Why Nobody is Following You on Twitter (and What to Do About It)

The biggest problem with the Internet, as I find it, is that it seems to give people the impression that everything they post on it is interesting. If Twitter and Facebook can be faulted for anything, it’s for encouraging masses of people to dispense witty bon-mots on current events and other topics with machine-gun speed. It also hasn’t helped that somebody in Hollywood noticed one particular Twitter account recording $#!T somebody’s dad says. Now everybody wants in on the action, when the truth is: just maybe nobody cares to read what your dad, mom, nosy neighbor, bartender, or you have to say.

If you use Twitter to promote your business and services, that notion is all the more depressing. A Twitter account with a trickle of followers pretty much equates to shouting fire in an empty theater, so if your intent is to use this powerful social network to attract new clients or customers, it’s important to first determine why it is nobody is following your feeds, then figure out how to correct that.

The challenge in becoming a success on Twitter lies in figuring out how make your profile known among the millions of other users who crowd the Internet daily with their own noise. It would be nice for news outlets to pick up the scent when the average entrepreneur sets up a shingle, as they did for Conan O’Brien, but we must make do with our prior marketing experience and willingness to adapt to new media.

Take a look at your account now. Do followers number in the double digits? If yes, and that’s not your intent, it’s sad. You might wonder what it is about other accounts that attracts readers and why the same tactics you try don’t work for you. The key to success with social media, however, lies not with copying another profile to replicate their success, but creating your own unique niche that inspires that viral spark you need to draw traffic. Yes, you can spend money and time building an incredible background image for your Twitter.com page, complete with phone numbers and icons and custom blue birds fluttering around your logo, but given that a good percentage of users access Twitter on cell phones and dashboard widgets, you need to ask yourself who is actually going to your page to read your feed?

Why is nobody following you on Twitter? Consider these possibilities.

You have nothing new to share. There is an old adage in advertising that claims a consumer usually has to see a brand about 7-10 times before deciding the buy it. Same holds true with the Internet – how often do you browse a site, go away then come back a number of times before adding to the cart? With Twitter, if you are constantly bombarding your feed with the same message over and over again (especially holds true if you have one service or product to sell), people are going to wonder why they should follow a broken record. Broken records are annoying, and take up space in a feed that could belong to Conan O’Brien.

You have too much to share. It’s a conundrum: you stand to turn off followers with repetition, and if you’re too chatty you just might annoy people who A) don’t follow too many users and B) are tired of seeing your posts take up an entire screen. Especially if your “wit” hits overdrive, you may end up sounding like that one guy at a party whose voice rises above the din and just. Won’t. Be. Quiet.

You aren’t connected. Maybe, thinking that interaction between social profiles leads to saturation, you decided not to tether Twitter to your Facebook or MySpace, or anywhere else you have set up shop. One school of thought may champion this position, but on the other hand keep your Twitter presence invisible can do more harm than good.

What can you do to change? There are a number of possibilities.

Hit a nerve. See what is trending in Twitter – people actually do use the search function on the site, and it’s not uncommon for site users to set up search widgets to pick up on particular keywords and hashtags. Devise a clever way to integrate a Twitter hot topic into your daily monologue. This increases the possibility of picking up interested readers.

Connect everything. Tell your Facebook friends, your e-mail opt in list, your YouTube subscribers that you tweet. Put the URL in your e-mail sig and print your username on business cards. Mouth in “Word of Mouth” is the operate term, use yours.

Search and respond. Set up a desktop feed reader on your site to pick up set search feeds on Twitter. As you receive posts in real-time, you can sift through them and respond accordingly to Twitter users. You don’t necessarily have to advertise your account directly, but taking the helpful approach just may inspire people to see what you have to offer.

Twitter is a tool of engagement, and unless you use it in that respect you will continue merely tweeting into the wind. Don’t turn your feed into an archive, make it breathe.

Kathryn Lively is a social media specialist assisting clients with social media writing and Twitter marketing. She has helped businesses, including European hotel search engines, global trade forums, Gainesville bed and breakfast inns, and Virginia Beach web design firms improve their social networking.

Five Things You Didn’t Realize You Could Do on Facebook

These days I find businesses aren’t directing customers to their main site anymore. Everywhere I go, whether it’s a restaurant or boutique, the movie theater or even a service, the signs are clear: Join us on Facebook! The discount codes are posted to the Wall, the pictures from last night’s special event are now upload to the photo albums, and everybody’s your friend and talking to each other on your fan page. Facebook has truly become an important hub for businesses large and small, localized and nationwide. It’s an incredible tool for last-minute updates on events and great for customer retention and support.

We’re willing to bet, too, you aren’t even doing half of what you could be doing with it to optimize your business.

