Everyone on Twitter has trouble building their brand at some point of time. No matter how much we read online and how much we observe others, sometimes a little nudge in the right direction goes a long way in helping us find our ground. That’s why we decided to talk to Tamara Tanney, and ask her to share some essential information about building a brand on Twitter. She’s the founder of Marketing Millennial, and is the community manager for multiple brands. She also hosts the #mrktnchat every Tuesday at 1pm ET. With so much experience on Twitter and social media strategizing, Tamara was a great guest.
Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Tamara Tanney
Topic: The Essentials of Building Your Brand on Twitter
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
You sure should. As our guest pointed out, having a personal brand lets your audience get to know you. It builds your credibility, because in the long run people buy from people they trust. Your personal account is a place for you to be transparent and share about yourself and even some behind-the-scenes content. A personal brand humanizes you, and when it compliments your business brand, you can easily build lasting relationships.
A1: Absolutely! Having a personal brand allows you a) build up even more of an audience b) share more personalized content and c) showcase the authenticity behind your brand #TwitterSmarter
— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
Nika told us about an experiment she did with her personal and business accounts. For over a year, she tried posting similar content on both her accounts and she still received more engagement and business enquiries on her personal account.
After one year of doing basically the same activities on both my business Twitter account and my personal one, my personal account had 3.5x more followers (many thousands more!), and ALL calls for new business came from my PERSONAL account (still do.) #TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 24, 2019
This just proves Lei’s point that people will always base their decisions on the personalities of the individuals behind a brand.
A1: Many consumers will form their decisions based on the character of the people behind the brand. Personal branding is crucial nowadays, offering the company a real opportunity to differentiate itself with authenticity. #TwitterSmarter
— ???_26 (@Lei_TwentySix) October 24, 2019
Most of our members said they’d keep their accounts separate, but with some crossing over. Our guest pointed out that it’s important for your business and personal audiences to know about your accounts.
A2: I keep my personal and business separate, but often cross-promote between both. It’s important to ensure your audience understands the correlation between your personal and brand profiles if you do separate them. #TwitterSmarter
— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
That way, like Mike said, you can drive business by leveraging your personal account.
A2: If you own a business, they should go together. Your personal brand actually acts as an additional avenue for promoting your business, since it becomes synonymous with you (the owner). #TwitterSmarter
— Mike Lewis (@MaverickAdverts) October 24, 2019
For example, Dan told us how influential businesses owners like Gary Vee and Elon Musk use their personal brands to promote their business causes. And so, although it helps to keep your accounts separate, it’s not a good idea to isolate them from one another.
A2 I think looking at how @elonmusk and @garyvee have driven their #business brands to digital infamy through #personal branding there is an argument leaning to the NO answer. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/3rJvLVLckZ
— Dan Willis #DOYOLive ?? (@MLLNNLmotivator) October 24, 2019
All that said, not everyone has two accounts either. This depends on your industry and the type of business you run. For instance, for Madalyn and Gene, their personal and business accounts are the same. Whether or not you choose to separate them depends on your privacy preferences and how you want to showcase yourself to the world.
A2 It’s one and the same for me. But I get that there may people who prefer a little distance between the two. I think it just comes down personal preference about privacy. Some people want more and so they might not want the two intermingled. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/bfwyyHG4mF
— Gene Petrov – LDRBRND (@LDRBRND) October 24, 2019
A2: For me, it's combined. There are times where that will work and times where it doesn't. It really depends on what your business is and how you're portraying it to the world. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/600VUuEiPR
— Madalyn Sklar ? Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) October 24, 2019
The most important thing to remember when dealing with two brands is that you should allocate time for both. Although you’ll be sharing some of the same content on both accounts, it’s important not to duplicate every single tweet. That’s why you should have separate strategies that complement each other without overlapping.
A3: Allocate time towards BOTH and ensure you have a strategy for both as well. Plan ahead of time what you are going to share on each and when. Planning is crucial my friends! #TwitterSmarter
— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
For example, as Elena said, your personal account needs to be more about you and your interests. It should serve as a way to tell people what matters to you, including your business goals, but also aside from them. This means you can (and should) talk about your hobbies, travel adventures, family matters, personal opinions about current events, and other things you’re comfortable sharing in public. Remember though, your business account isn’t a place for your kids’s photos.
A3. It helps to strategize for them separately. There may be some content that you can leverage on both, but your personality and well-roundedness as a human should come across in your personal pages. #twittersmarter
— Elena Salazar | Digital Marketer (@elenacsalazar) October 24, 2019
Managing two separate accounts means you’re spending a lot of time figuring out what to do and how. It’s understandable, and often, it’s also overwhelming. That’s when you should remember to forgive yourself. Social media takes time to perfect and it’s ok to make mistakes, as long as you’re learning from them. Here’s an excellent reminder from Maria.
