A recent study from LinkedIn and Harris Interactive showed that only 8% of advertisers and consumers think Twitter is a “very effective” promotion tool. Still, it is the most linked to social network in email marketing campaigns.
Murdok recently reported on that based on research from Email Data Source. In the comments to that article, someone asked, “Can anyone point me to some good (or not good) examples of Twitter links in emails?”
Another reader responded, “It is pretty simple actually, the links go to the profiles asking people to follow the sender…The main idea is to use Twitter as destination from any possible media: blogs, other social media, email and even stationary.”
Another reader commented, “Once you have someone following you, you have a captured audience. The trick is then keeping them by posting Tweets that are relevant to your followers and help develop your brand and provide a mechanism to engage with your customer or prospective customers.”
Twitter Drives the Sale For You
I like this story shared by Shéa Bennett at the Twittercism blog. He talks about seeking more information on a brand (Graze) via his Twitter friends, and how Twitter itself ultimately led to his purchase from that brand. And that is without any intervention at all from the brand itself.
Bennet says he remembered a friend talking about Graze, but couldn’t remember who. He figured he’d tap into his Twitter network and ask.
“Graze hadn’t been involved at all in that process – although I’m sure if I’d approached them directly on Twitter we could have worked something out – but I was already pretty excited,” says Bennett.
“The responses to my opening enquiry were overwhelming positive about Graze. You can’t buy this kind of PR – you do it simply by having a great product, and a great system,” he says. “But what actually made the sale was Twitter itself. It put all the pieces together.”
This is an example of how Twitter can help your brand whether you are actively participating in it or not. However, if you are actively participating, you will have a better handle on your brand’s reputation, and won’t have to rely on the general public to drive the sales to you. You can do some facilitating on your own.
