Let's talk Twitter.
It's an annoying system that doesn't seem to make any sense, but yet hundreds of thousands of businesses use it in their marketing every day.
It's almost a year since last we gave you an in-depth discussion of Twitter. If you have yet to join Twitter then you should review the archived Daily Golden Nuggets from a year ago. The links are at the bottom of this Nugget.
What we'd like to review today is more data provided by Dan Zarrella with HubSpot.com which is referenced on this infographic: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/science-of-social-timing-1/
According to @danzarrella you can increase traffic to your website if you tweet and share a link at least 1 time (no more than 4 times) per hour. In fact, Dan shows that when you consistently Tweet 1 shared link per hour you can create a 350% increase in the number of clicks. Those clicks translate into visits to your website.
So what's the link you are sharing? Well, it could be anything, but whatever it is, you need to make it interesting. Here are some examples:
Tweet #1: This simple yet elegant 18k white gold ring is very popular recently. What do you think? [shared link here]
Tweet #2: Our customers are in love with these ruby Holiday classics [shared link]
Tweet #3: We're closing early on Thursday for an exclusive jewelry event. Want a private invitation? [shared link]
The shared link for #1 should bring the user to a page with a photo. Don't just share the photo as a Twitpic or a link from Flickr or Picasa. Instead, give yourself more of a chance to convert the user by putting the photo on a website page. On that page you can include a Twitter button to allow them to re-share, or a Facebook comment box, or a product review form. Each of these options could lead to further user engagement.
The shared link in #2 could bring the user to a product catalog page with details and perhaps a purchase button of some type.
The shared link for #3 should bring the user to an event invitation page which provides details of the event and a signup form so you can capture their registration information.
Avoid simply sharing pages of content from your website without asking for some type of interaction. You could share a link to a birthstone guide but make it interesting by saying "Turquoise can be green yellow-green, blue-green, pale blue or dark blue. December birthstones get to pick their favorite color! [shared link]"
There's plenty to Tweet about if you spend an afternoon writing down some blurbs. You will need to sign up with an automated Tweeting program to accomplish 24 hours of Tweeting every day.
People who find your Twitter quips interesting will click the link to find out more. People who find your quips very interesting will "re-tweet" them.
Re-Tweeting is a feature that allows one user to reshare an interesting tweet to their friends. @danzarrella explains that the number of retweets steadily increases from 6am until the daily high of 5pm. The number slowly decreases until about midnight when it drops off very fast.
Your 5pm Tweets have the best chance of re-tweet by your followers.
The cycles of re-tweets and click-throughs repeat every day, although the highest click-throughs happen on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. The highest number of shared link clicks happens at Noon and 6pm.
The key takeaways for this Nugget are:
1. Create a Twitter account
2. Tweet once per hour, 24/7
3. Engage. (i.e. don't just spew links, stats, or what you eat for dinner.)
4. Expect the most re-tweets on Wednesday at 5pm
5. Expect the most number of clicks on Wednesday at Noon and 6pm.
So go out and do this. The worst case scenario is that you don't attract any new customers, but all those shared links help your website SEO.
Here are those archived Daily Golden Nuggets for reference:
Nugget #98: Introduction to Twitter
http://www.jwag.biz/newsletters/2010/12/08/introduction-to-twitter.html
Nugget #99: Introduction to Listing Tweets on Your Jewelry Website
http://www.jwag.biz/newsletters/2010/12/09/-introduction-to-listing-tweets-on-your-jewelry-website.html
Nugget #100: Tweeting for Increased Sales
http://www.jwag.biz/newsletters/2010/12/10/tweeting-for-increased-sales.html
