Can you really get customers on Twitter? Yes. You can. I do. Most of the time. Yes, if you’re in business and it’s focused on business-to-business (B2B), then you need Twitter. I recently talked with Kim Doyal on this subject as well.
Firstly, you can’t analyze data that you don’t measure. Tracking your lead source only happens if you ask your customers how they heard about you.
I Get My Customers from Twitter
As an exercise, I imported clients from FreshBooks into Google Sheets. Almost 42% of my leads come through referrals (usually in my Twitter DMs), 30% come from Twitter, and almost 12% come from friends (most of whom I met on Twitter.) It’s arguable that 70% of my business truly comes from Twitter. Then again, I manage Twitter for brands.
People ask me all the time:
“You mean people pay you to do that?”
To which I generally reply:
“Yes, so far it’s working.”
(Do people pay you to answer their phones? Hello?)
Here are my time-tested tips on how to get customers on Twitter.
1. Be Present in Your Twitter Feed
To get customers on Twitter it is important that you are present in your feed. What does this look like? It means that you sign onto Twitter in the morning, check notifications, reply to everyone, and post something. Scroll through the home feed and reply to at least three people.
Posting once a day on Twitter isn’t for growth, by the way. It’s basic life support. If you want to grow, you need to spend time on Twitter. It’s about volume over time.
In the last 28 days, for example, I tweeted over 1500 times. Now, I also have 18,000 followers. So my volume is appropriate for my account.
2. Search for Questions on Twitter
To get customers on Twitter it is important that you are seen as a source of information. Not only are you a source, but you are an accessible source. This means curbing your use of jargon or, at least, using it and defining it.
People are tweeting all day long about things that interest them as well as their frustrations. Find questions that you can answer and reply to their tweets. This is how you build followers and affinity for your brand. People will like you for being helpful.
Remember to use quotes around your search phrase and choose “latest tweets” instead of “top tweets.” It’s a bit of extra work, but it helps.
To get customers on Twitter it is important that you publish on your blog and share it on Twitter regularly. You want people to recognize your brand and affiliate it with your field of expertise.
It is important that you carve out the time to do this. Your marketing engine (flywheel as Rand Fishkin calls it) is fueled only by your effort. How are you marketing your business?
4. Reply to Everyone
To get customers on Twitter it is important that you reply to everyone. Everyone is relevant. People leave jobs an average of every two years (or less). It’s the relationships that stay around forever. I replied to a tweet and got a $23,000 client. Yep. I did.
Yes, you have the extra 40 seconds it takes to say, “Thank you.” If you don’t, why are you in business?
5. Follow and List Everyone Who Isn’t Spam
To get customers on Twitter it is important that you are — are you ready for this? — social. People always think of the media part of “social media” and conveniently forget the work part. Yes. The work is to interact with others.
To make your experience efficient and effective, add people to your Twitter Lists. This allows you to filter the feed by topic or category of your determination.
6. Be Consistent. It’s a Long Game
To get customers on Twitter it is important that you are patient. It’s not the Field of Dreams. People don’t just come to your profile and buy your $30,000 barbecue pit. There is no such thing as first-click leads.
“Want to make marketing a competitive advantage for your business? You’re gonna need a flywheel. No individual hack, no short-term set of investments, can compete.” Rand Fishkin of Spark Toro
Twitter should be part of your daily routine just like email. It’s outreach. Because Google indexes individual tweets, Twitter should also be part of your SEO strategy.
7. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Statements
To get customers on Twitter it is important that you differentiate yourself and your brand. What does it do for your customer? What are you providing to your customer?
What values matter to your business? It’s okay to take a stand. Stay with it. Make your stance and stand by it. Plenty of people say all kinds of things online. Most of the time, I’d recommend that you shouldn’t but there are cases where it is core. People will be upset. Your customers won’t.
Patagonia, for example, doesn’t mind being outspoken about environmental issues. They probably don’t have very many customers from the oil and gas industry, but they’re fine with it.
This is an example of aligning your values with your customers.
Are You At Bat?
Your swings only count if you’re at-bat. The very best baseball players only succeed 1/3 of the time but they have to step up to the plate. Where are you?
You can’t get customers on Twitter if you’re not active on Twitter. You need an account. You need a website that is mobile responsive. You may need to outsource, even.
Twitter has been out since 2007. It’s not just a fad. Your competitors are online. Why aren’t you?
Bonus Video:
Using Twitter for Business Development
4 responses to “How Do You Get Customers on The X Platform (Twitter)? My Top 7 Tips”
I love the analogy about Hall of Fame baseball players only hitting safely 33% of the time. Getting the at-bats and swings in is what guarantees success.
Thanks, friend. It motivates me.
Bridget Willard (949) 370-4059 bridgetwillard.com
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