Author: Anukrati Mehta

Originally a platform for individuals to share quick thoughts, Twitter (now rebranded as “X”) has evolved into a potent marketing tool that enables brands to engage with their audience effectively. With 217 million monetizable daily users, it’s clear why many companies continue to leverage Twitter for marketing purposes.

However, merely tweeting sporadically about popular topics is no longer sufficient. Brands must adopt a more deliberate approach to their social media marketing strategies on Twitter to differentiate themselves and maintain audience interest.

In this guide, we will explore a detailed, step-by-step process to craft a Twitter marketing strategy that enhances your brand’s presence and boosts engagement. Let’s dive into the essentials of creating an effective strategy on this dynamic platform.

Create a Twitter Profile

As deceptively simple as this step may sound, it is what will set the foundation for your future marketing. There are a number of things to take care of while creating a Twitter profile.

Let’s consider the Twitter profile of WittyPen as the sample layout and go through the things that you need to focus on while creating yours, step by step.

1. Username

Wittypendotcom
Your username is what spans across the entire platform. It is what people will use to tag you in their tweets. So, if someone needs to mention WittyPen, they will use @Wittypendotcom to tag the profile. It is advisable to use the company/ brand name here for easy recognition. The username has a limit of 15 characters.

2. Profile Name

WittyPen
If you haven’t used your real name as the Username, you can mention it here. Although not used for tagging, profile name is visible to everyone at all times.

3. Profile Image

WittyPen Logo
While the profile image for an individual can be anything, the same for a brand should be something that the users can recognise. The WittyPen profile image is its logo, which makes it easy for anyone to follow it without having to read through the profile.

4. Bio

Got any content requirements?
The bio has a character limit of 160. This means you can only add what is relevant and which easily grabs attention. Try to make this one line about the product or service you provide. You can also tag people or use trending hashtags in your bio to drive engagement.

5. Location

Pune, India
Add your location for better search results. Adding the location to its profile allows WittyPen to be searchable for any queries related to Pune. This way, you would not miss out on prospective customers looking for the product or service you offer in a particular area.

6. Website

wittypen.com
Your marketing efforts on Twitter should lead the user back to your products or services. So, add your website to allow users to get in touch with you and also look you up on other social media platforms. If the website is easily accessible, it makes things simple for both, the user, as well as you.

7. Header Image

Company achievement
You can let this image remain as the solid blue colour that is part of Twitter’s iconic colour theme. However, with the restrictions of space and content on this platform, why not use all the tools available? The header image can be changed on a regular basis (unlike the profile image of your brand) and can convey industry news, your latest achievements as a brand, employee milestones, etc. It keeps your followers in the know.

The Twitter Terms To Be Aware Of

Now that your Twitter profile is ready, it’ll be good help to get familiar with the lingo of this networking site, wouldn’t it? Here’s a list of some common words that you need to be aware of to use Twitter.

1. DM

Direct Message. This is a private message that will only be visible to the profile you’re sending it to. Do note that while you can reply to DMs from anyone, you can only send a DM to a profile you are following.

2. EM

Email Me. Since some conversations require more than 140 characters, EM is used to take the chat outside of the Twitter world.

3. #FF

#FollowFriday. A Twitter tradition, people use this hashtag (generally on Fridays) to tag people/ profiles they admire and think their followers should follow too. Simply put, this is a recommendation given by your follower for others to know about you. So, if someone puts up your username with #FF, rejoice!

4. RT

Retweet. When you want to share a Tweet by someone else, you use RT. It indicates at the beginning itself that the Tweet shared is not posted by you.

6. MT/ MRT

Modified Tweet/ Modified Retweet. As the name suggests, this is basically a Retweet, but one that has been modified by you. This is useful when you might want to add a comment to someone else’s Tweet, but the character limit won’t allow it. You can simply make the changes required in the tweet and MT it so that people can know where it leads back to.

Tips and Features of Twitter

Now that you’re part of the Twitter world and have learnt the little things, let us move on to understand how to navigate through it as well, yes? Take a look at these top Twitter tips and incorporate them in your marketing strategy for outstanding results.

1. The Twitter Chat

Twitter chats are public conversations that users are able to engage in around a unique hashtag. This hashtag is pre-decided and allows Tweeple to follow and participate in the discussion. People have not yet realised the full potential of these chats. On a platform where frequent engagement is not viewed as possible in comparison with other sites like Facebook or Instagram, Twitter chats are the perfect tool to beat this misconception and give you an open forum with wide scope.

