The Ground Rules of Building Brand Loyalty on Twitter

THE GROUND RULES OF BUILDING BRAND LOYALTY ON TWITTER

Small and large businesses alike can increase their revenue and customer base by building brand loyalty on Twitter. The lion\’s share of importance is remaining present in consumers\’ minds. People spend hours a day on social media sites; businesses better tune in and build a positive presence.

Here\’s the catch: you have to convince people to remain your followers. Keep reading for tips on creating a positive presence on Twitter that people will continue to follow and retweet:

Don\’t Produce Spam

Posts should not all be about your products. Twitter is a great vehicle to announce end-of-season sales and product launches, but no one wants to see product information littering their feed all day. Being hassled is not a nice feeling, so people will quickly tune out and unfollow you. Take care to limit promotional tweets.

Tweet Useful Content

If you\’re not going to tweet about your products, what are you going to tweet about? The answer is easy: tweet stuff people like to read.

Start by brainstorming ideas for topics that your particular customer base may be interested in. For example, companies that sell organic skin care products can tweet about women\’s beauty and health issues and environmental sustainability. Companies that sell outdoor equipment can tweet about great hiking spots around the world. Boutique grocery stores can post links to gourmet recipes.

And customers often enjoy backstage views of the company, who works there, how the products are made/fulfilled/tested/enjoyed. You get the idea…

Be Casual and Conversational

Twitter isn\’t your quarterly report, so have a little fun with it. On Twitter, your company will become like a neighbor across the street rather than a faceless corporation. Engage customers in conversation, and be funny. Conversing with customers on a more personal level increases trust, and therefore, brand loyalty. Imagine yourself joyfully waving and briefly conversing with someone who has crossed by your front porch, that’s Twitter. Brief and snappy engagements, and best with a little personal flair and entertainment.

Answer Customer Questions and Complaints

Twitter can revolutionize how your company handles customer service and market research. Twitter is an easy platform to receive and respond to customer queries and complaints. Always read customer responses; this can be a gold mine in terms of market research.

Give Back to Loyal Customers

Reward your followers so that they continue to follow you, recommend your product, and retweet you. Use your Twitter feed to post contests, giveaways, and promotional codes. True, tons of free discounts cut into the bottom line, but this should be viewed as an investment. Following a company is no skin off the average person\’s back, especially if it\’s possible to earn 30% off a product from time to time

Bringing it All Together

Here is the marketing outcome a company should aim to achieve through Twitter:

A customer purchases an item from a company, and follows the company on Twitter. The company consistently posts funny, useful or interesting material that adds value to the customer\’s life and generates interesting online discussions. The customer continues to follow the company, and therefore, he remembers its existence.

The next time the customer needs to purchase a similar product or service (or make a recommendation), he\’s likely to turn to this company, for the simple fact that he has engaged with it on a personal level.