Twitter Made Easy: A Social Media Marketing Guide for Newbies

Do you want to try social media marketing with Twitter but are unsure where and how to start?

Here are some basic steps to getting started that may help you get on in there and at least get your feet wet in the Twitter stream:

• First, create a Twitter account. Heads up: Choose a username that incorporates the name of your ecommerce business if at all possible. For example, if your website is named happycamper.com, then try to get “happy camper” as your Twitter user name. This is using good SEO and also helps to build your brand!

• Spend some time writing a killer profile bio. You are limited to 160 characters, so you’ll have to choose your words wisely! Again, use good SEO practices and work in as many of your major keywords as you possibly can.

• Get a free Twitter custom background. Choose one that reflects your business; add your business logo, name, and everything else you can. This also works to build your brand even though the search engines won’t pick up content on backgrounds. Other Twitter users will see your custom background so it helps to make it memorable.

• Do upload a photo. Remember, this isn’t about who is the fairest in the land, it’s about making yourself more personable and humanizing yourself. You may consider yourself so ugly you could hire out to haunt houses, but never mind. Post a photo of yourself anyway!

• Now that you’ve gotten registered, composed your profile bio, gotten a great background and posted a photo---start getting a feel for Twitter. Basically, you should just lurk for a few days until you have a pretty good idea of how things are done. Observe the social niceties and mind your manners!

• Start participating. You can do a Twitter search to find others whose interests correlate with your industry. Once you find them, follow them & when there is a good opening for you to comment---go ahead. Don’t follow every Tom, Dick & Harriet on Twitter or try to amass thousands of followers yourself just to have them. Twitter isn’t a numbers game. It’s better to have 500 qualified followers whose interests correspond to your business than 5,000 of any and everybody.

• Establish yourself as a trustworthy, interesting Twitter user who shares entertaining, informative or other valuable info with others, and you will soon garner plenty of good followers!

• Be consistent and plan to spend a certain amount of time on Twitter every day.

Think of social media marketing as a garden---you prepare the ground, sow the seeds, cultivate and tend the crop, and ultimately enjoy a rich harvest.