Ever wonder how to use Twitter to build your personal brand?
Eager to make Twitter part of your social media strategy, but not sure how to get started?
With over 330 million active users, Twitter is ripe with opportunity. But in the midst of that is a confusing stream of content, connections, and conversation.
So where do you begin?
Here's a look at the 10 step Twitter formula to unleash a dynamic and profitable personal brand!
How to Use Twitter to Unleash a Dynamic Personal Brand
1. Define Your Mission and Vision
Before you launch your Twitter account, determine your mission and vision for this social network.
Whether your goal is to:
- Boost brand awareness
- Connect with quality leads, or
- Create new relationships
... Twitter can put you in front of the right people if you know who and what they're looking for.
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2. Know Your Customer
Take a moment to think about who your customers are and why they're using Twitter to connect and engage with a business like yours.
Are they seeking information, insight, a forum to be heard, or do they need a place to share their passion for your company? My guess is that it's a little bit of each.
Give your past, current, and prospective customers a way to virtually connect with you daily.
Well-crafted tweets that share your personality go a long way in establishing your personal brand.
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3. Translate Your Brand
Your Twitter presence is an extension of the brand you've built across the web.
To translate it to a new network with a different audience, you need to focus on your Twitter brand's look, feel, and intention.
Answer a few questions:
- How does your brand make people feel, and how will that be seen, heard, and felt on Twitter?
- What's your brand's purpose, and how will Twitter help support it?
- How will your Twitter strategy extend the mission and vision of your brand?
If you're clear about the message you're conveying, Twitter becomes an enormous benefit.
If you're unclear or lazy in your approach, Twitter will be an enormous waste of your time.
4. Find Your Message and Voice
The tweets you put out every day should support your overarching business goals. Ensure your voice, tone, and personality are consistent with every tweet.
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Follow best practices to maintain consistency:
- Translate your visual brand to your Twitter cover, images, and videos.
- Write a bio that speaks to who you are, who you help, what you do.
- Include relevant keywords within your profile to clearly express who you are and what your brand is about.
- Keep the language used in your Twitter profile professional and consistent with your website and other social networks.
5. Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are a way to get your message in front of a much larger audience. Take time to identify what hashtags are being used consistently.
An easy way to begin your hashtag research is through your competition. What hashtags are they using daily? Now take those hashtags and research the frequency and effectiveness of each one.
Find out how often they are used and who is using them through Hashtags.org or Twubs.
Both offer a detailed analysis of each hashtag and will provide a list of those who have recently used it. You can now see what additional hashtags they are using.
Begin to build a list of relevant hashtags that you can scatter throughout your tweets.
6. Connect with Industry Leaders
Your personal brand should be part of the Twitter ecosystem.
Use Twitter tools such as Twitter Advanced Search to search for industry leaders based on specific keywords, phrases, date, location, and language.
You can even indicate that you only want tweets from specific accounts or from those mentioning certain accounts.
Now it's time to jump into the conversation and begin a dialogue with those tweeting and talking about subjects surrounding your industry or niche.
7. Use Twitter Lists
Once you've completed the above task, add these industry leaders to a Twitter list.
Similar to Facebook lists, Twitter allows you to categorize those people you follow into targeted lists.
This will allow you to come in daily and quickly and easily keep up with those you want to build relationships with.
Your next step is to visit your list and start replying to tweets, sharing one of their tweets with your audience, or visiting their blog and commenting on their latest post.
To set up your Twitter lists:
From Twitter.com, navigate to your profile. Click on "lists" on the upper left-hand side, and then choose "create new list" directly below your profile.
8. Set Up a Twitter Search Alert
There are multiple ways to monitor your brand-building efforts. One is through Advanced Twitter Search.
Once you create your Twitter search as described above, you can save that search for future reference.
You can also use tools such as Google Alerts or third-party tools like Agorapulse.
Each of these tools will keep you up-to-date with the latest mentions of your chosen keywords.
Use them to monitor your name, business name, competitors and events happening within your city if you are a local company.
9. Integrate Twitter
Twitter is not the only avenue you should use to build your brand. Use different brand-building tools and ensure they are all integrated.
A few ideas:
- Add a link to your email signature
- Incorporate your link into all traditional marketing
- Add an icon to your website or blog
- Add it to all other social networks
10. Track and Measure Your Results
Tracking and measuring your online results is an important part of your strategy.
Staying on top of what is working and what is not is a proactive way to observe how your content, message, voice, and personal brand is received.
Agorapulse provides detailed Twitter analytics, so you can see trends and sentiment on all tweets.
Use Agorapulse to share your tweets, measure your day-to-day, and stay up-to-date on your performance.
How will you use Twitter to build a dynamic personal brand? I'd love to hear your tips in the comments below!
About Rebekah Radice
Rebekah Radice, co-founder of BRIL.LA, has traded narcissism for purpose. When not driving growth, you'll find her tricking family into thinking she's Emeril Lagasse - likely covered in marinara. The spotlight was fun, but impact is better. These days she's using 20+ years of brand brilliance for good.