Very recently, I have read Twitter Marketing for Dummies. Basically, what is discussed are the commonly known in's and out's of using the, Web 2.0 application, Twitter, as a social networking tool for marketing and, in my opinion, how these can also benefit one's success with social sites on a general scale.
I have never read a "For Dummies" book before but I found the content to be almost informal and easy to follow along. The visual layout made reading it casual and quick. The book is split into five comprehensive sections. The first section is basically what is covered in CIT154 about Twitter and how significant it is today. The next sections covered the heavier marketing aspects including creating a marketing strategy, this includes marketing principles and practices that can be made through Twitter. Multimedia to gain interest, frequent Tweets to maintain attention, and using the system of tweeting to test waters of the market.
The marketer's job is to educate an audience, have this audience's interest enough to sell a product to them, and provide service through the use of Twitter. To do this, acts of common courtesy is required which reflects the human nature of wanting to help others as we socialize. That level of interaction makes this application successful in joining customers to service providers. Using a website as a means of advertisement means that the followers are the customers and a websites content should be appealing to them, the customer. To use a website is to use a computer, and not many people like to talk to a computer, but rather the people behind them. For the reason that we are communicating with others, there are rules of etiquette. One basic rule is to be honest. Honesty is important for any relationship. The goal is to create a fanbase, listen to their wants and suggestions, and applying this input. Marketing tweets should often consist of other media content, such as links to images or videos but it is most important to build a relationship. This includes posting about day to day life, having a sense of humor, and relating to the followers. Becoming someone others can identify with makes others reach out so it is important to communicate with them, sending a thank you and replying to their comments. Work that is done offline is as essential as the work online. Although one should be personable but also know that anything personal, or anything that should be said in person, should be said in person.
The final section consisted of chapters that consisted of checklists of do's and don't's which is a common sense summary of the book; following these rules and implementing them in the Twitter I have made in this class would give an extended purpose for that Twitter. If I were to contine using Twitter and had an agenda to build a business from it, I would definitely recommend this book as a starting point. I would also recommend it in general as a starting point to "success" of a Twitter (many followers, building relationships and communities, having a free voice, and being heard). It is interesting to note that this book was published in 2009. Almost three years have passed since it was written. During its infancy, I knew it as an interesting way to blog, social networking sites such as Twitter have a foothold in society today. Twitter will continue to be a household name and we will continue to hear of them in news and everywhere we go.
