The Newest Terms in Social Media Marketing: Tweet, Retweet and Hashtags

admin    Twitter Marketing     Hashtags, Marketing, Media, Newest, Retweet, Social, Terms, Tweet

The Newest Terms in Social Media Marketing: Tweet, Retweet and Hashtags

Perhaps you have noticed how Twitter recently gained influence to a lot of online people. Actually, it isn’t only Twitter which is getting too popular. Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn are achieving fame, too. You will hear about these online craze wherever you go. This makes other people curious. What is with these websites that makes everyone so into it? If you don’t have a Twitter account yet, why don’t you create one? You will then understand why your friends are so fascinated by it. The Social Media Marketing is so evolved now. There are several brilliant updates made that are more beneficial to its users. There are websites even made available for both recreation and business.

Take for example Twitter. It may appear boring to other people. But if you try to understand its real essence, you will appreciate how it works. In Twitter, there are terms coined to make the experience more unique and interesting. These terms are tweet, retweet and hashtags. There are actually hundreds of terms created already and new ones are still coming in. Through Twitter, people can get in touch 24×7. This facilitates exchange of ideas or information faster.    

A person is called a tweeter because of giving personal updates to his Twitter account. Right now, there are more than 14,000,000 Twitter users in the US alone. There are also millions of members from other countries. It is a great tool to share information inexpensively to other people. In order to make your followers keep their interest in you, you have to constantly give them something interesting regarding your activities. These updates are called tweets. It is called twittering whenever you post updates on Twitter. Tweets only have 140 characters or less. Whenever you tweet, you have to maximize the 140 characters allotted. So you have to perfect how to deliver your lines precise and interesting. 

If you haven’t had a Twitter account before or you are planning to create one, there are other important terms you should remember. A retweet is done when you tweet again the same quote or line of your fellow tweeter. When you retweet, you put an @ sign before the name of the person from whom you derived the tweet from. Some people use R/T or just RT before a person’s name to indicate retweeting. Retweeting is viewed as a respect to your co-tweeter. It will make them feel that their tweet is worth to be shared with others. Usually, tweeters are grateful whenever their tweets are being retweeted.

Hashtags are also significant for tweeters (e.g. #hashtag). Tweets can only be viewed by your own set of followers. If you do hashtag, you are making it possible for other people to view your tweets even though they aren’t your followers. This can help increase your followers. So, can you now understand how twittering can do well for your online advertisement? Surely, this is an important addition to your SEO strategy.

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The Newest Terms in Social Media Marketing: Tweet, Retweet and Hashtags

admin    Twitter Marketing     Hashtags, Marketing, Media, Newest, Retweet, Social, Terms, Tweet

The Newest Terms in Social Media Marketing: Tweet, Retweet and Hashtags

Perhaps you have noticed how Twitter recently gained influence to a lot of online people. Actually, it isn’t only Twitter which is getting too popular. Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn are achieving fame, too. You will hear about these online craze wherever you go. This makes other people curious. What is with these websites that makes everyone so into it? If you don’t have a Twitter account yet, why don’t you create one? You will then understand why your friends are so fascinated by it. The Social Media Marketing is so evolved now. There are several brilliant updates made that are more beneficial to its users. There are websites even made available for both recreation and business.

Take for example Twitter. It may appear boring to other people. But if you try to understand its real essence, you will appreciate how it works. In Twitter, there are terms coined to make the experience more unique and interesting. These terms are tweet, retweet and hashtags. There are actually hundreds of terms created already and new ones are still coming in. Through Twitter, people can get in touch 24×7. This facilitates exchange of ideas or information faster.    

A person is called a tweeter because of giving personal updates to his Twitter account. Right now, there are more than 14,000,000 Twitter users in the US alone. There are also millions of members from other countries. It is a great tool to share information inexpensively to other people. In order to make your followers keep their interest in you, you have to constantly give them something interesting regarding your activities. These updates are called tweets. It is called twittering whenever you post updates on Twitter. Tweets only have 140 characters or less. Whenever you tweet, you have to maximize the 140 characters allotted. So you have to perfect how to deliver your lines precise and interesting. 

If you haven’t had a Twitter account before or you are planning to create one, there are other important terms you should remember. A retweet is done when you tweet again the same quote or line of your fellow tweeter. When you retweet, you put an @ sign before the name of the person from whom you derived the tweet from. Some people use R/T or just RT before a person’s name to indicate retweeting. Retweeting is viewed as a respect to your co-tweeter. It will make them feel that their tweet is worth to be shared with others. Usually, tweeters are grateful whenever their tweets are being retweeted.

