Grow Twitter Locally 2.0: Found your local Twitter fans, great! Now what?

This article is the second, and last part, of my two-part series on growing Twitter locally. The first part of finding your Twitter fans is here if you missed it.
Finding and growing your local active Twitter fans is simple; however, the next steps are not if you are averse to monotony. *smile*
While you do not have to be on Twitter all day, you would need to stick to some digital tasks to stay on-target. Otherwise, you will get carried away by the rushing tides of the Twitter conversation and get off-course from your goal.

Top 7 effective habits to grow Twitter locally

Here are your next steps that I am calling habits. Like a habit, if you aren’t doing any of these yet, acquire them now then do the tasks regularly to win the support of your local Twitter fans.

7. Add your Twitter Account to your printed marketing materials.

Doing this is probably the easiest way to increase your followers on Twitter. You do this once and you are done!

People love to follow their favorite businesses online. So, go ahead and let your local Twitter fans know that you are on Twitter by including your Twitter information on your printed marketing materials.

Hint: If your Twitter account name varies from your company’s (happens!), spell it out on the printed material. That is helpful to your fans instead of just showing social media icons.

6. Share locally relevant content.

Consistently post content relevant to your community.

Locally relevant content and engagement are quick ways to gain local Twitter authority and show yourself as a thought-leader in your community.

Be known as the best reliable source of information for your local Twitter community.

What are perfect local information to share on Twitter

• Local happenings.
• Highlight information about your city that would interest people.
• Wade through local trending posts as it can give you an insight into issues that matter to your community. When choosing a conversation, pick topics that are inclusive instead of divisive.
• Stories of local heroes.

5. Be genuinely helpful.

Help people with questions without resorting to sales pitch mode.

You will come across questions from others asking for help when you actively engage with them. If not, you can proactively seek those asking for help by using Twitter’s search.

As an example, if you are a local brick and mortar shop in Sacramento, you can check out what people are looking for; then, help.

In some cases, the topic may not be relevant to your business but talk about being “top of the mind” to THAT local user you engaged with. Besides, your real-time conversation just became a local word of mouth without begging anyone to share your brand.

How to find local Tweeters asking for help

Simply type “looking for” in quotation so it is one word and add your city on Twitter’s search function (the spyglass, upper right). (See the example below).

All you need to do as a local business is check for the right conversation and join by adding a helpful commentary to the conversation.

You may be able to automate posts but you cannot automate kindness. Click To Tweet

4. Measure.

Engagement Metrics	link clicks, likes, retweets, media engagement, profile clicks, hashtag clicks, detail expands, engagement rate
Awareness Metrics	Reach, impressions, number of followers, media views
Conversion Metrics	Coupon code redemption, email-sign-ups, event attendance

Actively monitor the performance of your Twitter posts that are aimed at connecting with your active local audience. Are they getting the results you wanted?

Review the numbers under the lens of what you want to get out of Twitter. It is hard to know if you are successfully connecting when you are not tracking what you are doing. Here is how to do it:

Is it engagement? Then check what is getting a lot of engagement on Twitter from your local fans and replicate those types of content.

Is it local Twitter community growth? Then easily track your local followers. Use a list; watch it grow.

Is it brand awareness? Then check your tweets that are getting more reach, and like engagement, create more of those contents.

Is it conversion? Then track the locals that showed up to your store with a coupon code that is exclusive to Twitter users only.

Use data from the Twitter analytics tool to track your success. It is accurate and free.

3. Take Twitter offline.

There is nothing as effective as spending face-to-face time with people, would you agree?

So, how do you take Twitter offline?

• Look for local tweetups in your area, or organize one.
  Meetup.com is a fine tool to check. Just type an interest, change the proximity or the city to see different interest groups in the area. Then, simply select a group that interests you.
• Run contests that encourage customers to visit your store, if you want foot traffic.
  For example, if you have an ice cream shop (I love ice cream) – run a voting contest on Twitter to name a new ice cream flavor by giving away free samples in-store.
• Do an in-store coupon offer that is only available only on Twitter.
  Offer the coupon for a limited time only – not forever.

2. Engage.

Being able to converse with real people locally or around the world, in real-time, is one of Twitter’s strengths.

Being able to converse with real people locally or around the world, in real-time, is one of Twitter’s strengths. #BusinessTips #TwitterTips #YourSocialSuccessClick To Tweet

Twitter is a great tool to discover interesting people and meet new friends whether locally or around the world.

So, if you want to just use Twitter as a medium to drop links and hope for clicks from your local community, Twitter will not bring much value to your company. Engagement is what fuels Twitter.

Engagement is what fuels Twitter. Click To Tweet

You can tell if a Tweeter handle is engaging, or if they are just flooding the news feed with links and posts by checking the “Tweets and replies” tab. Conversely, your Twitter-savvy fans can tell too what you are really up to.

As an example, although, not a local company, take a look at how engaging @Tide is and how they tailor their response to each user.

Engaging on Twitter is fun. So relax!

Although you may just be talking about the weather, think of the immeasurable benefits of Twitter engagement are brand awareness and staying top of the mind.

1. Add consistency and patience.

One of the top challenges that companies face on Twitter is the reality that whatever campaign you are doing there, its impact is not long-lasting. Would you agree?

Besides, the life of a tweet is incredibly short – 18 minutes!

Now a common mistake that companies do on Twitter is that they would run a campaign; then once it is over, they leave.  Then, come back when they have another campaign, and so on. With that kind of process, it is going to be very hard for the company to build momentum and gain loyal local fans. 

Growing your Twitter brand locally is a marathon; it is not a quick dash around your neighborhood block. Time and consistency are essential in seeing successful results of any habit. So stay steady and give it time. Keep on doing these habits, and see your company’s Twitter grow.

Check here a case study on how we helped a client grow their Twitter followers.

Over to you!

The mechanics of growing Twitter are often different compared to other social media platforms. It is labor and time-intensive. Don’t give up right away when your fans are there. Keep its momentum going by having a trained staff manage it or get a social media assistant that is versed about the ins and outs of growing Twitter.
How do you keep up the momentum of your conversation with your local audience to grow Twitter locally? Chime in now!

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And if you need help in growing your Twitter, we are just a click away!