A3: it’s all about trial & error & creating a cadence that works best for you to remain creative & provide value. Things will change & your energy will sometimes be placed on one bran more than the other and that’s ok! Give yourself the space to get back on track! #twittersmarter
— Maria Marchewka (@_MariaMarchewka) October 24, 2019
Certainly, and that’s probably the best approach too. It does take time to build a brand organically, but it also means you’ve built a community that willingly joined you and wants to hear from you. You’ll build your brand on credibility and long-term relationships. That lasts longer than most non-organic methods.
A4: 100%. I have built my personal brand organically. It takes more time, but it is possible. Engage with others, become part of communities, and be active! #TwitterSmarter
— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
Most of our #TwitterSmarter members have been around a long time. And that’s how they got to where they are. Growing a brand organically involves consistently showing up and being helpful to those you engage with. That’s where your reputation comes from.
Besides, when you’re buying followers, likes, and comments, even though your metrics go high for a while, people will know it’s fake and you won’t have any genuine interactions.
Bernie shared some great advice to organically build your brand: be authentic, helpful, and genuinely interested in others.
A4: Yes, you can build a personal brand organically by…
– Be patience
– Engaging
– Sharing others content
– Being Consistent
– Find your community
– Listen
– Don’t sell
– Be truthful/honest
– Be authentic#TwitterSmarter— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) October 24, 2019
A community is your safe space. Not only does it encourage you to be yourself and supports you in your endeavors, but it’s also a great way to share your expertise and establish yourself in the industry.
A5: A community allows you to engage with users in your relevant field. Communities are also a great way to showcase your authority in the space, share your knowledge, and share any updates in your space. #TwitterSmarter
— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
Here’re some more benefits of community and how it can help you:
Allows you to rally around a particular topic of interest and share your expertise.
Communities are more than what we give them credit for. And Christin explained it well. When it comes to purchasing something, we’d always choose a friend’s recommendation over an advertisement. That’s the power of community and word of mouth.
A5: Now we're talking! 🙂 Consider whether you're more interested in an ad from a brand or a personal recommendation from a friend. Communities connect people who can share with one another, as opposed to broadcast messaging from one source. VERY powerful. #TwitterSmarter
— Christin Kardos ? #CMGR ? Backseat Harley Rider (@ChristinKardos) October 24, 2019
Use paid promotion as a way to kickstart your brand. Sometimes it can be hard to extent your reach when you’re just starting out. If you have the budget for it, start small and try using some paid tactics to give you a boost. Just be careful not to rely too much on your paid engagement.
A6: Paid promotions can help give you a running start if you find you can’t get your feet off the ground. They are also good if you’re running contests or any other offers you want to boost! #TwitterSmarter
— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
Another great way to use paid tweet is to promote a campaign, a webinar, or an ebook. This way, you’ll reach an audience beyond your immediate following. It also gives you a way to target people with similar interests, spreading the word about your campaign and increasing your impressions.
Alberto gave us yet another idea: use a promoted tweet to identify new audience that might be interested in your upcoming product or services. It’s a good way to build a mailing list of potential customers.
A6
When your are building a list to find the right audience for a new product or service launch. And if you are giving away a valuable lead magnet for them.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/hw4ReMMQ0H
— Alberto Gómez ?? (@alberMoire) October 24, 2019
One of the easiest and straightforward ways to build your brand without a big budget is to focus on organic growth. As our guest said, participate in Twitter chats, respond to conversation threads, cross-promote your posts from other social platforms, share other people’s content, identify and use relevant hashtags.
A7:
– Join communities
– Join Twitter Chats
– Cross-promote
– Allocate a lot of time to engaging with others
– Start conversations
– Take advantage of keywords/hashtags #TwitterSmarter— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
Here’re a few more ideas from the rest of our community:
The biggest mistake people make is underestimating the time and effort needed to build a solid brand on Twitter. That’s why, as Tamara said, most people give up too soon. Social media is not a short-term game. It takes a lot of persistence and active engagement to achieve success.
A8: A lot of people give up too fast when they find they aren’t gaining the momentum they want. It takes time to grow your personal brand. Also, don’t set it and forget it. You have to actively engage with others! #TwitterSmarter
— Tamara ? (@itstamaragt) October 24, 2019
Here’re a plenty more mistakes that our community members shared:
Well folks, that’s all I have for this post. Do check out this comprehensive Twitter Moment Joana put together featuring more of the tweets from our chat.
If you’ve got some spare time this Thursday, join us for our next #TwitterSmarter chat at 1pm ET.
About me, Narmadhaa:
I’m a writer of all things—technical and marketing copy to fill the pocket; haiku and short stories to fill the soul. A social media enthusiast, I’m a member of the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and always happy to take on writing gigs.
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