Is Twitter worth the effort?

by Sophix
46 replies
Hi all,
just wondering what success people have had using Twitter to market/communicate with prospects?

I know it was the hot thing about a year ago, but is it still as effective?

Sophie
#effort #twitter #worth
  • Profile picture of the author onlinecasinodeck
    Yup, it is good for creating relevant and quality traffic on your site, as long you know how to do it. just very friendly in any way and that's it.
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesGw
    For the amount of time required, I don't think it's worth it for me to do it on my own. Maybe if I could get some 18 year old college girl to FB/Twitter part time for $8/hour.

    (not completely serious.)
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason Clay
      In my opinion, I think working on building Twitter followers for your accounts is definitely worth the effort. The way I look at it, having Twitter followers is like having an e-mail list that you can send 140 characters to. While there are rules on what you can and cannot tweet, its still not as bad as dealing with the CAN-SPAM act. For example, if you had a Twitter account with 5,000 targetted followers and by tweeting you converted at 1% on a $47 product, you just made $2,350 from that single tweet.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vlad Romanov
    Worth it if you automate it.. as in if you use wordpress you push updates to a twitter account automatically...
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  • Profile picture of the author Sophix
    I was thinking about the automation side of things, linking it to a CMS, but felt that would lead to flat and boring tweets, just related to content.

    One of things Ive found hard is building that list of followers from within twitter. Sure I hashtag tweets, and try to make them relevant so that they'll show up in searches, but seems to be long hard slog.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Allard
    When I was active on Twitter and mostly just talking to people I would get a lot of traffic. But then I stopped paying attention to it, and would just use it to share my links/offers/etc. Now I don't get nearly as much traffic to it.

    I think the trick is about 80% of your tweets should be engaging people in conversations, sharing quotes, re-tweeting good articles, etc. Then 20% your own links.
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    • Profile picture of the author netcatapult
      Originally Posted by Dan Allard View Post

      When I was active on Twitter and mostly just talking to people I would get a lot of traffic. But then I stopped paying attention to it, and would just use it to share my links/offers/etc. Now I don't get nearly as much traffic to it.

      I think the trick is about 80% of your tweets should be engaging people in conversations, sharing quotes, re-tweeting good articles, etc. Then 20% your own links.
      I think you are right on the money with your statement, social media (as the name implies) is really all about communicating with people, sharing information and engaging with them-- promoting your products is simply a byproduct of this interaction.
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  • Profile picture of the author SocialMediaOwls
    IMO it's the lead dog in getting any site up and going. I have launched many, many successful websites using twitter as the lead source for targeted traffic
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  • Profile picture of the author brianboyer
    Twitter is a win/lose situation for me because I have so many niches and the followers really seem to not get involved too much. Sometimes I make sales and receive traffic, other times I get nothing. So I am not sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author SocialBlasting
    Twitter is becoming less effective, but if the account has a huge following it can still work. Use free tools like tweepi to get that follow count up!
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  • Profile picture of the author kaper7
    Twitter is a great marketing tool but you must know how to use it. For staters, do not go there and try to sell. Provide valuable tweets with content such as articles, videos and quotes. Interact with your followers and quietly increase your followers over time.

    When you want to present an offer, make it gentle and avoid presell. You can presell when your followers join your list. There is a time and a place for marketing and doing it directly on twitter is a big mistake. Your followers are more likely to join your list after readind your article or watching your video from a link in your tweets. Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Limekwat
      Twitter is definitely worth the effort if you use it correctly. I always say the most important thing is to engage your followers. If you do that and don't sell yourself hard people will listen to you. It might take a little while to build up a following but as long as you stay on topic and don't bombard your followers with useless information it should be effective.
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  • Profile picture of the author Peggy Baron
    I feel like it can't hurt and doesn't take much time to tweet once you've actively gotten some followers. It's also a good way to build relationships and partnerships.
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  • Profile picture of the author seller35
    I do not believe it is worth the time and effort required. I now have over 5000 followers but have not sold any of my offerings which is discouraging.
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  • Profile picture of the author marcuslim
    Twitter is good for establishing yourself as an authority or expert in the niche you are in. The way to do this is to constantly provide good quality information, either from you or from others.