The best thing is that the users you interact with here are actually looking for active engagement. You only have to host or take part in chats that are important and relevant enough for users to follow and respond to.

How can you go about these Twitter chats?

• Look for chats in your industry:
  Search for trending hashtags and chats in your industry and actively involve yourself in them. Apart from responding, tag other people also to increase the reach of the chat.

For instance, Google Spreadsheets holds an invaluable stock of data on the various Twitter chats running with their descriptions, schedules, etc.

• Host your own chat:
  If you can come up with something interesting and gripping, host your own chat. Many a times, the things you want to discuss as a brand may not already be up and starting your own chat can help with that. This also allows you to increase your visibility more than taking part in a chat by someone else might.

Understand what Buffer did and why #bufferchat is a good example.

• Share meaningful content:
  Add value to the conversation. While it’s true that you’ve only got 140 characters to worry about at a time, you should still strive to write tweets that are on brand, easy to read, and likely to resonate with your audience. To create content your audience will actually read and use, it helps to never stop learning about their interests, needs, and fears. In addition to reading their tweets and engaging directly with them, you can also use apps like Trendspottr to find and share trending content. You curate content when you sort through the massive amount of content online and share the best of it with your followers in an organised, meaningful way.

2. Use Holiday Hashtags

• Plan ahead:**
  By late October or early November, you should already have special Tweets and content ready to go for Diwali. By the time December rolls around, you should have some new year themed Tweets ready to go. Planning ahead for holidays and special events will give you time to craft high quality content to take advantage of trending hashtags and topics.

For instance, we know hashtags like #Diwali and #festivaloflights will be trending as it gets closer to those dates. Once the special day comes up, follow any trending hashtags about the event and do some real time marketing too. You get to send out content as events happen instead of having to wait until after the momentum has died down.

3. Make Conversations

The way that a lot of brands Tweet is very one dimensional. Their Tweets are essentially just broadcasts, which is not what Twitter is about. Your Tweets shouldn’t consist of only headlines with a link, inspirational quotes, or just funny statements. They should open the door for communication and conversation.

• Tweet things that encourage response:
  Interesting content catches attention and people like themselves to be associated with such content. Hence, in order to generate responses the content should be interesting with the goal of either entertaining or educating the audience so as to receive a desirable response.
• Don’t just post a link. Add your insights:
  In order to utilise the complete potential of the platform, posting just a link would not do justice. Hence, adding your own insight as to why you are posting that link, what makes it important, etc., becomes integral. People would be much more interested in knowing that rather than just going through the link.The insight acts as a cover for the book (link) and like it or not, people do judge a book by its cover. Therefore, adding your own thoughts would give mileage to the post.
• Reply to other people:
  It’s easy for marketers to get obsessed with the number of followers they collect on Twitter. But without engagement, your follower number is just that—a number. From the start, Twitter has been designed to help people connect and engage on a personal level. Use that strength to your advantage and engage daily with your audience. Your followers’ Tweets can provide a wealth of information about their interests, needs, preferences, and so on. Follow and learn from them, then cater to them.

Talk directly to your audience. Don’t let them feel they are a part of a group.

According to a social media research study, 42 percent of consumers expect a 60-minute response time on social media. Respond quickly and naturally to customers, as you would in person or over the phone. It feels good when people take a moment to Retweet, like your Tweets, or follow you on Twitter. Return the favour and keep your followers happy. When you tag followers, influencers, or other brands in a Tweet, including an @mention, it becomes a nice way to drive a little traffic their way. You can also tag people in photos when it’s appropriate.

4. Make People Want to Retweet

• Use short tweets:
  Really short Tweets tend to get Retweeted.
• Ask for a Retweet:
  Asking for a Retweet results in a 23 times higher Retweet rate.
• Use @mention to interact with industry leaders:
  A great way to get noticed by the leaders of your industry is to mention them in a Tweet. They might even RT what you wrote about them!
• Tweet with your real personality:
  Add character to your Tweets. People want to connect with people who are genuine online. Include that personal touch in your Tweets by mentioning something quirky or specific you like to do.
• Use promoted tweets:
  When you want a particular Tweet to reach a larger audience, pay for it to get them into feeds of more people. Promote specific Tweets – it will give you more RT’s.

5. Use Videos

Twitter might not be the first platform you think of when it comes to video marketing, but it’s not something you should overlook. Twitter does give you a few options for using videos.