As with other social networks that appear to maintain rigid design structures, Facebook does allow you to get away with the occasional trick to help make your profile or fan page stand out among the rest. If you plan to rely on Facebook for the bulk of your social marketing, you especially want to pay attention to different ways to optimize that space. You may already know about custom tabs (and if you don’t, we’ll cover that soon enough) and manipulating the Boxes tabs to arrange information the way you want, but there is so much more you can do to turn a simple wall thread into a genuine hub for your customers and soon-to-be customers that will keep them coming back to interact.

You can maximize your profile picture!

That all-too-critical profile picture is the first thing people will see when they visit you. More than likely, given the positioning and small print of that dinky About You box underneath it, they will miss your main URL. It’s important to take advantage of your allotted space here to advertise who you are and what you do. This example from Eurobookings illustrates how they have used the maximum 200×600 pixel spot to showcase the beautiful hotel rooms they book. The URL is clear and they have branded the picture with their logo. You look at this and you know this is a page for travel accommodations.

The challenge, of course, comes in designing a cascade like image to suit your company. If your logo is more horizontal than vertical, choose images relevant to your business and be sure to make your URL prominent.

You can add custom boxes on your personal profile!

Customizing on Facebook isn’t limited to fan pages. If you have a fan page for your company live, you must have a profile to manage it. With the application HTML Profile Box, you can add custom HTML code to your profile to advertise anything at all – your main site, your Facebook page, products and more. You can link anywhere in the world, and set the profile box on your profile sidebar, so every time a new friend comes to visit your information is there to guide them anywhere on the Internet. In this example, a teaser advertisement for an upcoming book is placed on the author’s personal profile. As newcomers visit, though it’s possible they won’t see the entire profile as dictated by the privacy settings marked, the custom box should remain visible for anybody to see.

Two caveats to using HTML Profile Box that I have found: it appears you can only use the application once on your profile, and you need to make sure permissions are turned on to have it appear on your profile. It’s important for your personal profile to have some kind of optimization done that guides people to the fan page, where you are more apt to collect people who “like” what you have to offer.

You can sell stuff! If you take Paypal for goods and services, you can sell on Facebook. There is a nifty plugin called Payvment that allows you to integrate a small cart on a custom Facebook tab. What you have to offer, people can buy it right there without having to leave Facebook:

Certain fees may apply. Be sure to check with the site and plugin as you set up your account.

You can collect e-mails for your newsletter! The relevancy of e-mail marketing in the age of social media remains under debate. However, as long as e-mail is still used, e-mail marketing is germane. If you have a newsletter or alert system in place and use a system like Aweber or VerticalResponse, you can set up a tab to collect opt-in interest for your company:

Check with your e-mail marketing setup to see about Facebook options.

You can host a live chat! Live Stream is one of many helpful plugins designed to shape your Facebook experience. With this code inserted in a custom tab (or even on a website that accepts iframe code), you can host a live chat event for your business.

Advertise your Q&A session for your products, host a live book launch party, get all the family and friends together for reunion…the possibilities are endless!

With these and other Facebook fixes, you can create an interactive forum for your company that truly puts the social in social media!

Kathryn Lively is a social media specialist assisting clients with Facebook Marketing. She has helped a number of companies, including Virginia Beach web design firms, global trade forums, European hotel booking sites, and Gainesville bed and breakfast inns achieve optimized social profiles.

Revisiting the Mass Social Media Invites: Should You See What Sticks?

Just like the song says, you gotta have friends. Friends are there to help seed your Farmville gardens and help destroy the forces of evil in your Mafia Wars. Friends are there to retweet the URL of that “not safe for work” Lady Gaga video you managed to sneak peek while the boss wasn’t looking, and you can always count on them to “like” your Facebook status every time you come up with a whimsically snarky comment about which Real Housewife of Boise is sporting fake…well, let’s say enhancements. In this age of social media, everybody has the potential to be your friend, even people you don’t know and may never meet in your lifetime.

So comes the dilemma as you approach your social marketing strategy: do you grow your Twitter or Facebook page following naturally, hoping that people you do know will recommend you and your business to others, or do you embark on the aggressive vaccum cleaner process of sucking in every profile in sight? If numbers are the only thing that concern you, there are ways to amass plenty of warm bodies. People sell services that strictly invite Facebook “friends” and mass follow Twitter users that automatically refollow. For as little as fifty bucks you could have the ears and eyes of thousands of people, but are they really paying attention?

Consider for a moment the pros and cons of the guerrilla invite. We’ve discussed this topic before, but it’s one worth revisiting as ideas on social networking change. If you don’t switch gears as you promote, it means you haven’t grown in your strategy, and it’s good to weigh all options. With the blind follow of Twitter users, for example, you could match your follow count to your followed by as many as six figures if you wish. If those followers boast the same volume, there is the likelihood your tweets are lost in a sea of other updates, but one can also argue that by following a good number of re-follows there is the possibility your message will be seen by people who wouldn’t otherwise follow you naturally. You had to find them first, then they become interested.

