Love It or Hate It, Don't Ignore Potential of Twitter

By Jill Kurtz, Kurtz Digital StrategyThe constant barrage of content on Twitter makes it one of my least favorite social platforms. But there are many aspects to Twitter that make it too good of a marketing and communication channel to ignore.Here are some thoughts on why you should consider twitter as part of your strategy and how to make the most of your efforts.Why You Should Be on TwitterIt easy to find and track the content you are interested in on Twitter. Although you do get pushed paid messages you might not want to see, you generally do see everything the people that you follow post. Likewise, the people who follow you see what you post.Twitter has not restricted organic (free) interactions nearly as much as Facebook. You can buy ads, but it is far less necessary here than on platforms like Facebook that are making it increasingly hard to be sure anyone sees your unpaid content.Another nice part of the Twitter community is the you-follow-me so I-follow-you culture. Simply by being active on Twitter, posting content and liking or quoting content from others, will get you followers. As you follow people, the little birdies at Twitter will make recommendations to you for other accounts to follow.Twitter also supports lists and hashtags, both of which make it easy for you to find the content and people who have the right interests. You can access any one of many lists on the platform as a way to find the conversations you want to be part of. The convention of using hashtags likewise groups related tweets and helps you find who's talking about the topics that interest you.What to TweetTwitter is all about content - in text, in images, in videos. You need to determine what you want to be about on Twitter - define your goal - and the content that will get there. This can mean developing content that you share, referring to content you have shared elsewhere, commenting on content posted by others, and sharing content developed by others. Usually, it means some mix of each of these things.Twitter is a great place to:Connect to influencers Connect to potential customers Start conversations Be part of conversations Build recognition for your content and your business Leveraging TwitterBeing on Twitter gives you a great opportunity to bring attention to your content. It is expected that you tweet more than once about the same thing, increasing the changes that people will see your great thoughts.Your profile as well as each tweet is a great opportunity to drive traffic to your website, blog, and other social channels.Likewise, refer to your twitter account everywhere you are communicating offline and online. Unlike some other platforms, a Twitter handle is short and easy to remember, so you can even get good conversion when people learn about you offline and connecting isn't as easy as a click.[author]About the Author: Jill Kurtz founded Kurtz Digital Strategy to help clients see the communication potential of the newest trends and technologies. She is an expert at website strategy and redesign, social media planning, and developing exceptional content. [/author]