• Live videos and Periscope:
  First, you can use Twitter’s native video feature. This allows you to record videos up to 140 seconds long and upload them directly on your Twitter stream.

A second option is to use Periscope, which is a live streaming app owned by Twitter. Periscope integrates into Twitter so your live streams show up in your followers’ Twitter feeds. Once the stream is over, the recording is still available for people to watch later.

• Reply in videos:
  If you want to make your replies more personal and customised, consider recording a video instead of the standard 140 characters of text. Video responses are more engaging, they stand out, and they allow you to put a face behind your brand.

Tweeting video responses is something very few businesses actually do, so taking that extra step can give you an edge over your competitors.

• Q & A sessions:
  This tactic piggybacks off of the previous one, but takes social customer service to the next level. If your brand has some notability and you have a decent following, there’s a good chance that people have questions to ask you.

You can host a Q & A session on Twitter, similar to a Twitter Chat, where you answer questions from the platform. These have been around for a while now, but most brands only send standard text Tweets. Integrating Twitter Video is a way to spice things up and make the experience even more personal.

• Educational videos:
  We live in the information age. People love content that educates and shows them how to do something new. Twitter Video is a great platform to provide valuable how-to content. At first, 30 seconds may not seem like enough time to fully explain your topic, but the time constraint actually results in videos that are simplified, and therefore, easier to follow.
• Teasers:
  Building up anticipation before you release a product or piece of content is one of the best promotional strategies you can implement. It gets people talking and creates the buzz.

Since teasers are short, a 30-second video makes perfect sense. You can use teasers for product launches, events, new content, or anything else that you want to build a hype around.

In your video, give your audience just enough of a preview to get them excited for the release.

• Jump on trending topics:
  When you send out a Tweet, most of the people who see it will be your followers. However, when you Tweet about a trending topic or hashtag, your Tweet can show up to millions of users who scroll through the Moments section of Twitter. Make your Tweets about trending topics are more engaging by using a video instead of just text or an image.
• Entertain:
  Aside from staying in tune with what’s happening around the world, one of the main purposes of Twitter is entertainment. Apps like Vine, Instagram, and Snapchat prove that video is one of the best ways to create entertaining content. As a result, we’re seeing a lot of major brands and influencers use Twitter Video to create non-traditional content for promotion and brand building.

With video, you don’t have to shove your products into the viewer’s face. For instance, if you look at American Idol, their videos don’t tell you to watch the show, or even what date/time it airs. It is just an enjoyable clip that keeps American Idol in your mind, but doesn’t try hard to sell itself to you.

• Capture spontaneous moments:
  Did something so unbelievable happen that the only way anyone would believe you is if you recorded it? When those moments happen, it’s the perfect opportunity to use Twitter Video. Unplanned, interesting moments have the opportunity to go viral and attract media attention.
• Behind the scenes look:
  Transparency is crucial if you want to build a body following around your brand. Giving users a look behind the curtains of your business is one of the best uses of video marketing. You don’t need expensive video equipment or professional lighting. Don’t be afraid, let them see what goes on behind the scenes with a raw video, and you’ll be able to start building brand loyalty.

Twitter Video makes it easier for you; all you have to do is hold down a button and record, then send out your Tweet. It could be a clip of a team meeting, how you create products, or other parts of your company that consumers normally wouldn’t get to see.

• Track what works:
  While you’re producing all of these videos, don’t forget to keep track of what your audience responds to the most. You have a couple of options to track your stats. You can use the Tweet Activity button in Twitter. It’s right below all of your Tweets.

Once your twitter marketing game is set, you know how to take it forward.

So, now you know what works and what doesn’t on Twitter. Keep these do’s and do not’s in your mind and leverage the best out of what the platform has to offer. You are bound to have positive responses. Take the first step, start something new, when you get results, you can thank us. 😀

We hope you continue climbing up that ladder of progress. Happy Tweeting!

Even with an increasing number of platforms available for content marketing, Instagram remains one of the unique ones. Like Instagram, Snapchat also boasts of its visual content and maintains its position as one of the leading rivals of the former.

Ironically, the app’s USP of a 24-hour shelf life is what decreases its value as a content marketing platform.

Although Instagram now provides a similar feature with its stories, the freedom for users to choose between posting content that could remain forever or something that vanishes after a day is what gives it the added advantage and an increase in statistics as compared to Snapchat.

