Twitter for eCommerce

No no, there isn’t yet a shopping cart built right into Twitter. But that doesn’t stop folks from using the popular microblogging tool to increase sales on their sites. This post contains links to articles which describe uses of Twitter that generate sales of products, usually by driving traffic to a specific site.

This Twitter for eCommerce article is different from the Twitter for Lead Generation article in that while both are ultimately about making money from your use of Twitter, one makes that money by selling a widget and the other makes the money by having developing a financial relationship with a consumer.

• Read about this Threadless T-Shirt promotion. Note how there was a sale, the sale was promoted on Twitter and then a guy who got the Tweet forwarded it to everyone in his office
• Dell has used Twitter to sell $500,000 worth of refurb computers, according to Reuters.
• Lisa Suttora has a post outlining seven ways to market your ecommerce business via Twitter. It opens with some pitchy stuff (hey, she is a marketer after all) but skip to the list for some great tips.
• This article at MSNBC covers a variety of social media/texting marketing examples for retailers.

If you find this interesting, you might also enjoy other posts Twitter for Business series.

Please feel let me know if you find any other articles about Twitter and eCommerce.

Measuring Twitter: Marketing, Conversations and Individuals

This post is a part of the overall Twitter for Business series here at the Internet Marketing for Real Estate blog. Once you get into Twitter for awhile you (or our boss) will want to know what good it is doing. Here are some links to posts and articles about Twitter measurement tools and techniques.

Measuring advertising and marketing efforts that use Twitter as a distribution medium/source

Increasingly, we see that Twitter is being used to blast away with “Hey check out my latest post” and “use my great service” etc. Perhaps a bit obnoxious to the non-commercial user of Twitter. If your marketing strategy for Twitter does not involve annoying your followers into submission, perhaps you might consider measuring your activity and finding out which topics are most interesting to your followers. Here’s where you can really use social media to advantage. Check out these reviews on using Twitter in conjunction with your advertising and marketing efforts:

• Before you even get started, you might want to know more about who is using Twitter and how are they using it. Jeremiah Owyang has decoded HP Lab’s Twitter research for you.
• Twittertise is an analytics and Tweet-delay service that helps you plan and track your advertising messages.
• Measure web traffic you generate via Twitter by combining TinyURL and Google Analytics. Justin Cutroni tells all.
• Use Tweetburner to measure your relevance on Twitter.
• Measure your relevance on Twitter with Cli.gs and get some 301 redirect action from it as well.
• Anil Batra has some initial KPIs for Twitter use on his blog.

Measuring brands, topics and conversations on Twitter

Since Twitter is a quick, easy and in-the-moment communication medium, a lot of different things are discussed each minute. Perhaps you’re interested in buzz measurement or looking for some insight into what the Twittersphere currently finds interesting.

• If you want to use free tools to figure out how much of the Twittersphere is talking about something, check out our Twist and Tweetrush method.
• If your brand/topic isn’t very large, perhaps you could measure the conversation using Tweetbeep and Tweetrush
• Here’s a brief case study about the impact of the 2008 Seinfeld ads on Microsoft’s brand as measured via Twitter.

Measuring individual activity on Twitter

Perhaps you are interested in what someone’s Twitter usage is like. Maybe they are claiming to be a social media marketing whiz-bang genius and you want to check out their credentials. That sort of thing. Or maybe you’re just a stalker. There are a variety of tools available to measure people’s use of Twitter.

• Xefer is a tool that shows hourly, monthly and daily breakdown of twitter usage. It also shows followers. It is limited to the most recen 800 Twitter posts.
• Adam Fullerton gives a quick snapshot of Hubspot’s Twitter Grader, a tool for checking how complete your Twitter profile is among other things.
• Mashable gives an excellent overview of a tool called Tweeple Twak. Learn about your follow/unfollow rate, locations of your followers and more. Probably the closest thing to GA for Twitter I’ve seen yet. If only it would have a built-in URL shortener or partner with someone like Cli.gs then it would be slam dunk.
• Respected Web Analyst Nick Arnet puts together an excellent blog post on measuring influence on Twitter.