Hashtags are also significant for tweeters (e.g. #hashtag). Tweets can only be viewed by your own set of followers. If you do hashtag, you are making it possible for other people to view your tweets even though they aren’t your followers. This can help increase your followers. So, can you now understand how twittering can do well for your online advertisement? Surely, this is an important addition to your SEO strategy.

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All About Hashtags

admin    Twitter Marketing     About, Hashtags

All About Hashtags

One thing is certain: the internet world is constantly changing. This is the challenge for those of us who make a living utilizing its power. But as we keep up with the latest trends, we can come across interesting ways to capitalize on the social media front.

One example of change on the web is Twitter. Seemingly, this social site came out of nowhere and jetted right to the top of the popularity list. There are all sorts of people on Twitter, tweeting about anything and everything that comes to their minds. While many Tweeters are there strictly for social purposes, there seems to be a strong emergence of business people treading their way through the Twitterdom.

Hashtags were created to create groupings within the site; an organizational tool of sorts. They are a popular way of getting focused attention to your Tweets. Additionally, you can search hashtags to find tweets that are relevant to research you may be conducting, or just relevant to what you want to know about. For instance, if one would like to find tweets relating to article marketing, you can perform a twitter search for all tweets specific to that by searching “#article marketing”.

If you look further into the use of hashtags, you will discover that they have somewhat of a limited fan base at the moment. While their was a surge in popularity for a time, as well as a usefulness, overuse by some has caused popularity to wane. During the 2007 San Diego wildfires, hashtag use was instrumental in alerting the public to current events. They also were used as a call to action on the part of emergency services. This shows just how useful hashtags can be.

When considering the use of hashtags in your Tweets, it may be worth the time to perform a bit of research to see if your particular keyword is already being used in a hashtag thread. As you use hashtags, the key is to use them sparingly and to use them when you really want something to be followed. By looking around a little bit on Twitter, it is easy to find users who hashtag just about every Tweet they type. Really, nobody wants to read “I had the most amazing #chocolate #milkshake from #Carl’s Jr. today!”
Remember, Twitter asks a simple question: “What are you doing?” Answer the question; use natural keywords, use hashtags sparingly when you really want to drive home a point or call attention to something. Some of the things that hashtags are good for are emergency situations or natural disasters, as proved in 2007. Hashtags can also be used when tweeting quotes from others. “Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds.”~Albert Einstein #quote
Hashtags may have their place, but Twitter IS a social media site directed at fulfilling peoples’ curiosity about one another in the here and now. Part of using social media in your business is to gain visibility…and familiarity. Overuse of hashtags can make your posts seem aimed not at the individual, but at the inner workings of the site itself.

Don’t lose sight of the other benefits of social media marketing. Pairing high touch with high tech is the way to build an enormous following. Hashtags, used sparingly, can be a part of your Twitter life, but shouldn’t take over the personal touch.

How to Utilize Existing Hashtags

admin    Twitter Marketing     Existing, Hashtags, Utilize

How to Utilize Existing Hashtags

Because hashtags tend to quickly spread  and  since Twitter users typically search hashtags for content from people they aren’t following, using hashtags can be a great way to widen your twitter reach and connect with your current audience in a more meaningful way.  Currently, there are a wide variety of already established hashtags as well as new ones created every day which you can join.  However, be careful that you use of hashtags is consistent with both your brand and the tag itself.

So which tags should you participate in? That depends soley on your business and your Twitter using purpose.  As an example, it’s most likely a bad idea to participate in the #nintendovsXBOX hashtag if you own a fitness club and use Twitter to offer customer service to members. But if you own a record shop, you’ll more than likely want to join in the #mondaymusic hashtag, where users tweet about what music they’re listening to and suggest other musically-inclined users to follow every Monday.  Alternatively, if you own a restaurant, why not tweet out your specials or some recipes on #tastytuesday.

Check out sites like Twubs, a hashtag directory, and What The Trend? a wiki site that attempts to explain what certain hashtags (and other Twitter trends) actually mean.  These are key in locating and identifying targeted hashtags that make sense in using for your business. Also, pay attention to tags being used by your followers and search for them on Twitter so that you can assess the nature of tweets associated with those tags. If it makes sense for your business to jump on board, compose tweets that are on topic and compatible with that hashtag.

How To Utilize Twitter Hashtags for Small Business

admin    Twitter Marketing     Business, Hashtags, Small, Twitter, Utilize

How To Utilize Twitter Hashtags for Small Business

Avid Twitter users are fastly learning the tweeting lingo as Twitter become more prevalent in the business community.  You’re likely already noticed tweets that contain a word with the hash symbol (”#”) attached along with it.  This is known as a “hashtag,” and at any given time at least one of them can usually be found among the trending topics on Twitter. So what exactly is a hashtag and how does it relate to business?

