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9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

Date post: 18-Oct-2014
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This slide deck is dedicated to retailers looking for a better understanding of Twitter and how it works for businesses. Implementing these 9 ideas can completely change the way you use this social platform. Happy tweeting.
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CAN WE TALK ABOUT TWITTER?
Transcript
Page 1: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

CAN WE TALK ABOUT TWITTER?

Page 2: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

I FEEL YOUR PAIN I’ve heard a lot of people say it, “I don’t understand Twitter.” And I’ve heard this from a good amount of my friends working in bike retail. I understand, Twitter can be very confusing and time consuming… Hopefully this slide deck will shed some light and give you some ideas on how to be a rock star on this platform.

Page 3: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? You see, Twitter is a very busy place. Crazy busy! There are 58 million tweets everyday. Which is why I Twitter isn’t the best platform to talk about yourself or your business. Twitter sucks as a broadcast tool because everyone is broadcasting! Broadcasting on Twitter is like hiding a needle in a stack of needles. Twitter is better used as a platform to engage and talk with other people.

Page 4: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

IT’S SOCIAL, NOT MEDIA

Twitter is not a traditional media platform like television, print, or radio. Posting your advertisements, campaigns, newsletters, or sales won’t get you anywhere. Think of Twitter like a party. It’s all about the conversations you’re having, and the insight you’re providing. Imagine standing in the middle of a party and shouting, “We have 30% off all helmets this weekend only!” You may not be kicked out of the party. But no one is going to talk to you. other people make.

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Page 5: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

STOP TRYING TO SELL, JUST LISTEN & RESPOND.

On Twitter, what you say is not as important as how you respond. Don’t stress yourself out trying to create the world’s greatest content. Instead, focus on listening to people . See what they’re posting. Read what they’re reading. Then create a relevant and helpful connection with them. Your voice will be heard best when you add insight to other peoples’ lives, solve their problems, or have an idea to help them overcome a challenge.

Page 6: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

9 TWITTER IDEAS I’d like to walk you through some of the most common missteps on Twitter and show you how some bike shops are getting it right.

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Page 7: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

1. You will be judged by your responses The majority of Twitter users are just shouting. They are shouting into a dark Twitter void of loneliness- hoping that someone hears them. Hoping that someone cares. If you want to be great at Twitter focus on responding to people. That is what people want when they use Twitter. To know they’re being heard. Creating content = Ok at Twitter Creating engaging content = Good at Twitter Responding to people = Amazing at Twitter

Page 8: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

1. You will be judged by your responses Winning at Twitter is all about how well you respond to your customers. How quickly you respond, how genuine your response is, and how helpful you are being. Your worth on Twitter is measured in your ability to respond, not necessarily your ability to create content. Although having great content never hurts. Gary Vaynerchuk may have said it best…

Page 9: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

1. You will be judged by your responses “The reason I was able to grow my businesses was not because I was putting out good content. It’s because I was answering every single persons’ Twitter @ reply and created context and relationship with that end user. These are the ####ing people that buy our sh##! These are the people that are putting cash in your wallets.” Gary Vaynerchuk Over 1,000,000 Twitter followers

Page 10: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

2. Join conversations, Don’t create them. If you’re posting and posting and just waiting for someone to care. You’re going to be waiting a long time. Some people can get caught up in their own ego and think, “What I have to say is important and special. People always want to hear me talk.” In truth, what you have to say only matters if it can help someone else. That’s how Twitter works (and life really). It’s up to you to find the right conversations and join in. The easiest way to do that is with Twitter’s advanced search tool.

Page 11: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

2. Join conversations, Don’t create them. The advanced search tool lets you look for keywords and quickly find conversations about cycling, bike repair, bike fitting, or whatever. Then you can jump in on those conversations and start adding value immediately. You can also filter the search by location. One of my favorite things to search are the words “bike” and “ride” near “San Francisco, CA”. This will filter out everyone in SF who has posted a tweet with those two words. twitter.com/search-advanced

Page 12: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

2. Join conversations, Don’t create them. And here are some results. Each one of these people might benefit from a discussion with someone at a bike shop. As a bike shop, do you want to know about these types of conversations? Of course you do because you’re a wonderful and helpful person. Rather than standing behind the counter and waiting for someone to walk in, you can get on Twitter and start talking to people who might need your help.