If I’ve missed something good please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments section.

Measure your share of Twitter-based conversations using Tweetrush and Twist

Ever wonder how many different “Tweets” are released into the Twittersphere each day? That’s what Tweetrush tells you. At first glance, it’s probably not much more than an entertaining look at how other people waste their time. Then you realize that you’re wasting your time seeing how much time their wasting and so on.

Let’s see if we can use Tweetrush and Twist to inform our decision-making. Read more

Your Website is Running for Presidential Office

An online visibility metaphor

Presidential candidates travel the country to gain exposure and voice their platforms; your business should be traveling the Internet to spread the name and message of your business. In the political world we hear speeches, in the online world we read blogs. Just as your neighbor has an Obama ‘08 bumper sticker on his Subaru, a client of yours may link to your site on their Facebook page.

In the end the candidate with the most relevant policies, best speeches and most bumper stickers will usually take the White House. The website with the most inbound links and popular blog posts will rocket to the top of a Google search result page.

Step 1: Make sure campaign headquarters is staffed and ready. You want to promote a site that is appealing, useful, promotes your business objectives, and is full of good content. This is about the functionality of the site. It doesn’t matter how many people go to your site if it doesn’t convert them, a bad site with good visibility will promote your brand as “the guy everyone knows but no one uses.”

Step 2: Hit the campaign trail. Not only should you host a blog and post often but respond to comments. Be an authority! Be friendly! Be helpful! It is important to gain presence “on the road”; be sure to comment on related blogs, this will give you presence and help you start developing inbound links. As we all hear, inbound links are crucial to your internet marketing.

Step 3: Diversify, Web 2.0 style. Besides blogging there is a whole country full of social media voters. Get to know and use Facebook, Twitter, Localism, YouTube etc. All these keep your audience in tune with you and all provide inbound links as well. This is huge because as the demographic of social media users grows and ages more and more of your audience will be using social media tools. For some insightful tips on blogging as related to social media, check out Chris Brogan’s blog.

Online visibility is a cornerstone of your internet marketing, without it your website will fail to reach the critical mass required to make you President. Or whatever it is you’re after.

Twitter Toy Review: Twitter Vision

Ok, so a warning to you: If you think Twitter is a waste of time, this twitter toy will prove it. If you are prone to Twitter dependency do not, under any circumstance go and look at Twittervision.

What is Twittervision?

Take a map, hook it up to the live feed of everything coming through Twitter. Show all the tweets on the map. In real-ish time. Don’t like a flat map? Use their 3D view which takes a globe and revolves it to the location of the tweeter.

Is there any business use for Twittervision?

The short answer is: Nope.

The long answer is:

• Buzz monitoring.
• Putting breaking “news” in geographical context.
• Gaining inspiration from random sources.
• Reading small chunks of foreign languages.

If you want to know more about business uses for Twitter (strong emphasis on real estate Twitter usage but there’s something there for everyone I think) go to the Twitter for Real Estate or Business page.

Mobile Social Networking

eMarketer recently released a report on marketing to social networks that have a mobile component (like that little m.myspace.com or what-have-you). This appears to be in line with other reports on mobile usage and where the audience goes there go the marketers. Here’s a pullquote from Debra Aho Williamson, one of the report’s authors:

It goes beyond simply linking people with digital content by adding the immediacy of sharing with friends—a very powerful marketing proposition.

So here we have the mashup of two pretty exciting opportunites: social network marketing and mobile technology. Since people like to be “social” spontaneously, combining a pervasive technology like mobile phones/internet devices is like combining peanut butter and chocolate, or whatever you like to combine.

Action? John du Pre Gauntt, another of the report’s authors has this to say:

Marketers are trying to determine which digital marketing techniques and ad units are relevant for the mobile social networking environment.

What tools and techniques are you using or researching?

Business Strategy and Twitter

Like any tool, there are greater and lesser reasons to use Twitter in a business setting. The articles on this page are focused on delivering strategic thought about Twitter for business use.