With over 500 million daily active users, Instagram has become a social media tool brands can’t and shouldn’t live without. It allows brands to humanize themselves and leave their corporate image behind.

The social networking site is no longer just for personal use and is taking steps (like launching business profiles in 2016) to actively try and make the consumer-brand relationship more convenient on its platform.

As 80% of Instagram users voluntarily connect with a brand on it, the only effort businesses have to put in is increasing their visibility and attractiveness.

Top 12 Instagram Content Marketing For Small Business

On seeing a brand post, 75% of Instagrammers are inspired to take action, and although Instagram has made content marketing very easy for brands, there are still many of us who try to find the newest or the best ways to succeed in this.

What most of us forget or skip over are the basics. We’ve made it even more simple for you to ace your marketing strategy by offering 6 effective ways and 12 of the best Instagram content marketing examples.

1. Create Valuable Content

Your content should hold value for the users. Something that doesn’t interest them is unlikely to be clicked or shared by them. As an image based app, offering something entertaining or inspirational is the easiest way for any business to garner attention on Instagram.

It helps them relate to the brand, and changes the brand’s image from a corporate entity out to take their money to something that has real people working in it, that are concerned about real issues.

Playdoh beautifully manages to post content that is not only pleasing to look at, but also entertaining. And the Nike posts are all about inspiration. Most of their content is about social issues that evoke emotions from their users.

However, if you are unable to do so, then your content should, at the very least, be educational. But instead of educating your users about who you are, you should focus on presenting a solution to a problem your users are facing.

Make sure that the images you use are not just put there because they are pretty, as users are known to ignore purely decorative images that don’t offer any real content. How-to-videos and Infographics prove to be a great tool in that regard. They not only help gain a user’s attention, but are also liked and shared 3 times more than any other type of content.

Ben and Jerry’s post delicious video recipes of treats that could be made from their ice-creams. They are colourfully charged and peppy, making users actually want to see the whole video. Hubspot is an excellent example of a brand that creates impressive infographics to attract users.

2. Ensure Interaction with Users

Merely posting great content is not enough, a brand must also remain in constant connection with its users. Your images or videos may be liked and shared, but if you don’t interact with your users, you will be unable to leave a lasting impression and grow your presence. Many brands create contests to increase user interaction, as these get 3.5 times more likes and 64 times more comments than regular posts.

Posting user-generated content is another way to increase engagement and make your users feel special and appreciated. Consumers who see a user-generated photo have a 4.5% higher chance of conversion, which increases to 9.6% once they interact with the photo.

Starbucks is one of the brands that has used user-generated content for marketing perfectly. Their feed is full of beautiful posts from users themselves, which have garnered thousands of likes.

One of the most popular Instagram contests was National Geographic’s ‘Untamed Americas’, where they asked users to follow their profile and post pictures from North and South America with #UntamedAmericas. The prize was set as a subscription of Nat Geo magazines and a DLSR Camera, both right up the alley of their usual followers.

3. Flaunt Your Company Culture

The most significant advantage of a brand using Instagram as a marketing tool is that it can change its image very easily here. Instagram helps brands show their human side to the audience.

The content you post here can say, “Hey! We don’t just want your money. We also have regular people like you, doing regular things.” You don’t want to seem too corporate here, that’s what other social media platforms are for.

So, show your brand’s human side. In-house company games, your employee’s personal achievements, celebrating an employee’s birthday, and some charity or trust your brand supports are some of the things that could be included here.

Marriott and Tripadvisor, leading brands in their respective industries, regularly post content on their Instagram profiles that show their company culture. Their feeds are constantly updated with personal stories of their employees and their life at the office.

4. Maintain Interconnectivity between Platforms

Oftentimes, brands try to use the same content for different social platforms. This is a big no-no in the world of marketing.

Your content may be worth sharing, and while replicating it is okay, you need to ensure that appropriate format changes are made before you take it from one social media tool and post it to another. For instance, textual-rich content can be a good strategy for Facebook, but the same doesn’t hold true for Instagram.

A user can see only the first few lines of text on their feed, and the rest of your content goes to waste. As a visual app, brands need to focus marketing through images and videos alone, and offer words only to provide context.

With that said, many brands have lengthy write-ups to complement their posts. But the photos and videos used by these brands are so overpowering with respect to the text, that the words really act only as sidekicks.

Humansofny back their images with compelling stories from the subjects. These stories give a life to the image and make the users empathise with the person photographed. Buzzfeedtasty

Post mouthwatering recipe videos, usually accompanied by lengthy captions that are only present to support the videos, not overtake the attention from them.