    Don Crowther has a method to quickly establish yourself as an expert and he does this by identifying 50 topics in your niche, then finding blogs and posting about them on Twitter. Do this 5-6 times a day. You don't need to manually do it, just schedule them in advance with a tool like future tweets or hootsuite.
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  • Profile picture of the author Want2LearnSEO
    Its great if you can build some followers. You can increase your reach very fast.
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  • Profile picture of the author revupcommerce
    I auto post my recent activity feed from my community to tweeter.
    I set it up so it only feeds when someone posts or comments on a picture.
    this has been bringing me around 50 to 100 visits a day.
    I have 2000 followers that took me months to grow.
    In my opinion twitter is only good for high value niches.
    My niche 50-100 visits a day just isnt worth the trouble.
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  • Profile picture of the author YasirYar
    Originally Posted by Sophix View Post

    Hi all,
    just wondering what success people have had using Twitter to market/communicate with prospects?

    I know it was the hot thing about a year ago, but is it still as effective?

    Sophie
    Actually dont bother. I have 23000 followers and I have acquired a grand total of 2 clients using twitter.
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    • Profile picture of the author PrecisionKeywords
      I guess it depends on your goal. I have a following of 700+ targeted followers (SEO Types) that took some months to build. While it is great to have the list getting conversion is rather difficult to come by as in nada, nothing, not 1. Twitter people in my experience seem content to stay in the "twitterverse" so if you goal is to build a following. Have at it. If you goal is conversions to a sales or something then your efforts are probably better spent in another avenue.
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  • Profile picture of the author onegoodman
    If you can get active users who interested on what you offering, there is no doubt it worth it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Twitter sales isn't about followers unless it's a tight knit client base and even then it's limited in comparison to what can otherwise be achieved.

      It's about using a method to go in for the kill when someone asks a specific question which you can resolve with your product or service in the same regard as Y! Answers.

      It's knowing how to implement such a system and striking whilst the iron is hot.
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  • Profile picture of the author brocktoon93
    Twitter definitely is worth the effort, but you have to do it right. Use the tools available, even if they cost. Tweetadder, Socialoomph and Tweetbuddy are very important and cost effective. Once you learn the niches and types of links that work and set it up to be automatic, then it will be worth it.
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  • Profile picture of the author BlueCollar
    If used correctly Twitter can generate some good targeted traffic. The trick is not to use too much automation and actually login once in awhile and converse with followers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dee Odus
    It's worth the effort if you hand pick your followers, for example if you are promoting acne products, instead of adding everyone to your be followers, use the search feature to see who's talking about their acne problems, then this way your tweets will be relevant. That's why I think it's best to have one twitter account per niche
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  • Profile picture of the author warrich
    Twitter doesn't incorporate business apps as much as Facebook. Just wait for the full version of Google + and then think of the collective problem. Wouldn't do you any good if you have to do it all over again for Google.
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  • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
    Yes Twitter can be very effective for targeting a specific niche and generating traffic to your site.

    There are also lots of paid and free programs available that make automation of Twitter accounts, and posting so easy and less time consuming.
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  • Profile picture of the author IMRSGS
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin Marshall
      Twitter is still worth your time. The key is to interact with other people and get followers who are interested in your niche. It is sort of like building a list. It is not a great short-term strategy, but it can pay off over time.
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  • Profile picture of the author LukeK
    I used to use twitter but it didn't bring any results for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Keith Everett
      I do Twitter on Auto Pilot. I use automated software to gain followers, unfollow and tweet. I randomise the tweets and add & new tweets daily, mainly my blog posts linked to eye catching headlines..

      The trick is, you only have 140 characters, don't waste them boring people to death, I also put (RT) on my tweets, meaning Re-tweet. I also add the #hashtag to link to the relevant niche #InternetMarketing #AffiliateMarketing etc, etc..

      I don't link to sales pages, this doesn't seem to work, but I find Twitter good if you are linking to good newsworthy content on your blog..

      Keith
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  • Profile picture of the author affiliatekngdom
    Some people do say Twitter is dead, BUT you have to use it correctly. Meaning follow people who are interested in your niche.

    I was told by one of my mentors the having 10,000 random followers on twitter is like have 1,000 targeted followers.

    I find it easier to do the work manually as far as the following goes right now though because twitter isn't my main source of traffic, but with 1k followers on my twitter list I can get 200 visitors to my site a day easily, just from twitter.

    So imagine having 10k followers and have your blog post automatically to twitter, that is easily 2k visitors a day. It's really all about how you monetize those visitors in the end.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimmynastic
    tweeter is definitely worth the efforts, This is the place i got my web designer, this is the place i got the idea of starting the site on quotes and currently its one of my greatest sources of traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tmill
    I have never used twitter, but I know many blogs use it to get traffic along with facebook. It all depends on your niche I suppose. If you build enough followers, then thats just more people you can instantly reach
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  • Profile picture of the author robyjaiss
    Definitily yes! yes! yes! Trhee Yes any social network is good for get lot of traffic. facebook and twitter i think they are the best two
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesburchill
    Each social media channel has unique properties that attract certain people at certain points in the marketing conversation. I posted something on the WF earlier today, so you might enjoy checking it out. There's also an info graphic that shows how each of the social media platforms fits best for each stage of the sales cycle.