Same goes with Facebook and even LinkedIn. With the latter, there are groups solely designed to connect “open networkers,” people who will connect to you regardless of your industry. As a writer and social marketer, it might benefit me to network with as many people as possible because ultimately every industry will need marketing help, right? Gaining more connections increases my chances of finding work. However, for the niche business you might not benefit as much, unless one connection happens to know of somebody interested in what you do.

Where Facebook is concerned, triggers are in place to reign in your mass friending activities. Unless you know one of those magical loopholes to gain five thousand friends in one fell swoop, you might be better off approaching people slowly. To be certain, there are accounts created strictly to sell and spam, which won’t do you much good when you try to sell. However, in a sea of kelp you’re bound to catch a few fish.

So, how do you approach networking? Is it better to throw everything you have against the wall and see what sticks? Do you take out a thinner brush and draw out a more thoughtful plan? Look at what you’ve done to start, and if it hasn’t worked you might consider bolder measures. Experiment with different lighters to see what sparks the fire in your campaigns.

Kathryn Lively is a Virginia Beach social media specialist assisting clients with social media writing and local PPC campaigns. Clients include Gainesville bed and breakfasts, European hotel search engines, global trade forums, and Virginia Beach web design firms.

The Facebook Backlash and Your Social Campaigns: Should You Be Worried?

Not everybody is happy with Facebook right now. Accusations of breach of privacy and disregard for online safety have prompted grassroots protests and mass deletions of accounts on the premise that not only does the social network do nothing to protect user privacy, but actually encourages distribution of information not necessarily meant for everybody’s eyes. If you use Facebook, perhaps you’ve seen viral status messages from friends imploring you to make adjustments to your settings to ensure that the complaint you make about your boss isn’t broadcast to the free world. Reports that some users prefer to delete their profiles altogether may concern other diehard Facebook fans, and as a business with a strong Facebook presence you might wonder if this backlash will affect the way you promote your products and services.

The privacy concerns making the news, naturally, concern users who are wont to share personal information and photographs on their networks. While they believe at first only select friends have access to the data, neglected privacy settings may allow certain (read: embarrassing) information to be found in Internet search. We’ve all heard stories of people getting fired from their jobs or losing out on other opportunities thanks to a slip of the keyboard – an outsider might opine, “Well, don’t post anything you wouldn’t shout into a megaphone,” yet one can argue users and Facebook need to meet halfway on ensuring security measures.

As a business, you want exposure for your Facebook page. Despite the grumbling, Facebook is still one of the most used websites on the Internet – it’s a powerful search engine and marketing tool, and as you amass fans (or people who “like” your page and company, per the new policies) the opportunity to expand your reach grows. If you are concerned about losing fans due to a protest against privacy settings, know that you do have a few options for keeping your page visible and the information available, even to people who don’t use Facebook.

1) Integrate the content into other networks. Feed status updates into your Twitter account to capture that audience, and place a fan box on your main website. If you use Squidoo, there is now an option to embed a fan box in a lens, too. Anywhere you can place your page’s RSS, take the advantage.

2) Keep your page active and visible. Offer as much data on your page to new visitors and those who do not use Facebook. As a business page, you should feel comfortable with the information you post there. Don’t give away any trade secrets, but encourage participation with the content you do provide.

3) Be respectful of current fans. Make sure whoever monitors comments on your page is courteous to posters. Just as the products and services you impart online are available to others, so are bad vibes. If you receive a complaint, be tactful in your response, because that’s what people will see. The impression you make on Facebook coupled with the timeliness of your information will keep people on your page.

How will Facebook fare in the future? Like Google, it may continue to grow and offer amenities we can’t live without, or it could go the way of lesser social networks if and when another player comes along. Whatever the fate for this network, it is still a top used site and as such holds importance in your social optimization. Mind your p’s and q’s on your Wall tab, and you should be fine.

Kathryn Lively is a Virginia Beach social media specialist assisting clients with social media promotion and Virginia Beach web design. Clients include European hotels, real-time global trade forums, and vendors of pet supplies.

The Social Media “Buddy System” for Improving Site Visibility

Surely this is something you do already – I don’t have to tell you that once you have published your blog post or article or Squidoo lens that you should ride the social merry-go-round. It’s a task that’s become automatic to me as well: I publish, then embark on the social media tour. I tweet, I buzz, stumble, digg, reddit, and so forth. As a social media specialist assisting multiple clients with building traffic referrals to their main sites, I’ve been told the social bookmarking work I do for them does have a positive effect. Some have reported instant spikes in traffic, while others detect long tail improvement. If you, however, have taken on the task alone of getting your important URLs listed on the major networks and bookmarks, you should know it’s not work that necessarily works on a solo flight. One Digg won’t get your story far in a world where people are willing to promote pictures of cheeseburger-loving cats for free. If you want that same level of attention, you have to get social with the bookmarking and foster your own buddy system.

