to your audience.

    Here is my post on how to set up Twitter.

    When do you Tweet?

    So, Neil recommends tweeting during peak hours. Yet, that is a lot of volume to compete with. That said, people usually check Twitter during the times they take breaks. Think about before work (7:30 a.m.), during lunch (noon), and when they’re sick of sitting at their desk (4:30 p.m.).

    “Your peak posting times will depend on your specific audience, so test how your content performs at different times and days to find out what works best for your brand.” Neil Patel

    Tweet when you want. But be responsive when you do. There’s nothing worse than scheduling tweets when you’re away from the keyboard, so to speak. It’s better to not tweet than to tweet and not respond. An audience is a responsibility. It’s your responsibility.

    If you're going to schedule tweets, then make sure you're available to respond. Your audience is your responsibility. Share on X

    Hashtag Use on Twitter

    A hashtag is a word or combination of words preceded by a pound sign. They become clickable and act as a filter. You will see tweets with that hashtag from anyone, not just people you follow.

    On this I completely agree with Neil:

    “It’s important to use the right kind of hashtags without overusing them. Only include hashtags that add some context to your tweets.” Neil Patel

    Use words that make sense. Think about the yellow pages, keywords, generic terms. Don’t hashtag your business name. That makes zero sense. No one knows you so they’re not going to use that hashtag or see it to click on it.

    Using Twitter’s Advanced Search

    “Advanced searches put new leads right in front of you. Reach out to those people and tell them how you can fix their problem or help them out.” Neil Patel

    This is a great idea and I know my friend Carol Stephen talks about how to use Advance Search often.

    You can do this. Or you can use Twitter Lists, read the tweets from your demographics and know exactly how they speak. Whatever works for you, the point is to understand the language your audience uses, not you.

    We are not our audience. Use terms they use, not your industry jargon. Share on X

    When to Use Images or Video In Tweets

    It’s true that images increase the likelihood that your tweet will be seen. But using an image, for the sake of using an image, isn’t effective. It should be an image that supports the tweet.

    “When you add images to your tweets, you’ll get more shares and clicks than the tweets without images.” Neil Patel

    I use images when it’s a selfie or group photo. Remember, we relate to other humans. We are social animals. It’s wired in our DNA to appreciate faces.

    Secondly, use featured images and a plugin like Yoast SEO that integrates Open Graph data. Then, when you share your blog post on Twitter, better yet if one of your audience members does, it has the image and metadata — because it uses Twitter cards.

    So about video. Let’s talk. Yeah. Twitter video is neat. I’ve used Periscope. A better suggestion is recording on YouTube and sharing that link. Twitter supports live preview of Twitter videos. It’s fine to use Twitter’s native video, but know that it isn’t as an effective in the long term.

    “Twitter video allows Twitter users to record a new video from a device or upload an existing video.” Neil Patel

    Always tweet what is natural. Anything that feels forced doesn't work — ever. Be the best version of yourself online and off. Share on X

    What about Twitter Polls?

    “One of the easiest ways to create more activity on your Twitter page is to create a Twitter poll.” Neil Patel

    Yeah. You can. People like choosing. But then what? Doing something just because you can makes no sense. But you can create a poll and then use those results for action — say, choosing which charity to donate to, choosing an image for the next blog post, voting on a product to launch. Then it makes sense.

    Then, follow up. Embed the tweet and the results in a blog post. Use it in a Presentation. My friend Glenn Zucman did this before his Women Who WP presentation.

    Asking a dumb question just to ask is annoying — at best.

    More Advice from Neil

    Call To Actions, AB Testing Headlines, Influencer Reach, and Twitter Ads

    A call to action (CTA) is an ask. Mix them up. Try different things. Every tweet shouldn’t have one. But for sure if you are linking to your web property, you should have an ask. The CTA should also be in your meta description if you’re sharing a blog post.

    “You’re probably already using CTAs asking users to share your posts, which is great. But this isn’t the only CTA that you should be using on your Twitter profile.” Neil Patel

    AB Testing is always a good idea. You can use a plugin to do that, or you can write a few varieties of tweets. It’s up to you. But make sure the headline isn’t too spammy. Write for your audience.

    “Testing headlines on Twitter is a great idea because the visual elements aren’t as prominent on as they are with a platform like Facebook.” Neil Patel

    I’m more dubious about influencer marketing. But that’s me. My philosophy has been to build your own tribe of people. Create affinity which leads to loyalty which leads to sales. Make your influencers.

    “It’s now easier than ever to pitch your ideas to someone with a large following. If they like what you bring to the table, they can change your brand’s world with one simple post.” Neil Patel

    Twitter is a great place to advertise, especially if you geolocate and use hashtags. Jason Knill over at GiveWP did a great job with this for WordCamp-specific ads. We actually found these ads to be much less expensive than Facebook, Google Display Network, or LinkedIn.

