How You Can Use Twitter to Market Your Products

Do you sell online?  Whether you run a full-fledge online store or if you only sell a few products on eBay, your success depends on marketing.  After all, if consumers do not know you have products for sale, you will never make a sale.  For that reason, internet marketing is crucial to your success.  The good news is that you have many options, including Twitter.

Before focusing on how you can use Twitter to market products you sell, it is important to understand the system and how it works.  Twitter is an online service that is defined as a social networking micro-blog.  Users join the site and make contacts online.  Then, messages or updates are sent.  These updates can be received on the Twitter website, a mobile web application, instant messaging programs, Facebook, and more.

The first step in using Twitter to market your for sale products is to join.  If you aren’t already a member, it is easy to get started.  Visit the Twitter.com website and register for a free account.  This involves creating a username, password, and providing your email address.  Then, you are ready to get started.

The next step is to develop a list of friends, also known as contacts and followers.  Fortunately, this is very easy.  Start with importing your contacts from your email account.  You can also search for contacts based on location, name, and email address.  If you belong to an online message board community, create a post asking for other’s Twitter account information.

Once you have registered for a free Twitter account and created a fan following, you can start to market your products.  Your first thought may be to create a short message outlining the products you have for sale, their price, and a link to buy.  Yes, you can do so, but you want to avoid sounding like you are spamming.  The key to making a sale on Twitter is to sound like you aren’t selling anything, even though you are.

To get started, send an update to your friends.  The goal of your first message shouldn’t be to sell, but to rather reintroduce yourself.  This is recommended if your list contains a bunch of unknowns from the internet.  Your first message could be something like “Still trying to learn my way around the Twitter website.  Thanks for joining me in the journey.”  Then, you can work your way into marketing your products.  This first personal message gives the impression that you aren’t just interested in making contact to sell.

Once again, it is important to be subtle.  Instead of saying “Buy a leather office chair from my online store,” try something more creative.  For example, say “I got a new leather office chair into sell.  It looks pretty functional, what do you think?”  Yes, you are advertising a product and your message implies so, but you aren’t outright asking for a sale.  You will see this makes a huge difference.  Twitter members don’t want to be bombarded with sales offers, but you will find that many like to express their opinions or give feedback.  In the end, the results are the same.  If someone likes what you are selling, they will buy.  

Next, you can use Twitter @replies to market your products.  When doing so, you can search for Twitter messages on Search.Twitter.com or send replies to updates you receive from those you follow.  For searching, look for messages or questions pertaining to the products you sell.  In keeping with the office furniture example, if someone states they are browsing for new furniture, send a quick @reply offering a link to your website.  

When replying to members you follow, only market your products when applicable.  For example, if you receive an update that says “heading out for the party,” don’t respond with a link to your office furniture store.  This is considered spam and you may lose the contact in question.  Remember, no one wants to be bombarded with sale offers on Twitter, so use clever marketing tactics.

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