• Everyone loves a bullet list so here’s your list of 50, courtesy Chris Brogan.
• Integrating Twitter into a business culture courtesy of Jerry Owyang.
• Another one from Owyang about strategic use of Twitter so it doesn’t overrun your life.
• If your strategy is enhanced by being perceived as a guru, this post quickly walks you through the listen-network-be-a-guru process.
• Laura Fitton has a great reading list about using Twitter for business.
• Elliot Ng of UpTake discusses the process his company went through in determining their business use of Twitter. Includes thoughts on corporate Twitter handle vs personal Twitter handles aka Personal Brands.
• A discussion of the difference between having a lot of followers vs having less but more loyal followers, using High School as an anti-metaphor.
• If you’re using a variety of social media channels already, you may be interested to know what Twitter disrupts. Laura Fitton’s research should help you out.

If you’re ready to begin, check out the Getting Started with Twitter for Business page. If you’re looking for something more detailed or specific, perhaps you’ll find it on the main Twitter for Business page.

Feel free to use the comments to let me know about other business strategy and Twitter articles.

Getting Started with Twitter for Business

As with any buzzwordy new hip trend, the barrier to entry for using Twitter is probably just sitting down and playing with it. If you have ten minutes, scan one of these articles and just give Twitter a try.

Wrapping your head around Twitter

If are looking for some specific uses of what you might do with Twitter, read some of the use case scenarios for Twitter that are available on the Twitter for Business page. Or you could just read this one article over on Mashable that gives a wide variety of little benefits accrued through Twitter use.

Sometimes you just need some ideas and pointers about what a piece of software is. How can use it for marketing? Or other business tasks? Is it like text messaging but not? Here are some articles to help get you started in understanding what Twitter is and how Twitter works.

• The Pioneer Press ran this excellent article about Twitter that includes business use cases in real estate (lead management), retail (customer service), corporate (business intelligence) and television (media/content). Includes actual Twitter content and strategy/tactics.
• Here’s a Wall Street Journal Online article about Twitter.
• Geekestate gives a quick overview of what Twitter is and how it works.
• Nik over at MyTechOpinion gives a great, quick rundown of a variety of business and personal uses for Twitter along with some good starter advice. Comes with a podcast even! If you’re in a rush skip down to the bullet lists.
• Champlain College professor Elaine Young describes how she uses both Twitter and another microblogging platform, Plurk.

Twitter: Get Started

If you’re wanting some ideas and help to get going with microblogging and Twitter, you’re on the right page. There are plenty of articles that give you a good “here’s how to start using twitter” overviews. Some in a narrative style, some with bulleted lists. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Daniel Rothamel gives you the nuts and bolts of starting in his post about social media and Twitter.
• Laura Fitton has several step by step articles for getting started using Twitter.
• How to write kickass Twitter posts gives you a great list of guidelines to give the most with your tweeting and prevents you from being dull.
• Rands in Repose gives a great explanation on how to get value from the people you follow or follow you on Twitter.
• The Brain Leaders and Learners blog gives a great rundown of things you can do to increase your followership AKA don’t just tell us what you had for lunch.
• One of the bummer realities of the internet is the presence of spam. Spam is also on Twitter. Here’s a method to help reduce your spam content on Twitter.
• It’s not just spammers that are obnoxious, real people can be pretty annoying too! Here’s a top 10 list of types of people to stop following on Twitter. If someone is dragging you down, unfollow them.
• Sooner or later you’re going to want to control and manage your usage of Twitter better. Nicole Nikolay gives us a great 5 point tactical plan for using Twitter.

Articles to help you navigate etiquette and other social issues on Twitter

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes you just want to fit in. Is it okay to post every five minutes with your latest and greatest deal? Should you really talk about your cat twice a day? When is it alright to approach someone with an offer? Here are some articles to give you a sense of the kind of communication people are expecting to have via Twitter.

