How I Use Twitter – Tips from @MarketingPro13

Jarrod Cash was featured on our list of Top 100 Advertising experts to follow on Twitter – we asked him a few questions about Twitter, here is what he said:

1) How does your business benefit from using Twitter?

I do direct response advertising consulting & copywriting for small business owners & entrepreneurs and I benefit from using Twitter in the following ways:

• Search engine rankings for my name.  My prospects search for my name, not a business name, and Twitter is the #1 result, which directly ties in with the next benefit
• Twitter helps establish to verify my claims of who I am & what I do. When first time prospects check me out online & visit my Twitter page, they immediately see my large following, and can instantly ready my tweets, which gives 2 benefits: my number of followers gives them reassurance that I’m who I say I am and reading my tweets gives them an idea of what I’m all about.
• Twitter allows for a very minor relationship to begin between me & my followers without a sale being necessary. I am a believer in ‘relationship marketing’, however I believe a lot of ‘experts’ exaggerate the value of Twitter in this capacity.  I think is a tool in a toolbox full of strategies in advertising & marketing
• I also benefit from driving traffic to my website from directly from Twitter, be from a tweet or from my Twitter page itself.  I drive traffic there by offering information or a free copy one of my books or reports.

2) Do you have some specific examples you can share with us?

When my latest Mini-Marketing book, “Direct Mail Rules!”  came out last month,  I sent tweets offering a free copy to the first 50 Twitter followers or Facebook friends to respond. (all my tweets post on Facebook as well). These 50 people will then be put into my ‘marketing funnel’ which is done mostly offline.  If only one of them turns into a client, the entire effort is profitable for me. Although this example involves more than just Twitter, Twitter was the start point for the entire campaign.

3) What do you tweet and how often do you do it?

Here’s what I tweet, with an explanation for each following. (everything has a reason)

1. Inspirational quotes from famous people
2. Funny  tweets.  I rarely try to be funny myself though, I stick to quotes or the like. Its harder than most people think to be funny, and if you try to had, you can look easily look foolish
3. Advertising & Marketing tips & advice, usually from myself but sometimes from other experts I trust
4. Some personal stuff, usually about my daughter. I’m a single parent with an 11 yr old named Raven, and it an adventure for sure!
5. Some political stuff, usually about freedom & economics, some about free speech.
6. Some comments about the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) events that are occurring.

Here are the reasons  why I tweet what I do.

1. Inspirational  & funny quotes make people feel good, and I want them to associate that feeling with me. I am a firm believer in self improvement and if I can encourage anyone else then that’s absolutely great.
2. Advertising & Marketing:  As you know, I  specialize in helping small business owners & entrepreneurs switch their advertising  from traditional , big-corporation style ‘image branding ‘ to having a  direct response style  advertising plan so all of their ad efforts generate a track-able Return On Investment instead of a major budget expense.
3. Personal stuff lets people get to know me & my real life just little bit, so hopefully they can identify with me & personally connect a little.
4. Political is dangerous if you’re concerned with offending people.  I’m not concerned. My target market is mostly small business owners & entrepreneurs, who tend to lean republican/libertarian & independent, thus the majority of any political tweets focus on freedom, liberty, the economy & free speech, all areas I am passionate about. For those who care, I’m a Libertarian. If my tweets in this area bother a potential client to the point they don’t want to work with me, that’s fine, we most likely wouldn’t have been a good fit anyways.  I most often find my tweets in this area tend attract who I’m looking for.
5. UFC comments are just for my benefit, as I love MMA, follow a bunch of fighters  & train a little in my spare time.

4) How has your Twitter strategy evolved?

When I first got on Twitter I believed the hype that I’d about heard about direct sales and pushing products & services to my followers. My testing has shown its much more effect as a lead generation tool, along with the other benefits I mentioned earlier. Others may have found success pushing products, I’m not saying it cannot be done, this is just what is working for me.  I like to tell my clients that it IS possible to use social media to sell your products & services, but only if you DON’T use it sell your products & services.

5) What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who are trying to find the ROI in Twitter?

My advice would be to take a direct response advertising approach to your activity on Twitter: Test & track the results, find what works & take action, always tracking results. Never attempt to generate a lead or sale with tracking the effort and steps & expense, otherwise you’re wasting time.  Twitter is free to use, but entrepreneurs often forget their biggest expense….TIME.  After you find what works for you on Twitter, streamline it anyway possible so your time isn’t wasted.

About Jarrod:

Jarrod is a marketing consultant, speaker, copywriter & more. His adventures in business have included owning direct response marketing firm & being a No BS Business Advisor in CO for world famous marketing expert Dan Kennedy.

Jarrod Cash

1-800-541-7429
www.JarrodCash.com
@MarktingPro13 on Twitter