    “Twitter Ads can be a bit more expensive than Facebook Ads, but they will boost engagement when you need it most. Promoted tweets are the best option for this purpose.” Neil Patel

    But Wait: There’s More — Using Twitter’s Analytics

    So, I’m a tiny bit surprised this wasn’t included in his post. Twitter has powerful analytics. I have a whole post on this but this is the main thing I pay attention to. Are you ready? Tweets to Profile Visit ratio. I like that to be .20.

    I make a Google Sheet and enter the numbers every month for clients. Profile visits mean they are interested in you, they’re reading your bio, and likely clicking on your website link.

    Final Thoughts

    • Have fun.
    • It’s your business. No one knows it better than you.
    • Outsource social media if it’s overwhelming to you.
    • Always ask questions.
    • Social media is always about being social but the platforms change a bit.
    • Twitter is a long game. First-click leads almost never happen. Give it at least six months to see some results.

    What works for you? Tell me in the comments.

  • Outsourcing Social Media: It’s About Time

    If you don’t have time for social media, outsourcing it is a good solution. But there are caveats. You have to do it wisely.

    Time. Time is money. We’ve heard it all of our lives. In business we also talk about sweat equity. It’s a real thing. Yes, if you don’t have money, you may have time. But at some point you will have to evaluate how you spend your time.

    I wrote extensively about why outsourcing is financially advantageous here. In this post, I’d like to discuss some common misconceptions or thoughts I hear about social.

    “My team would be good at social media if they weren’t busy.”

    There are a few things wrong with this statement.

    Firstly, it presumes that social media is a low-level skill that anyone can learn. In many ways, it can be learned. But more about that later.

    Secondly, social media isn’t a team sport. Not to say you don’t work with a team, but committees are where social posts go to die — or never have a chance at life at all.

    Thirdly, I absolutely believe that your team could be excellent at some parts of social media. In fact, my preference is to teach social media, rather than do it for you. Why? Because no one knows your business like you.

    Great. So now we’ve decided you could be good.

    What now?

    Either you get training for them to do it or you outsource it to an agency like mine.

    If you train your team to do social media, you will be taking them away from their primary duty. Does it make sense for a CEO or Manager to tweet? From a time and cost standpoint, no.

    “Social Media is something everyone feels like they can chime in on.”

    Yeah. No. So much no. A seven-layer bean dip of no. That’s the snark version.

    Seriously, viewing social media as a low-level skill is dismissive at best. It’s not data entry or factory line work. Even those jobs require skills that not everyone can excel at.

    When you don’t view a skill as an area of expertise, you don’t respect it as a profession. Sure, everyone has an iPhone, that’s not a qualifier.

    Social media isn’t just about posting. It’s about the who, what, when, where, why, and how of posting. It’s about timing. It’s about reading the audience. It’s about discernment. It’s about silence sometimes. It’s closer to comedy in many ways.

    Social media is about timing. It's about reading the audience. It's about discernment. It's about silence. It's closer to comedy in many ways. Share on X

    Social media requires basic understanding of psychology, tech, marketing, and copyrighting. It’s not for everyone.

    “Social Media is a waste of time. It doesn’t work anyway.”

    This one. I forget about this one all of the time. I could give example after example of how this isn’t true.

    Here are some examples right off the top of my head.

    1. Amy Donohue donated her kidney because of a tweet. That was in 2011.
    2. Because of a video I created for Riggins Construction, they got a net profit of work from a single client in 2015 that paid for my salary for half a year.
    3. In September of 2015, one of our Thought House Franchise Development clients got four (yes, four) first-click leads from Twitter.

    And this doesn’t include the people you meet (human ROI) or the knowledge that you learn from consuming content.

    Social Media works if you work it.

    Relationships are always valuable to business; especially if your business model relies upon referrals.

    Being social in any venue, online or off, pays off if you are a kind, generous person. Your brand has an opportunity to present itself online as that person. Why wouldn’t you take that opportunity?

    If you don’t have time to do it, outsource it. It’s that simple.

  • Automation Removes Intimacy

    In Cincinnati, in a hotel elevator, I recognized someone I’d been following on Twitter.

    Jason said, “Wow, Bridget. You know everyone.”

    Right. It’s my job.

    The Siren Song of Automation

    Hardly a week goes by where I’m not pitched the newest, shiniest version of a social media tool or automation service. And I’ve not been shy about my feelings for the subject. The poor dead horse is being abused at this point.

    That said, there are dangers of automation. Removing yourself from understanding your customers and even knowing who they are can remove that feeling of intimacy.

    Intimacy just means hands-on or being close. There’s a revival in the crafts movement — people want to create with their hands. They are making their own bread, beer, and beading their own jewelry.