Page 13: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

2. Join conversations, Don’t create them. If I were in your shoes, this is the type of stuff I would be searching for on Twitter. “Bicycle” “Bike” “Cycling” “Bike” and “ride” “Bike” and “stolen” “Bike” and “fit” “Bike” and “fixed” “Bike” and “flat” and “tire” “Bike” and “need” and “new” Also search any topic that relates to your business. Like “downhill” or “triathlon” and don’t forget to search your bike shop’s name.

Page 14: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

3. Post photos. A lot of photos. They used to say a photo is worth a thousand words. Now a photo is worth a thousand characters. Tweets with photos are a way to supercharge your content. They can get double the response over a text-only tweet. But always try to post the photo directly to Twitter instead of posting a link to it. When posted directly to Twitter the photos jump out of the Twitter feed to grab readers’ attention.

Page 15: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

3. Post photos. A lot of photos. Remember, when posting a photo you’re posting to ALL of your followers. So it’s best to post the photos that will have the widest reach. Posting a photo of a mountain bike you’ve just put on sale might be relevant for 1 or 2 people. These tweets are great examples of photos that have a wide reaching audience. Videos and infographics are also great to share on Twitter. Whenever you can use a visual, you should.

Page 16: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

4. Link back to your site Sometimes you can’t say it within140 characters. Sometimes you need to show them an article, a series of photos, or a buy-now button. Links are great, but remember when you post a link you’re asking your reader to leave the party and go somewhere else. Where do you want them to go? You want them to go back to your house (website). Taking them to a product review on Bike Radar, or a great video on PinkBike is cool and all… but that means they are less likely to visit your site. Links drive traffic away from Twitter. Some of that traffic should go back to you.

Page 17: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

5. Hashtags can create great connections Hashtags create connection and conversation around a single topic. This hashtag by Wiggle Bike Shop was a big serving of awesome-sauce. They touched on two things their customers love to do; ride bikes and take selfies. They created a great call to action, posted it with a wonderful image, and their customers followed. Dozens of people posted a selfie and each one further established their relationship with Wiggle Bike Shop.

Page 18: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

6. Don’t post Facebook links on Twitter. What do we want? Engagement!! Where do we want it? Somewhere else!! It breaks my heart when I see bike shops posting this type of content on their feed. This is called “Blind Tweeting”. Where you post to Twitter through some other platform or software. Blind Tweeting is addictive, because it allows you to create one post and have that post delivered to other social platforms. It sounds like great multi-tasking, right? Sorry to say but the only thing Blind Tweeting succeeds at is telling your followers that you don’t care, or don’t know how, to use Twitter.

Page 19: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

6. Don’t post Facebook links on Twitter. Blind Tweeting is like meeting someone at a bar and the first thing you say is, “If you leave this bar with me right now I will show you a picture of something”. Yeah, like that doesn’t sound sketchy as hell. At least buy me a drink first. If people are engaging with you through Twitter, it’s probably because they don’t want to be using Facebook to talk to you. If people find you on Twitter, and you’ve created an account on Twitter, then you should be engaging them on Twitter.

Page 20: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

6. Don’t post Facebook links on Twitter. See that post by @EriktheBikeMan? It was an awesome photo! Like, really good. They posted it at 8:27am. At the end of the day, no one had commented on it, hit the star button, or retweeted it. That post will disappear into oblivion. And that makes me sad.

Page 21: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

6. Don’t post Facebook links on Twitter. A big reason Facebook links don’t work is because Twitter is primarily a mobile platform. Over 75% of people access Twitter through their mobile devices. A Facebook link turns into a total crap-show when I attempt to open it on my phone. On a phone- the link doesn’t send me to the Facebook app. It sends to me a webpage where I can’t like it, comment on it, or share it unless I log in. It adds so many steps it becomes a barrier for a lot of people.

Page 22: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

6. Don’t post Facebook links on Twitter. So I asked @ErikTheBikeMan to repost it. This time uploading the photo directly to Twitter. Now everyone following could easily see the photo, comment on it, and favorite it. Within an hour they already had some engagement.

