I was watching The Princess Bride (again) and realized that for many business owners and managers, navigating social media is akin to finding a way through the Fire Swamp. Some people feel at ease, like Westley; whereas most are intimidated by the unknown, relating more to Princess Buttercup and her steely glare as Westley muses about how nice the trees are. Well, as you may know one of the 3 terrors of the Fire Swamp is the Lightning Quicksand. One misstep and you disappear into the nethers of the world, where it takes a heroic effort to bring you back. Don’t let a simple misstep on Twitter cause you to vanish from the online community you want and need to be connected to. Keep in mind some simple Twitter pitfalls to avoid, and you’ll be well on you’re way.
Twitter, with it’s 140 letter limitations, is a tricky one. We see many Twitter gaffs and snafus (and we should note, nearly all users make them in the beginning!), and we are here to shed light on them and help remedy your tweeting ways.
3 Twitter Pitfalls to Avoid:
Me, Me, Me, Me, Meeeeeeeeeeeeee. Did I mention Me?
Self-promotion is a good thing, really. But when you ONLY focus on promoting yourself, you alienate your audience. Twitter is not a soapbox created for you to stand on and rave about how awesome you are. Not that you’re not awesome, but do you really want to be the person who has to tell everyone “look at me, look at me?” Instead, engage with your followers and the people you follow. Allow your personality to come out, to show you’re not just a drone throwing your “greatness” at them. Join conversations, share what’s going on in your world, but don’t limit your feed to only being about you. Share articles your followers and those you follow post that are informative and interesting, as well as posts you find that can be useful for someone else. Make it interactive, not a forum for your ego.
I like you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and your little dog, too!
Don’t follow every single person on the planet. If you do, your feed will be chocked full of content you most likely don’t care about, and you’ll end up with a lot of spam and spammers on your side. You’re creating a community, and it’s good to be mindful of who you want to connect with. It will also help others take you seriously. Personal connection is important on twitter. It’s vital you reach out to those you want to get to know and let them know you hope they’ll get to know you, too.
Don’t be Vanilla in a world of Neapolitan.
Twitter is full of people who update their profiles, interact with others, monitor their brand, and adjust it as they see fit. Successful tweeters share content daily, not just once a week, and add a little flavor (aka their personality) to their posts. Like everything else in life, if you want it to be successful, take it seriously. Don’t let Twitter be your throwaway marketing tool. And above all, have fun! It’s a social media, after all.
[blockquote]Upon entering the Fire Swamp…
Buttercup: We’ll never survive.
Westley: Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has.
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If you’re feeling overwhelmed and sensing doom at every corner, take comfort in the fact that like Westley and Buttercup, you too can successfully navigate through the unknown with a little common sense and awareness. Do you use Twitter to market your business and stay connected with your customers? If so, let us know how it’s going and if we missed any Twitter pitfalls to avoid. Leave a comment below or call us at 615-208-5373.
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