    Here's the post:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...st-action.html

    James
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  • Profile picture of the author HollyK
    Twitter has a different culture. People tend not to like being sent to sales letters. It's social media, like Facebook, so it's best to engage people and not constantly promote your own products. If you are social and promote other people and not just yourself, you can expand your audience exponentially. If you think of Twitter as an extension of your Public Relations efforts and not an avenue for one-off sales, you can find people who will blog about your product, write product reviews, etc.

    If you want set it and forget it, Twitter might not be the best use of your time, article marketing might be better.
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  • Profile picture of the author AzzamS
    Any fad that comes out gets hyped by the internet community and its ruination for a lot of people come from this.
    Twitter is a medium that made dell $6,000,000 in additional revenue, but to achieve this requires strategy, planning and commitment.
    There are smart ways to do it on Twitter if you are willing to invest in being realistic about what is needed to make it happen but sadly most do not apply proven techniques on twitter since they are just part of the overall longer term process of your successful campaigning using various communication tools
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  • Profile picture of the author andynathan
    I have been on Twitter since the beginning of '09. I generally call it my great lead funnel, because the majority of my clients do not come there, but at some point they generally passed through Twitter. What you will see is someone connect on Twitter, go to my Facebook page and then check out my blog. Some of my largest customers started out that way.

    The key is to automate it, and at the same time make it interesting. If you do not just want automated content, then have someone add other types of tweets for you. Plan it out in advance. Then mix it in with other social media.

    I know it sounds confusing, but just plan it out as previous posters have mentioned and then stay consistent with your efforts.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    Twitter simply helps me become known, but I don’t spend time there and I don’t have many tools, so I’m not having great advantages there simply for posting my articles’ links.

    From what I understood, if you want to make money using Twitter you have to approach your prospects, even if they are not your followers. This is aggressive marketing; not my style. But many people are making money this way.

    If you are interested, you should try it. Go to Twellow and look for people who are mentioning your keywords. Then, send them a message offering your help. You may be lucky. Otherwise, keep trying until you’ll be successful with this tactic. I don’t use it because I don’t like it and it’s time consuming; but for some people it works very well. It also depends on your niche and on the products you are trying to sell; it’s not for everyone.

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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Michael
    Twitter is one of the most effective forms of marketing IF DONE CORRECTLY.

    I use Tweet Attacks PRO and get great results.

    I hate it when I see people say how Twitter is "junk" traffic. LOL it's only junk because it's not being utilized correctly.

    And yes, when you automate it the results are simply amazing. You just can't go overboard with your accounts. Anything you are running from your software, a HUMAN needs to be able to physically do in the same amount of time.

    This is what people fail to realize. Just because a software CAN spam the crap out of the internet, doesnt mean that they SHOULD.

    It all depends on how YOU are doing it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Burton Lancaster
    I think the more important question is ... "is your product worth the effort" if the answer is yes, then any medium of exposure will be sufficient, it will eventually catch on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Martin Lee Jr
    Twitter is very valuable. Just like everything else - tweet good relevant useful content, and you will build followers.

    Eventually, if you can build a relationship with your followers, you will be able to convert some of them into buyers.

    With all your marketing efforts, you should always aim to deliver value.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ga RedNeck
    Theres lot of ways you can use Twitter to make money
    Tweet all your post,Big list of targeted followers to promote to.
    And the fact it list in Google .There is also A few other ways to really hammer twitter.
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  • Profile picture of the author krtinberg
    Twitter is valuable for getting traffic and branding yourself as an authority. The conversion rates to my products are decent but it depends on your niche and the audience involved. Some are strong and some are nearly non existent. Still from my experience it's definitely worth learning and using.
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  • Profile picture of the author serpconsultancy
    There is no doubt that twitter is one of the most effective social media site. If you get links from twitter it will be definitely beneficial for your website. To get more benefit from twitter, always try to get follower from your industry. Then your website can get some useful visitors trough twitter.
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  • Profile picture of the author MickoP
    I didn't find it worth time and effort. I would use that time and energy for some other, more useful stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author savvybizbuilder
    Twitter is the best way to promote, reach out to your target market and building your brand. Believe me, it's worth the effort.
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