Large corporations, small businesses and sole proprietors alike have discovered the marketing possibilities that Twitter offers. Some businesses have enhanced brand awareness and increased sales with it. Others have tried to use Twitter for marketing, but haven't done so well.
There are several possible reasons that a business might not do well on Twitter. Some locally-oriented businesses just aren't well suited to it. Some marketers fail to attract a relevant following. But in many cases, it's a matter of not using proper etiquette.
Good etiquette is important in all aspects of life and social networking is certainly no exception. When you're using social networking services for marketing purposes, it becomes even more important. The last thing you want to do is make members of your target market angry. That will cause them to ignore you, and they will often share their aggravation with their followers!
That said, Twitter etiquette is somewhat different than proper etiquette for other social networking sites. For instance, it's perfectly acceptable to follow people that you don't know. But just like Facebook and MySpace users, Twitter users hate being spammed. And if you're not careful with your marketing efforts, you could easily be construed as a spammer.
To avoid alienating your followers, there are a few simple rules you can follow. First off, don't try to make a sale with every message. Be personable and conversational. Instead of saying “buy this,” make casual references to your offerings where appropriate and inform followers about sales and incentives.
And don't make the mistake of thinking that your Twitter account should be all about you. Join in conversations that others start, and retweet funny or insightful tweets from other Twitterers. This lets followers know that there's a real person behind that username, and that's important to many of them.
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