    Even in the business world, there’s a movement to go back to working in your business instead of on it. Yes, in your business — in the craft. Being hands on.

    So, why would you want to automate the most important part of your business — customer relations?

    The Power of A Name

    When I applied to be a Happiness Hero at Buffer, one of the prerequisites was to read the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. No doubt you’ve heard of it or read excerpts if not the whole thing.

    What stands out most is the power of using someone’s name. I’ve been practicing this a lot lately. In fact, I think it was misunderstood last night with our waiter as flirtation, but there is a risk in everything.

    Twitter Lists

    So, one of the most important part of my social media strategies — especially on Twitter — is listing. So, you can write a script that will add people to a list depending on the keywords they use in their bio or hashtags that they tweet. You can sign up for the brand new service that promises you’ll never have to lift a finger to tweet. But you may miss out on a lot.

    One of my rituals is reading bios and adding people to lists. When I’m notified that I get a new follower, I check out their profile, follow or not, and put them on a list. This is the first level of intimacy.

    Oh. Okay. John Doe just followed me. He lives in Orange County and is a social media marketer. I’ll put him on my Social Media list and my Orange County list.

    Whispering In Your Ear

    Back in the day, I worked at a church. The pastor could never remember anyone’s name. So, I’d stand next to him and when someone approached, he’d ask me their name and I’d whisper it in his ear.

    So that worked for a congregation with about 150-200 people which fits right in the Dunbar number if you believe that’s our social limitation.

    But will the new fancy tool do that in person? Sure, they promise the world online, but what about when you meet said follower at a conference?

    WordPress and WordCamps

    For our industry, WordCamps are our trade shows. There is at least one almost every single weekend. As a marketing manager for a WordPress Plugin Development Shop, attending these conferences and knowing our customers is important.

    Knowing your customers by name is important for a few reasons. Let’s start with common decency and manners. That should be enough.

    Let’s not forget the power of someone’s name. Is it better to greet someone as “Hey there bro” or “Hey, friend?”

    Or is it better to say,

    “Hi, Paul. How was your trip on the train?”

    It shows that you care. It increases loyalty. It is the beginning of a relationship. If you truly care about people and building up a culture of community, this is tantamount — required as a baseline.

    Knowing your customers has never been a bad thing.

    Automation Removes Intimacy

    Back to the title, “Automation Removes Intimacy.” The intimacy you have with your customers on social media is important for in-person meetings. It’s important for keeping that relationship going online.

    Social media is about connecting, as humans, to other people. Whether it’s for friendship or to increase the lifetime value of a customer, being social can never be automated.

    Well, if Science Fiction catches up to us, perhaps you can get a protocol droid like C3PO.

    Until then, be cautious when automating. You should want to spend the time getting to know your customers.

  • Why even spend time online? Human ROI

    I’ve been criticized ever since my online journey began back in the days of dial-up and AOL. (True story: I attended my first Bible study online in an AOL chat room.) Why do you spend so much time online?

    It’s become such a common occurrence that I try to never use my phone in person, save a couple of selfies.

    Case in point: A Birthday Party Tonight

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BMIp-hXAjsS/

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BMIqDkJgLYg/

     

    And, you know me, I have to grab a sunset.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BMILFv1AQ9t/

    The point is this:

    All of the time I have spent building relationships online has always come back as a return — in humanity.

    Human ROI

    Relationships matter because people matter. The more you invest in people the more they will invest in you. This has never failed me.

    Tonight, I was invited to a surprise birthday party for SMMOC co-founder (with his wife) Bob Watson. This group has been instrumental in my career change and path.

    Last week, I told Bob as much and he recorded a small video on his Instagram account.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BL4R_xng_eC/

    Of course, I wanted to join in the fun, see old friends, and wish Bob a very happy birthday!

    Hugs Galore!

    Though I knew I would be surrounded by my social media friends,  I became nervous (would anyone greet me? etc). So, my very good friend Jen Miller said she would be my plus one and it would be fun.

    You know what? It was fun.

    I had great conversations with people I haven’t seen (in person) in months or even  years. Yet we’ve been able to stay connected, and dare I say not superficially, online.

    I engaged in personal conversations, was part of a running birthday joke, ate dinner, drank Diet Coke, cracked jokes. I felt like me.

    You know why?

    Because I was surrounded by friends. And they weren’t fake.

    I was hugged by everyone. Because they’re real people. Real relationships. Real friends.

    Why do I spend so much time online?

    I spend time online because my friends are there. It’s not a chore. It’s not something I need to be unplugged from. It’s something that helps me feel connected to this world. Maybe I’m weird. But I think people value that time.

    Spend time on social media creating, maintaining, and deepening relationships and you’ll always get back Human ROI.

    Promise.

    😉