Hashtags are essentially an easy way for cataloging and connecting tweets on a given topic, such as internet marketing or social networking.  They facilitate the means by which users search for additional tweets on these targeted topics while at the same time filtering out all the incidental tweets that could just coincidentally contain the same keyword.  Hashtags are also often used by event and conference planners as a method to keep all tweets about an event in a single stream, much like Gmail groups emails together in a feed.  In fact, hashtags were initially popularized during the San Diego wildfire of 2007, when the tag #sandiegofires was used to find tweets about the natural disaster.

Unfortunately, hashtags have become a vehicle for spam as their overall popularity has increased.  As a general rule, you should never use a hashtag on a tweet unrelated to that tag, nor should you stuff your tweets with currently popular hashtags with the sole purpose of appearing in Twitter search results.  Several small businesses have attempted this, often to their own peril.   Proper etiquette dictates that you should only use hashtags if your tweet is actually relevant to the tag’s associated meme or topic.

How to Start and Track Your Own Twitter Hashtags

admin    Twitter Marketing     Hashtags, Start, Track, Twitter

How to Start and Track Your Own Twitter Hashtags

Twitter hashtags can be very helpful for small business as a way to track social media campaigns or create memes which help to establish a sense of community.  However, you certainly shouldn’t use hashtags to describe all of your tweets as that can clutter your messages and be perceived as spam.  The first step in creating your hashtag is deciding as a tag word itself.  Choose something relatable, memorable, easy to spell, and more importantly, as short as possible.  Keep in mind that Twitter only allows for 140 characters per tweet, so no one wants half of it to be taken up by an unwieldy hashtag.

After figuring out the tag itself, start using it and promoting it in your ongoing activity. Assure that your tweets using the hashtag are worthwhile to read and which add value to the conversation. Promote your tag or the social media campaign that uses the tag using related social media channels, such as your blog or email newsletter.  Send tweets about calls to action explaining your new tag at regular intervals without overdoing it.  For example, if you own a bookstore you could run a Twitter contest to give out a gift card to your store.  Your explanatory tweet might say, “What’s your favorite summer reading material? Tweet using #beachreads to win a 0 gift certificate to Al’s World of Books!”

Of course, now that you have people using your new hashtag, you need to be able to keep on top of it so you can respond to participants. One of the simplest ways to track hashtags is by using Twitter Search.  You can watch people using your hashtag (or any other tag you want to track) in real-time, and subscribe to an RSS feed of the results.  TweetGrid and Monitor are two other good web-based dashboards for performing real-time Twitter hashtag searches.

What Are Twitter Hashtags and How Do You Use Them?

admin    Twitter Marketing     Hashtags, Them, Twitter

What Are Twitter Hashtags and How Do You Use Them?

If you’re new to Twitter, you may feel inundated by the tidbits of people’s lives streaming by (especially if you’ve found a number of folks to “follow” already).  By now you’ve read lots of “Tweets” and clicked the various links people have posted, but you may be wondering what those hashtags are about.  You know, the words or phrases smashed together after a # symbol. Well here’s an explanation of the Twitter hashtags (no geek-speak used):

Essentially, they’re a way of organizing information and making it easy for people to find what they’re looking for on Twitter.  It’s a bit like categorizing your recipe box #stews, #cookies, #cakes, #secretBBQsauces, etc. etc. etc.  So if you see someone sticking #startrek at the end of their tweet, they’re just letting folks know their comment or link belongs in the Star Trek section of their Twitter “recipe box.”

Twitter hashtags that don’t make sense?

What if you see someone using a tag and can’t, for the life of you, figure out what it’s in reference to?  You can either file it into the ‘how important can it be anyway?’ camp, or you can look it up to find out.  Sites such as whatthetrend.com and tagal.us can show you what hashtags are being used (or have been used in the past) and what they mean.

Why would you want to use hashtags?

Ahh, the big question.  What’s in it for you?  Can’t you tweet on Twitter just fine without throwing hashtags into your already limited writing space?  Sure you can.  But just in case you want to try them out, here are a couple reasons: Basically, hash tags make it easier for folks to find your tweets.  There are all sorts of search sites out there that help connect Twitter users.  Let’s say you’re a fantasy fiction fan who can’t get enough of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and other speculative fiction novels, and you want to meet other Twitter users with the same interest.  If you’ve ever tried to search for “fantasy” online, you know you’re as likely to get fantasy football sites as you are to find sites devoted to the genre (and we won’t even get into the other “fantasies” people talk about online).  Now if you head over to a Twitter search engine such as twitterfall.com or search.twitter.com and type in #fantasy, as opposed to just “fantasy,” you’ll only get tweets from folks who have tagged their posts #fantasy.  I can’t promise that you won’t still find some, uhm, questionable tweets that way, but I’ve had much better luck than by simply searching fantasy (the football people usually use the #football hash tag).