This does not mean that you have to ignore your other social media tools while on Instagram. In fact, 95% of Instagram users also use Facebook, so it’s better to allow your users to reach you on your other social media platforms through your Instagram account itself. Instagram doesn’t allow clickable links as captions to the images or videos.

And since brands need to ensure that the users are lead back to their products or services, it is essential to provide these links in your profile bio. These links can be of your Facebook pages, website, or even your contact information as long as they guide the users back to your products or services.

5. Hashtag the Sh**t out of your Posts

Hashtagging your posts is an essential element of Instagram. It makes your story searchable, and easily recognisable. Using at least one hashtag increases engagement by 12.6%. But and I cannot emphasise more on this point do not overdo it. You cannot simply hashtag every single word of the caption.

That will only look like a cluttered mess. Instead, focus on the relevant keywords and hashtag them. This will allow the users to find your post if they search for the right thing. Even if the users just happen to stumble upon your post, proper hashtags will help define what your post is about and aid users to differentiate whether it is relevant to them or not.

Take this blog post as an example. If I want to hashtag it, I could put #Instagram #Contentmarketing #Simple #WittyPen, instead of #How #to #use #Instagram #for #Content #Marketing #by #WittyPen.

In the former, all the relevant words are tagged, and while the latter provides the same information as well, it looks more cluttered and disorganised, and also makes it harder for the users to determine what is really important.

As for the hashtags you do use, make sure that they are not only easy to search for but are also easy to remember and read. One of the best tricks for a brand is to use branded hashtags. These hashtags are specific to your brand, and the users searching for it will know they are searching for you. These have to be memorable and can be about your brand as a whole, a product you offer, or an event you are organising.

They also make receiving user generated content easier. Your users could be encouraged to use these hashtags when posting something about your products or services, or when they take part in one of your contests. You can then regram the best content on your own feed.

Airbnb launched a campaign to promote uniqueness and diversity. As a brand whose entire business is based on people from different cultures sharing their space with each other, it was a brilliant idea to create this politically charged campaign.

The message they shared was, “We believe no matter who you are, where you’re from, who you love, or who you worship, we all belong.

The world is more beautiful the more you accept,” followed by #weaccept. Maybelline’s #mnybrowndowncontest + #mnybrowns is another great example of a brand using hashtags to allow users to create content for them.

6. Consistency is Key

Consistency is an obvious but often neglected component of Instagram content marketing. A brand needs to ensure that the type of content they share is consistent with the values and image it represents.

A certain kind of content will attract a certain kind of audience, and inconsistency with the perception will confuse and distract them. That is why more than half of the top brands on Instagram use the same filter for every post.

Steady posting time is also an essential factor. It creates loyalty towards the brands when users think that the brand they follow is going to post at such and such time every day.

Cadbury and Snickers both use their iconic colours in almost all of their posts. This not only makes the feed look pleasing to the eye, but also makes the brand itself look reliable.

Conclusion

To put it simply, these are the main points that your content marketing strategy on Instagram should cover:

1. Create Valuable Content – Post content that is valuable to your audience and that interests them. Only posting promotional images and videos won’t garner the same amount of attention that something that is beneficial to them would.
2. Ensure Interaction with Users – Likes, shares, and reposts are all part of your engagement with the users. Ensure that your content encourages them to interact with it, and offer appropriate responses to make it a two-way communication between you and your users. This tells your users that they are important to you, and creates a more human image of your brand.
3. Flaunt Your Company Culture – You don’t want to seem “too corporate” to your users. Own your company culture and let them see that you’re proud of it. Let your users relate to your brand through your employees.
4. Maintain Interconnectivity between Platforms – Don’t just copy-paste what you did on Facebook or Twitter, understand the Instagram culture and allow interconnectivity between these social media tools so that your brand is easily reachable. Make it possible for the users to find you on different social media platforms through your Instagram profile itself.
5. Hashtag the Sht out of your Posts – However, don’t get so engrossed in following the way of Instagram that you start overdoing it. Use your hashtags smartly and appropriately to become a more discoverable brand. Let the users come to you.
6. Consistency is Key – Maintain all this by creating a dependable image for your users and ensure their loyalty to your brand with the help of a consistent content strategy.

So, understand these 6 basic rules with the help of the best Instagram content marketing examples and ace your content marketing game!