5 Rules for Twitter Success

1. Define Your Twitter Strategy

Don’t venture into Twitter for the sake of it. Like any marketing activity, decide what you want to get out of it and be consistent. Twitter is a great tool to make instant and powerful connections, but offers endless opportunities for distraction. Don’t fall foul of those distractions - decide on your strategy and stick to it. The old faithful “Who, What, Why, When, How” can always be counted on to keep you straight.

2. Employ Tools to Help

Your Twitter strategy can be made easier using the right tools. You might want to manage multiple accounts, or deal with multiple timelines - there are tools to help. See a definitive list of Twitter applications here: http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Apps (Thanks to @marismith for the link). Use them wisely.

3. Create Your Follow Policy

Don’t waste time dithering about whether to Follow someone or not. Decide on your Follow Policy from the outset and don’t stray from that - it’ll save you lots of valuable time.

4. Be Social

A community relies on interaction between members. Don’t forget to offer value to your community and you’ll receive value in turn. Engage with as many relevant people as you can - it’ll pay dividends and enhance your Twitter experience. Remember, your social network (on Twitter and elsewhere) is part of your business capital. Make sure it gives you best value, and protect it.

5. Measure, Measure, Measure

As Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) points out “Twitter is arguably the most powerful advertising mechanism since television” - and you wouldn’t run a television ad without measuring the results. Use tools to track and measure results in the same way as any marketing campaign.