Also, if you were writing about Harry Potter books and it wasn’t natural to use the word fantasy in the sentence, you could tag it with the #fantasy hashtag at the end, and people could still find your tweet by searching for fantasy.

How to use Twitter hashtags

Okay, you’re sold on them now. Or at least, you’re thinking of trying hashtags once or twice.  How do you use them? It’s pretty easy.  For obvious ones, just add #yourtag somewhere in the Tweet (people often put them at the end, but there are no rules).  If you’re not sure what the most popular hashtag convention is, you can check the search sites I mentioned above to see what other people Tweeting in that area are using (since space is limited, people usually go for short tags).

You can also start your own.  Perhaps you’re talking about a new event, meetup, convention, etc. and part of the reason you’re tweeting is to advertise it.  You can announce it into existence to inform other folks from the event, meetup, etc. what the official hashtag is going to be.

i.e. on Twitter, you might post:

Portland Science Fiction Lovers Meetup members, let’s categorize our tweets with the #PdxSFMeet hashtag.

Easy peasy!  Just play around on Twitter and with the search sites, and you’ll get the hang of hashtags in no time.

How To Use Twitter Hashtags: A Guide For Internet Marketers

admin    Twitter Marketing     Guide, Hashtags, Internet, Marketers, Twitter

The use of hashtags in Twitter messages is growing in popularity. Hashtags (i.e. the “#” sign) can be attached to a keyword and added to a tweet message so that it and all other messages with the same #keyword attached can be looked up and read together.

A sure sign that this method of logging tweets is having an impact on the Twitter membership is that there is now a website that is dedicated to it, Hashtags.org. The website lists all the assorted #tags that are currently in use on Twitter.

Twitter members can easily start to utilize hashtags in their own tweets. They are best used if you want to post a regular flow of notifications and have a way to look them all up in a single search. Simply remember include a hashtag in the body of the message.

What exactly do you use these tags for? One important function they serve is to keep a group informed about plans for events and so forth. Hashtags can also be used by Internet business owners who want to inform customers about products and services. Let your client base know about your tags, and you’ll provide them with a handy method of following your tweets.

So the next question this raises is, where is the best place to look them up? Twitter recently bought a search tool called Summize and has incorporated it into their site at: search.twitter.com/. That is now the best place to run your searches for keywords with or without hashes.

Here are some ways to get the best use out of your Twitter hashtags.

Tip 1. Follow Twitter.com/hashtags and they’ll automatically follow you back and start tracking your hashtags for you.

Tip 2. As you will want to use hash tags to promote your website posts, make sure the word or phrase you use is unique to you. Go to http://hashtags.org/ to see if you’re preferred hashtag is already being used for other posts.

Tip 3. 140 characters is not a lot to play around with so keep your hashtags as short as you can.

Tip 4. Google lists Twitter tweets, so it makes sense to use relevant keywords as your hashtags, particularly if your message features a link back to your internet site or web log.

In Conclusion, a note of caution. Use #hashtags with discretion when you tweet. Don’t alienate your readership by peppering every tweet with multiple hashes. Not everybody likes them and some individuals have developed a strong antipathy to them, while others who claim to hate them use them in their “I hate #hashtags” tweets!

In short, try to avoid using more than one hashtag per post. As long as you use them with circumspection, you will find hashtags a useful tool when networking with Twitter.

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Twitter Hashtags

admin    Twitter Marketing     Advantages, Disadvantages, Hashtags, Twitter, Using

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that was originally launched in March of 2006 and has since grown into a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices. Twitter enables users to stay in touch and share information with each other in real time. Users can use a maximum of 140 characters per message or “tweet” as they are called. You can tweet as little or as often as you want, as long as each individual tweet does not exceed 140 characters.

Once you have joined Twitter, you can use their search tool to find specific people, companies, and their tweets. Hashtags are an effective method of allowing users to sort topics into useful categories to revisit later. Hashtags are a community-driven convention for users to provide add additional context and other relevant info to their tweets. The basic structure of a hashtag is simple: it’s the pound sign (#) followed by an acronym or word.

Twitter didn’t itself create hashtags; they were borrowed from IRCs (i.e. Internet Relay Channels such as chat rooms). Rather, the Twitter community adopted them as a means of creating “groupings” on the service without having to alter the basic service itself.