Make New Friends, Keep the Old

Social sites like Digg and StumbleUpon make it somewhat easy for you to find connections. If you use a free e-mail services like Hotmail or GMail, for example, it searches your contacts for people who have registered, and gives you the option to fan or subscribe to them. From there it’s only a matter of recruiting friends to assist you in a mutual backscratching endeavor to help boost your sites’ visibility in these networks.

Digg, especially, frowns upon people creating multiple accounts for a singular purpose, preferring users instead naturally grow interest in the links submitted. To prevent spamming, some sites like StumbleUpon and Mixx limit the number of URLs from one domain an account can submit, while Reddit imposes a time limit in between submissions. As you gather more social bookmarkers into your inner circle, it could prove mutually beneficial for everyone involved.

I have a friend, for example, who helps my efforts by “liking” each Facebook page I create, and retweeting every promotional post on my personal account. If you want to wage a viral campaign, sometimes it takes only one clip for something to spread. Let’s say you have ten friends and family with accounts all over the place. If each just did one thing to help your site, that’s ten opportunities for an outsider to find your information and share it elsewhere.

Work on growing your buddy system, and remember that it works both ways. For the work you have friends do, don’t be selfish in sharing their data. A variety of information not related to your work, too, boosts your authority in social search, so you don’t look completely like a self-promoter. The more you assist each other, however, the sooner you’ll find a positive difference in your overall traffic.

Kathryn Lively is a Virginia Beach social media specialist assisting clients with Virginia Beach web design and social media writing. Businesses benefiting from Kathryn’s expertise include European hotels, Norfolk handyman services, and Gainesville B&Bs.

Be the Online Answer Man, and Retain Authority in Your Field of Expertise

In everybody’s life, there is that one person to whom everybody went for advice – anything from solving a difficult crossword puzzle clue to seeking help with setting up a retirement account. Maybe in your case, this person was a parent or grandparent, or one of those know-it-all friends who didn’t specialize in any particular trivia, but knew what you need by way of experience or absorption through media and observation.

These days, you might see people continue to turn to these sages, but in the online world – where people need specifics on improving sales and marketing and other outlooks – people prefer trusted brands for advice. Or else, somebody is apt to blurt out a question on Twitter with an appropriate hashtag and hope somebody catches it. Depending on your business, it’s probable you qualify as an expert in your field, and if you’re willing to invest the time in assisting others with questions and problems you’ll find your generosity goes a long way. Despite the proliferation of funny videos and snarky comments on news wires, people still do remember kind acts. The question you answer today could turn in a genuine lead sometime down the road.

That said, if you find the traffic isn’t necessarily booming at your website, blog, or social media profile to accommodate regular Q&A sessions, you may wish to extend your reach and find the questions not yet resolved. With the rise in social sites that guide people toward the best wines, recommended movies and music, and restaurants and local businesses, it stands to reason help sites would follow, and three in particular provide experts with added opportunity for exposure.

Yahoo! Answers

One of, if not the, oldest Q&A forums online, Yahoo! Answers is accessible through your Yahoo! account and allows users to ask questions on basically any topic. Here one will find everything from serious queries about PHP coding to more whimsical observations (“Why do emo bands suck so much?”) As you participate in Yahoo! Answers you’ll have a page that charts your activity and lets you add contacts. You can add a short bio and include your URL for reference.

Google Knol

While not an interactive Q&A site like Answers, Knol may prove a significant tool in your marketing if you invest the time in building your topics. As Knol is a term meaning “unit of knowledge,” this site serve as a type of wiki where contributors publish articles on a variety of topics. Your profile page allows you a bio and link and an RSS feed of your activity, which can be implemented elsewhere on the web.

Aardvark

Aardvark is a recent acquisition of Google, billed as a real time forum for people seeking assistance of any type. With Aardvark you can connect your Facebook account or your GTalk and have questions in the subjects of your choosing delivered to you. Your profile allows one URL for promotion. Because Google has purchased this social site, it’s not yet determined what will change in the near future.

Qhub

Short for “question hub,” Qhub.com allows users to set up their own forum site. Users can register to ask and contribute answers, and one can also customize headers and create form widgets to place on other sites and blogs to draw in traffic. Qhub presents a good opportunity for smaller businesses or individuals seeking a message board type solution that doesn’t require much coding.

However you decide to seek and resolve queries, what’s important is making yourself available. By building your reputation as an expert you can increase not only your authority but your visibility.

Kathryn Lively is a Virginia Beach social media specialist assisting clients with social media optimization and travel social media services. Clients include Gainesville hotels, European hotels, and Virginia web design firms.