You’ll find that it’s a lot like going to a cocktail party. If you’d feel awkward saying something at a cocktail party hosted by your best friend, then don’t post it on Twitter. Here are some more thoughts on getting along in Twitterland:

• Sarah Evans has created a post of things to Do and a post of things to Don’t to help you grow your Twitter-based community.
• Dooley, a social media-ist, gives an overview of what she thinks Twitter is great for, what stuff you should put in your profile along with some great tips on Twitter etiquette.
• Not understanding the strange lingo that is sometimes used on Twitter? Shannon Yelland has made an excellent dictionary of Twitter jargon and slang.
• Still need a little help figuring out how to maintain your sincerity and play nice in Twitter? AgentGenius gives you some great social media etiquette and business tips

Twitter: Cautionary Tales

We can probably all remember the first time we sent a “reply all” email when we really didn’t mean to send a message to everyone. If not, we know someone who has. These are the sorts of gaffes that scare us and prevent us from using a new technology. No one wants to look foolish. Below are some posts that help you avoid blunders and other cautionary tales as you use Twitter. But also remember, you still use email even though you sent that embarrassing message that one time.

• A cautionary tale of poor use of Twitter by real estate agents is found at Real Central VA.
• A list of some actual “tweets,” most of them embarassing for the Twit. Consider it a list of cautionary twitter tales.
• How not to use Twitter, via Brad Coy.
• More of the cautionary tales, in the form of 20 Commandments of Social Media. Not Twitter specific but very much related. If you’re just starting out, give this a quick review and think of it when you interact with someone who is obnoxious in their use of social media.

Alright. You’re ready to start using Twitter for your business. Head on over to the Twitter for Lead Generation page or go to the main Twitter for Business page and find a use case that’s relevant for your business. In real estate and not sure who to follow? Try the Twitter for Real Estate: Who to Follow? article.

Feel free to use the comments to let me know about other good articles for beginning Twitter use.

Twitter for Lead Generation

If your business involves meeting people and selling them your service or product directly, then you can use Twitter to help you locate those people who need your service or product. A classic example of a lead generation business is Real Estate. Here are a few examples of businesspeople using Twitter to generate leads:

• Jeremy Hart at NRVLiving generates real estate leads using Twitter.
• AgentGenius.com let’s us know about Twitter connecting a buyer with an agent before there was even the hint of a transaction.
• Property Minder Blog has a short and sweet piece on closing more sales with Twitter. Includes some best practices for real estate.
• Jay Thompson gives a quick post about how he has generated at least one lead with Twitter.
• Many of the readers of this blog are in real estate. If you’re looking for a few examples of “good behavior” real estate agents to follow (to see how they use Twitter), There’s a list of ten great realtor Twitterers on Tom Carpenter’s blog.

If you’re using Twitter to generate leads, I recommend you also look into the Twitter Tools for Listening page. There you will find reviews of some tools to help you locate people who want or can use what you have to offer. Want more? Head to the complete Twitter for Business page or maybe try Twitter for Reputation Management.

Feel free to use the comments to let me know about other good articles for lead generation via Twitter.

Twitter for Reputation Management

You don’t ever have to say a word on Twitter to get value from the technology. In fact you might not even need to register an account. People are talking about brands and products in many different ways. Twitter is one of them. Here are some articles about using this fact for your business.

• Example of reputation management from 37Signals at the Twitter blog.
• Chris Brogan gives a quick example of using Twitter to listen and then gives a brief plug for Radian6, an analytics packages for social media.
• One of my favorite sites, Read/Write/Web, describes customer service teams at Comcast, Dell and others using Twitter to close the loop on Reputation Management and actually solve customer issues, via Twitter. Mmmmm listening leading to action, got to love that. Bonus link to a comment that Comcast left on a blog regarding the practice.

If this is an activity you think would benefit your business, you may want to review the Twitter Tools for Listening page to find additional resources. If you want more information perhaps you can look for it on the main Twitter for Business page or if you want to try something else, check out the Twitter for Communication page.

Feel free to use the comments to let me know about other good articles about lead generation and Twitter.

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