The Twitter community uses a hashtag in front of frequently used terms in order to categorize them for searches and filtering. So, when talking about an iPod for example, people might also reference “#Apple.” If you’re looking for company specific news that’s happened recently or what’s being said about a company’s product, the hashtags can be very helpful.

Using hashtags to search Twitter for specific information is now even easier since the company purchased the search engine Summize in July of 2008. Twitter can now track hashtags itself at search.twitter.com. The engine tracks keywords too, which makes hashtags not quite as necessary for trend tracking as they were in the past. Nonetheless, they still possess unique advantages. For example, you know that anyone tagging their tweet with one of these acronyms means for it to get categorized within that topic. It also serves as a visual indicator to others following their Twitter stream that they’re tweeting about a particular subject.

One of the potential disadvantages of hashtags is their very popularity. Hashtags are so prevalent on Twitter these days that it can be hard to keep track of them all as well as what they mean. However, there is a resource available that can assist with this as well. Tagalus is a service that acts like a dictionary for hashtags. Tagalus enables users vote on definitions for tags if there’s more than one version. The definition with the most votes will be the one that defines the tag. If you invent any new tags or just want to help build the resource, you can send a tweet to @tagalus to suggest a meaning for a tag. The format for doing so is as follows:

@tagalus define mynewtag as a new tag that describes everything about me

You can also use Tagalus to provide you with a meaning for an already existing tag. The format for this is @tagalus define ____ (fill in the tag that you want the definition for).

Twitter Marketing: 6 Steps to Creating a Viral Marketing Campaign with Twitter Hashtags

admin    Twitter Marketing     Campaign, Creating, Hashtags, Marketing, Steps, Twitter, Viral

Copyright (c) 2009 OnlineBizU.com

Twitter, as a popular social networking platform, is a viral marketing strategy all on its own, especially if your followers like your tweets and retweet them to their followers. However, I’ve recently noticed another trend in Twitter usage that increases its viral marketing capabilities through the use of hashtags.

What’s a hashtag, anyway? Also called the pound sign, the hashtag (#) is added to a tweet as a way of creating trackable categories, groups, or topics that others can use to search for info using the Twitter Search feature. One of the most common uses of the hashtag is to tweet what’s happening at an event or conference. The event organizer will request all attendees use a specific hashtag, i.e. #yourevent, when tweeting about the event to your followers. So, then, someone who isn’t present at the event but wants to follow what’s happening there can simply search for #yourevent and see what’s going on and what participants are saying and sharing about the event.

Anyone can create a hashtag by putting hashtag (#) in front of anything. If you log into Twitter and look in the right-hand column, you’ll see the Trending Topics, many of which can be tracked with a hashtag. How can you use this strategy to create more viral marketing for your business on Twitter? By creating a hashtag Twitter tips campaign.

Here are 6 steps to help you create your own Twitter hashtag campaign:

1. Research. What kinds of tips would be appreciated by your target market? On what topics do you frequently receive questions from your clients? My target market is always asking questions about getting more traffic, so I decided to focus on traffic generation strategies.

2. Choose your name. Choose a short, simple name that reflects your brand and what you’re offering. Before making your final decision, you need to check your proposed name on Twitter Search (search by including the #) to ensure that no one else is using that name. Otherwise, your tweeted tips will intermingle with the other hashtag group using that name. I quickly checked and discovered that no one was using #OBUTrafficTip, so that’s what I chose.

3. Create your tips. You can easily pick your tips out of an article or blog post you’ve created. In my case, I had purchased a PLR ebook that I used as a basis for my tips. Remember that your tips need to be less than 140 characters, including the hashtag name you’ve chosen and any links you include.

4. Link to relevant info. You get the most mileage out of these tips if you link the tips to something relevant to that tip. For example, if you have a bank of articles, each tip might link to an article you’ve written that has more details about the tip. For maximum exposure, you’ll want to link to info on your site or your blog rather than to the posting of an article in an article directory.

5. Upload the tips into TweetLater.com. This type of campaign is easily managed using TweetLater.com. Simply upload your completed tips and set them to distribute once a day or (several times a week) over the upcoming weeks by postdating them into the future. In this way you put these tips on autopilot and they post themselves.

6. Let them begin to work their magic. It may take awhile for them to catch on, but eventually others will begin to retweet your tips as useful information they want their followers to access. As with most marketing strategies, consistence is the key here to your success.

It’s pretty easy to begin your own viral marketing tips campaign using the Twitter hashtag. Simply follow the steps as outlined above, and watch as your number of Twitter follows grows each day!