Twitter Trends: Wrap your head around this statement: “Social media is a fundamental part of content marketing.”  

Content marketing is the new way to market your business and it’s all about building a brand.  That is where your mindset needs to be. Not a service, not a product … you’re on social media to build your brand.  

Co-founder Jen Rubio built a cult luggage brand called Away @away and she didn’t even have an actual product at the start.  Using social media, she enthusiastically engaged her audience and eventually stimulated mass interest in her product. Dollar Shave Club@DollarShaveClub founder Michael Dubin built his own niche brand using the power of social media.  How to compete with industry giants to market his razorblades? Engage and entertain his tribe using clever videos posted on social media.     

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These online relationships between brands and consumers have been evolving as well.  Sure it’s content marketing but there is also a growing trend towards social listening and customer care.  Have an issue with your new pair of chic jeans? Are you going to dial a toll-free phone number to voice a complaint?  Of course not; grab your smartphone, open your Twitter app and send a tweet.

Remember that social media is always on.  The Twitter platform happens in real time and it’s important for a business to know what their audience is talking about.  Folks expect a timely response to any customer service issue so make sure you monitor social media channels. When you think about it, your followers can really “make you, or break you.”  

Consider the local coffee shop on the corner.  The one that went out of business. Yep, that one.  Folks love to sit and enjoy a hot cup of java in front of their laptop or notebook, right?  Of course. Well, one of the issues at the coffee shop was that there were not enough electrical outlets for the devices and a few patrons took to Twitter to voice their displeasure.  Slow to respond and when the owner did reply (via social media) he actually made the situation worse. This business owner clearly didn’t get it. Don’t be that person. Be aware, be in the moment, listen, respond … or be gone.  The choice is up to you. As a small business brand with giant aspirations you should be well aware of the power and reach of social media.

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The future of marketing is real-time communication.  Real engagements. Twitter, as one of the most widely used social media platforms, can help take your brand to the next level because it has a massive audience potential.  Now let’s dig a little deeper to see what is trending on Twitter and what takeaways we can assemble to help build your brand into the next great success story.

Video

Give the people what they want and these days it’s video content.  Most of what we consume online as a whole is through video and Twitter is no different.  Every year video content continues to grow and it is now the dominant force when it comes to creative content.  Videos, short clips, and memes within a Twitter stream will entertain your fan base and at the same time may attract potential new followers who are browsing your content feed.   

Similarly, live videos are particularly attractive to social media users.  These live events tend to increase the perceived trustworthiness of a brand and can significantly increase your organic follower count.  Your fan base is also much more likely to share and re-tweet entertaining video content with their followers. So unless your audience is made up of relics who prefer to read content the rising video trend is something you don’t want to ignore.         

Real-time engagement

Social media, and specifically Twitter, is very much about what’s happening in the moment.  In fact, the ‘Happening Now’ section often appears at the top of a user’s timeline featuring topics of interest and noteworthy events.  As a small business owner you need to make the most of the relatively short lifespan (approximately 20 minutes) of a tweet so go ahead and start the conversations and drive the engagements.  

Maybe you own a specialty food truck in lower Manhattan (NY) similar to IncrediBalls. @TheIncrediballs Knowing it’s a corporate hot spot for lunch hour, twice a week you send a discount tweet for the first ten patrons who show up at the food truck to order.  Come on down for a delicious fast lunch and get 20% off (and oh by the way we do this twice a week so be sure to follow our tweets and plan accordingly to get here!).  

That’s real time meaningful engagement.  Surely the number of repeat customers would increase, word on the street would spread, and your following would expand.  How could that impact your brand?

How to track social media mentions?

The best way to track mentions is by setting up a social listening stream. This will help you cut through the noise and zero in on the voices you want to hear.

You can track your social mentions on Twitter and Facebook using a Mentions stream on Uniclix. Here’s how to set one up:

Rise of the Micro-influencer

Let’s be honest.  It’s fun to hang out with the popular cool kids.  Partnering your brand with a micro-influencer (a person with between 2,000 – 50,000 actively engaged followers) can put your small business on a marketing fast track for massive brand exposure.  If it’s in the marketing budget these influencers will bring the results you desire through increased engagement. They introduce your product or service (i.e. your brand) to their larger audience and that’s invaluable to a small business looking to grow.  

Do you have a new line of sunglasses coming out for the Summer?  You have choices. Spend your marketing dollars on a fancy website, SEO services, or a direct to consumer mailing and wait 1-2 months for mediocre results at best?  Or, hire an influencer as part of your social marketing strategy and see your Twitter numbers across the board dramatically jump.

Tweet a promotion, a new product line, or an upcoming live video event.  You want your valuable chosen content in front of the largest audience possible and these micro-influencers can help to achieve that.  In other words, they are micro-superstars that will take your biz to the next level as they are the opinion-shapers and trendsetters of tomorrow.   

Twitter analytics

With the trending shift towards content marketing it’s more important than ever to know what social media tactics are working and what campaigns need adjustments.  Stop tweeting into a black hole. The numbers don’t lie. Twitter analytics lets you discover metrics to analyze every single one of your tweets and to understand your followers.  This resource is a goldmine for your business.

If you are serious about growing your brand, then dive into the metrics.  You will know precisely how many times folks have seen, liked, replied to, or Re-tweeted, your Twitter content.  You can also begin to understand how you get customers through Twitter and devise strategies accordingly. If your business is not taking advantage of this resource, then you are wasting an opportunity to gain valuable insights and data.

Bottom line: Twitter analytics will help you better understand how the content you share can grow your business.

Hashtags

If your brand utilizes Twitter, then you need to join the conversations and become a master of the #hashtag.  Including relevant and popular hashtags within a tweet will immediately expand the reach of your content beyond only those who follow you, to reach anyone interested in that particular hashtag or keyword.  In other words, potential engagements will increase because your audience has expanded.

What are some of the trending popular hashtags?  Consider #MotivationMonday.  A little extra nudge for getting the work week started, a topic almost everyone can relate to.  #TravelTuesday – for those who love to travel and share pictures from incredible places all across the globe.  Or, if you are building a fashion brand join the conversations revolving around the hashtag #OOTD ‘Outfit of the Day.’  Hashtags make it easy to find and connect with those who share similar interests.  

To gain exposure your business can comment on a trending hashtag but try to craft a message in a way that will resonate with your target audience rather than just jumping in the conversation.  Take the time to clearly relate the trending moment to your brand and what you do. Finally, add hashtags purposefully to your tweets and be sure to always include your branded hashtag for brand awareness.  

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Final thoughts: 

Small business marketing, as we know it, is essentially shifting towards social media.  “A healthy dose of content marketing, a side order of blogging, and hold the sales pitch please.”  For your business that means engaging, listening, responding, and being out in front of the conversations regarding your brand.   

And, with a focus on Twitter’s current trends ― video content, hashtag strategies, analytics, and influencer partnerships ― your brand can now devise a social media marketing strategy for this year and beyond.  

Social media will no doubt continue to evolve but as long as you are aware, responsive and actively engaged in the ‘real-time’ moments, you are right where you need to be.  #jobwelldone

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