Page 23: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

7. Don’t post Instagram links either. While we’re on the topic… For all the same reasons to not post Facebook links, let’s stop posting Instagram links as well. I know Instagram makes it really, really easy. But since Twitter users are on mobile….

Page 24: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

7. Don’t post Instagram links either. …that link to Instagram may not take them to the app where they can comment or like it. Sure, Instagram might have an “Open in App” button- but that doesn’t make it ok. Remember, if they are finding you through Twitter. Then you should engage them through Twitter.

Author’s Disclosure: I’m guilty of posting hundreds of IG pics to Twitter. I’ve learned from the pain I have caused. Never again.

Page 25: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

8. Respond to people. And respond quickly. Many people go to Twitter to connect with businesses. Sometimes they have questions, sometimes complaints, sometimes compliments, and sometimes just to say hi. These are real people, talking in a very real way! If they were standing in the store we would never ignore them. Right? Right. Then why is it ok to ignore people when they talk to you on Twitter?

Page 26: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

8. Respond to people. And respond quickly. Over 50% of people using Twitter expect a response within an hour. So if you’re using Twitter, know what you’re signing up for. In these examples, these customers were ignored. No reply at all. If you’re going use Twitter for your business, you have to respond when people contact you.

Did the posters get there? He will never know.

Page 27: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

8. Respond to people. And respond quickly. Sometimes they talk about you, and it’s awesome! These are the types of posts that retailers dream of. Some companies will spend years on Twitter and never see posts as good as these. It is up to the retailer (and Specialized in these examples) to respond quickly. And respond with a plate full of gratitude. If we don’t publicly acknowledge our customers for doing something awesome, how likely are they to do it again?

@ericesterle and @dontsithome, if you ever see this, I want you to know that you f---ing rock!

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Page 28: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

9. Give, give, give, give, give, give… then ask On Twitter, as with any social platform, you have to give far more than you ask.

other people make.

Page 29: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

GIVEt

Things you can give people on Twitter

Replies Retweets Stars Photos Jokes Ideas Articles Concern Community

Videos Infographics Perspective How-To Free stuff Charity Empathy Quick response Hashtags

9. Give, give, give, give, give, give… then ask On Twitter, as with any social platform, you have to give far more than you ask.

other people make.

Page 30: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

GIVEt

Replies Retweets Stars Photos Jokes Ideas Articles Concern Community

Videos Infographics Perspective How-To Free stuff Charity Empathy Quick response Hashtags

Click our link Buy from us Retweet us Reply to us

Check out our event Check out our sale

Read our content Support our brand

ASK

Things you can ask for

on Twitter

9. Give, give, give, give, give, give… then ask On Twitter, as with any social platform, you have to give far more than you ask.

other people make.

Page 31: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

GIVEt

Replies Retweets Stars Photos Jokes Ideas Articles Concern Community

Videos Infographics Perspective How-To Free stuff Charity Empathy Quick response Hashtags

Click our link Buy from us Retweet us Reply to us

Check out our event Check out our sale

Read our content Support our brand

ASK

9. Give, give, give, give, give, give… then ask On Twitter, as with any social platform, you have to give far more than you ask.

other people make.

Page 32: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

LET’S RECAP.

Page 33: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

LET’S RECAP. 1. You will be judged by your responses 2. Join conversations, don’t create them 3. Post photos. A lot of photos 4. Link back to your site 5. Hashtags can create great connections 6. Don’t post Facebook links on Twitter 7. Don’t post Instagram links either 8. Respond to people. And respond quickly 9. Give, give, give, give, give, give… then ask.

Page 34: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

LET’S RECAP. 1. You will be judged by your responses 2. Join conversations, don’t create them 3. Post photos. A lot of photos 4. Link back to your site 5. Hashtags can create great connections 6. Don’t post Facebook links on Twitter 7. Don’t post Instagram links either 8. Respond to people. And respond quickly 9. Give, give, give, give, give, give… then ask.

Which lesson did you find most valuable?

Page 35: 9 Twitter Ideas. A How-To for Bike Retailers

If you found this helpful, please share. Happy tweeting. @donnyperry #SBCU


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