Twitter Strategy to Drive Massive Website Traffic You Need To Know
In today’s post, I’ll show you how to use one Twitter strategy to drive insane amounts of visitors to your website or readers to your blog.
…even if you’re new or have never used Twitter seriously before.
But first, let me talk about why Twitter works so well.
Why Twitter is the perfect content promotion platform
One of the most common questions I get is “Why Twitter?” According to Practical Ecommerce, there are 91 leading social networks in the world. Why is Twitter so special?
Three reasons:
Twitter is a micro-blogging platform – unlike other social networks, Twitter was built to share news and updates from you or your company. Twitter users expect to receive them – that’s why they followed you in the first place.
Twitter wants you to leave it – Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+ and all the other social networks want you to spend more time in them. On the other hand, Twitter expects you to leave it. The entire platform was built to send people to other websites.
You can promote your content without being spammy – when done right, you can promote your content over and over again without seeming spammy (something most social networks don’t allow you to do).
In simpler words, Twitter is the perfect content promotion channel.
And I’m surprised at the number of bloggers who claim Twitter doesn’t work. It just means they aren’t using it right.
The Reason Many People Fail With Twitter
If you’ve been using Twitter without success, let me tell you something…
It isn’t your fault.
You aren’t stupid.
You’re failing because the industry is full of bad advice. Many so-called experts are preaching tips that don’t work.
“Find people to follow. Some of them will follow you back.”
“Share valuable content.”
“Show up regularly” – They say.
And even though those tips might seem actionable, they won’t help you succeed. Why?
Simple: They help you build the wrong type of audience. I mean, an audience of non-engaged followers who don’t care about what you have to say causing you losing Twitter followers.
The KEY to successful Twitter Marketing is to build the RIGHT audience.
Think about it:
If you build an audience of people who 1) are interested in what you have to say and 2) tend to engage with content in your industry, Twitter will become a profitable marketing channel.
Just think about what Seth Godin said in his book “All Marketers Are Liars” “Marketing succeeds when enough people with similar worldviews come together in a way that allows marketers to reach them cost-effectively.”
A targeted, engaged Twitter following allows you to do exactly what Seth says.
Now the obvious question is:
How can you build an engaged Twitter following?
A Twitter Strategy That Really Works
Since Twitter launched in 2006, the typical advice to getting more followers has been: “Follow people in hopes they follow you back.”
And the truth is, that advice works like magic.
According to one experiment, around 15% of the people you follow will follow you back. This means that for every 100 people you follow, you’ll earn 15 new followers.
Follow 1,000 people a day (which is Twitter’s limit) and you’ll get around 150 new followers. This is, of course, a fast way to grow, don’t you think?
But I see a HUGE problem with that approach.
You’re attracting the wrong kind of people; followers who don’t click your links, share your tweets or buy your products.
You could have 1 million followers, and they would be worthless.
Now, what if I tell you there is a simple Twitter strategy to attract the right kind of users? Better yet, a method to grow insanely fast?
Instead of following average users, you follow only those users who are most likely to enjoy your content. How? By using this Twitter strategy that intercepts them when they’re sharing your competitors’ content.
Let me explain:
If someone shares one of your competitors’ blog posts, it means two things:
- That person likes your topic
- That person tends to share and engage with content in your industry
Attract that kind of user, and you’ll build a targeted following who will share and interact with every post you publish.
Do you want me to show you how to do it?
Here’s how:
1: Create a list of popular bloggers in your industry
Remember, you need to intercept users at the moment they’re sharing your competitors’ content. So, if you don’t know who your competitors are, you’re screwed.
But don’t worry, here’s a surefire way to find them: “Best of " blog posts.
“Best of” blog posts are lists of the most popular sites in a specific industry. For instance, “The Best SEO Blogs,” or “The Top 100 SMM Blogs.”
blogger outreach twitter strategy
These lists are the perfect place to find your competitors.
All you need to do is head over to Google and type in one of the following search strings:
"Best [your keyword] blogs" "Best [your keyword] blogs" + current year intitle: best blogs + your keyword
Then Google will show you all the articles that contain those patterns.
