Twitter as a Marketing Super Weapon

What do Ford Motor, Microsoft, UPS, Comcast, Dell, CNN and General Motors have in common?

Is it that they all rank in the Top 100 of the of the Top 500 corporations in America? Well – that’s true. But that’s not it.

They all use Twitter

These (and numerous other Fortune 500 companies) are using Twitter right now to market their products, provide support to their customers and keep on the pulse of their target audiences.

Guy Kawasaki and Twitter

Guy Kawasaki is considered by many to be a Twitter Celebrity. As I write this, he has 114,803 people following him on Twitter. So, I guess “celebrity” is fair.

On his blog “How To Change The World”, Guy shares that he uses Twitter to market his website Alltop.com and his book, Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition.

Advice for using Twitter as a Tool

In his blog post “How To Use Twitter as a Twool“, Guy shares some advice for those of you interested in the concept of using Twitter in a commercial manner.

Among his top tips? Get as many followers as you can

Tip 3: Follow the…folks with large number of followers and seem to be the opinion leaders (and perhaps even “heros”) of Twitter. …There are three reasons to follow them:first, many have scripts that will auto follow you; …

Guy Kawasaki | How To Use Twitter as a Twool

So how do you amass followers like the Twitter Opinion Leaders do? Well, you could do what they do. Use a script, or software that is specially designed to automatically follow people on Twitter for you.

Twitter Auto-Follow? But…

Make no mistake: having a piece of software that auto-follows people is impersonal. Maybe even offensive to some. But it doesn’t need to be because Twitter is permission based.

For people that want to share and follow tweets about what they had for dinner, what they’re wearing and the fact that they’re friend is acting like a goof, Twitter is here for you! I say use it and enjoy it! After all, community is all about the everyday, real life stuff, isn’t it?

But if you recognize that Twitter is the newest internet marketing super-weapon and you’re ready to get in the game, then read on and join the Twitter Elite.

Twitter Marketing With Hummingbird

The primary goal of the Hummingbird software is to help you gain as many new followers per day as possible. It achieves its objective by employing two basic techniques. The first is a software tool, the second is a process.

The Software Tool

The Hummingbird software works by employing a simple but effective principle. The more people you follow, the greater chance you have of these users following you back. Follow and Be Followed

Hummingbird automates and manages the process of following and unfollowing large groups of Twitter users related to a given niche.

The Process

Because a large majority of users will automatically follow you back, you will instantly acquire new followers. This initial exposure allows you to penetrate deeper and deeper into their social circles as you engage and interact. [Retweeting]

The most powerful aspect of Twitter is that it’s foundation is rooted in the “opt-in” relationship. Meaning that a person is only exposed to messages posted by people they have actively chosen to receive messages from.

This very simple, yet powerful concept protects users from being inundated with spam, unwanted harassment and other negative or otherwise undesirable messages. With a simple click of a button, any Twitter user can “unfollow” or even “block” another user.

Once we recognize this, we must also respect it. You must contribute value to your followers every day in some way just to keep their audience. This is the basic foundation of The Process, which will guide you in creating a strong group of loyal followers.

The Art Of Twitter Marketing

Twitter is made up of an incredibly savvy group of early adopters. These are generally the folks who “get” web 2.0. You will not be successful by marketing at them. Let me explain.

If you set up a Twitter account, gain a group of new followers and then start inundating them with affiliate links and discount offers, you will quickly lose your following. And you’ll have deserved it.

Instead, you need to engage and interact with your followers on a much more personal level. This may seem counter-intuitive at first, but Twitter will have you re-thinking a lot of paradigms before we’re done…

A New Market Paradigm

Remember, “Web 2.0″ at its heart is about connecting individuals, organizations and businesses in ways we never thought possible. But why connect at all? What is the purpose of all of this innovation and excitement?

To facilitate the exchange of information and ideas, including art, science and commerce.

Let that sink in for a minute. Web 2.0 is about websites and technology that use the internet to augment our lives. It’s not about some static web page with a photo of a coupon. It’s about empowering people with information.

Tapping The Consumer Vein

One should strive to see their Twitter Account for what it is, a real time link into the collective conscience of your consumer base.

Sew the seeds of an open and value based relationship and you will reap the benefits of a rabid increase in brand loyalty. However, misjudge or ignore the culture of Twitter and its loyal users and you may just find your business as the laughing stock of the connected world.

Your goal on Twitter should be firmly rooted around two very simple principles:

1. Every follower is a privilege.
2. In exchange, you owe them a measure of value, every day.

By adopting this very simple, yet practical set of Twitter axiom’s, you will greatly increase your growth on Twitter, and it’s resulting return on investment.

Ready to start using Hummingbird? Get it Now!