Okay, so you only have 140 characters to work with, but you can tweet your marketing message in such a way that the message will get read and the link clicked on – that is Twitter marketing.

First off, you need to shorten the link you want people to click on.  You can do this through a number of free programs such as tinyurl.com.  The one I like to use is www.Cli.gs.com because of its tracking abilities.  Simply sign up, plug your original link in the spot provided and they immediately give you a shortened link to use.  It’s pretty neat to watch how many people click on the link after you post it in your tweet.  Do the tweet and then hit the analytics icon on Cli.gs to see the number of hits. 

You can take this a step further by creating a new clig for the same link but use it in a post on your blog.  Do a third clig for the promotional email you send out to your list.  That way you can compare all three stats and see which method of targeting traffic is performing the best for you.  It will depend on how big your list is, how much traffic your site gets, and how many Twitter followers you have, not to mention the time of day sent and other variables, but you can start forming a picture.  For those who don’t have huge lists, tweeting your message will get you the most people.

Secondly, look at your approach in your tweet.  Are you coming across as pushing a product?  If so, change your approach.  Chances are this tweet won’t get your attention: “I just launched XYZ product and you can get it here, myURL” like this one would: “Wow, I’m getting some great feedback about XYZ today, myURL.”  Tweet like you’re talking to ONE person, a friend.  You can even put a friend’s @name at the front of your tweet and you really will be talking to one person (with LOTS of other people listening in.)

Just remember Twitter is about building relationships.  Like with any offline relationship, there is give and take.  Follow others, make friends, let them speak their mind, and comment on what they say.  Then you can share some of the news going on in your life without taking the direct frontal marketing approach. 

Another type of tweet that works well is tweeting in the form of a question.  People love to help and will follow your link so they can answer your question.  “I just wrote a post on 10 cheap vacation ideas. Can you help me come up w/a few more?”  Does it get eyeballs to your blog? More so than if you just posted “New blog post on cheap vacation ideas.”

Pay close attention to HOW you tweet, what you tweet and make some small changes. There certainly is no crime in using Twitter to market your business, just be a bit subtle about it. The old adage “No one likes to be sold to” applies to Twitter too.  Be sure to track your results and concentrate more time and energy on what is working for you.

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Twitter marketing is all about communication and connection. There are two key elements to Twitter Marketing: the way you approach it, and the tools you use.

Let’s start with how to approach making your Twitter presence a powerful marketing aid…

Twitter can help you:

* Find more clients
* Stay on top of trends
* Clue you in quickly to breaking news
* Do focused networking
* Discover the latest Twitter marketing tools and tips
* Establish your brand
* Drive traffic to your articles, blog(s) and website(s)

And it will do all this as long as you remember the social interaction
component is a vital key.

You see, one of Twitter’s biggest secrets – and it’s as plain as the good old proverbial nose on your face – lies in the fact that everyone is so busy tweeting, they often forget to respond. So don’t just tweet; respond to other tweets. Meet people, be friendly – it’s all part of your Twitter marketing strategy.

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