Google research for Twitter strategy
Once you find a “best of” blog post, just analyze the list and add the sites that seem promising to this Google Spreadhseet.
competitors research twitter strategy
Note: You should be able to find these lists on almost any kind of industry or niche.
2: Find your competitors’ Twitter handle
Open your spreadsheet, create a new column, and name it “Twitter handle.”
competitor monitoring twitter strategy
Use it to save the Twitter handles you find.
Here are three effective ways to find them:
a) Look for a “follow me” section on their sites
The easiest way to find your competitors’ Twitter accounts is by looking at their sites. Most of them will have a “follow me” section on their sidebars or at the top of their website.
social follows twitter strategy
b) About or Contact pages
If you can’t find a “follow me” section, take a look at their “about” or “contact me” pages,”- that’s a common place to put a Twitter account.
c) Use Google
If the two options above didn’t work, try to find them on Google. You can use the following search strings:
"Competitor name" + Twitter
"Blog name" + Twitter
If you can’t find a competitor’s Twitter account with one of the three options above, it probably means that person doesn’t use Twitter. Skip that competitor and try with the next in your list.
Once you have a list of Twitter handles in place, you can jump to the next step.
3: Intercept people when they’re sharing your competitor’s content
Once you’ve a list of competitors in place, it’s time to find their most raving fans and “steal” them.
The best way to “intercept” them is by using Twitter’s Advanced Search.
Here’s how:
a) Find mentions
In the section called “Mentioning these accounts” type in one (or several) of your competitors’ Twitter handles. For instance, let’s say one of my competitors is Robbie Richards. In that case, I would type in @RobbieRichMktg.
Now click “search,” and Twitter will show you all the people who shared content from that person or blog. Make sure to follow them – these are the type of followers you want to attract.
b) Intercept conversations
In this option, you’ll try to find people who started a conversation with one of your competitors.
So again, in the section called “To these accounts,” type in one (or several) of your competitors’ Twitter handles. Then click “Search.”
Now follow all the people you see.
Note: Try to follow at least 40-50 people a day.
By repeating this process every day, you’ll be able to build a solid following within 90 days or less. And when I say “solid,” I mean a group of raving fans who will happily interact with every post you share.
Bonus: Automate it
If you don’t want to spend 1-2 hours per day doing this, this Twitter growth service will help you get Twitter followers on autopilot.
4: Drive people to your blog
The purpose of the first two steps of this Twitter strategy is to help you build a solid following, now it’s time leverage it. How? By promoting your content.
Here are two smart ways to do it:
a) Turn blog posts into quotes
Take 5 to 10 of your most popular blog posts and break them down into quotes.
Don’t think too much about it. Just grab any sentence you like and turn it into a quote (and, of course, add a link back to your blog).
So open a Google Spreadsheet and organize all your quotes in there. Aim for at least 60 or 70 different quotes. You’ll use them to drive people to your blog without being too repetitive.
b) Share other people’s content (but do it this way)
If your own content isn’t enough to come up with 100 quotes, you can leverage other people’s content.
But instead of sharing the original links, use Snip.ly.
Snip.ly is a tool that allows you to overlay your own message onto any website. This allows you to get traffic even if you are promoting a competitor’s blog post.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use Snip.ly the right way.
Once you have at least 100 quotes in place, you’re almost done with this Twitter Strategy.
5: Automate your Twitter strategy
I mean, come on, nobody likes to spend 2 to 3 hours turning blog posts into quotes, right?
Well, here’s where PostPlanner comes in handy.
PostPlanner has a unique feature called “requeue.”
This feature allows you to automate your content promotion the right way.
You only need to grab the quotes from your spreadsheet, upload them to PostPlanner, and voila; the tool will share the quotes over and over again.
This way, you’ll always have fresh content on your account. And since you’ve built a targeted following, people will engage with every quote you share.
It’s the perfect funnel, don’t you think?
Karen is a senior technical writer and copywriter here at GrowFollowing. Her area of expertize are social media apps and new media.