Our Security Gear Can Save Thanksgiving: How To Be A Relevant Tweeter

Whether or not you've commenced eye rolling at investors rushing to buy shares in Twitter's IPO, you should be using its service. Recently KJB has introduced hashtags to help dealers tap into the rapid flow of conversation happening on the fastest growing social media site (read more here and here.) We know Dealers use hashtags for our brand names such #Sleuthgear and #ZoneShield and that's great, but it's not enough. So we thought a little Hashtag 101 was in order. First, to answer the question, "what is a hashtag?" A hashtag is a search term. Like when you surf Google and type in "Chicken and biscuits near Nashville," Twitter users are searching for their breakfast by typing in the hashtag "#chickenandbiscuitsnearnashville" The '#' tells Twitter to consider the following unbroken line of characters (i.e. no spaces) a searchable term. 

A Twitter search will net a user a lot more truth. While the chicken and biscuit place has more control over what's said on Google (especially if they advertise with search words) they have almost no control over the unvarnished opinions rolling from a tweeter's fingertips. That sounds scary right? Not really… consider the fact that customers were already talking about you behind your back. Words over water coolers have about the same shelf life as random tweets. Now you just know what they are saying. 

So how do you make this conversation work for you? Thats where KJB's hashtag campaign comes in. By all means, keep tagging Zone Shield and SleuthGear but realize it's only reaching the eyeballs of people who already know the product. The goal is to snag the attention of new people. Pretend you're at a Superbowl party thrown by a guy you'd really like to impress. Marching up to the dude and name dropping your brand is probably not an effective way to impress him. Instead you'd find out what he's talking about, simultaneously sort your thoughts, then relevantly inject your products into the conversation. In this analogy Twitter is the Superbowl party, all of its users are the guy throwing the party, and the hashtag is the conversation. 

Here's an example, instead of the Superbowl it's the Thanksgiving table: About a week before Thanksgiving everyone in America is going to vent their frustrations with impending family visits on social media. They'll most likely tweet about it with some version of the hashtag #ThanksgivingHassle. How do you make yourself relevant in that conversation? 

Like this:

Now a significant chunk of people tweeting #ThanksgivingHassle have just seen that you offer a product that might help them… at the very least it'll make them smile. Congratulations, you got the eyeballs of the people who didn't already know about your products - which is what the most effective marketing does. 

By the way, even if you cut out loudmouth sales tweeting don't decide that your new strategy is to type a constant stream of consciousness. This makes you the Twitter equivalent of the weird Thanksgiving relative muttering in the corner. 

Use these wider hashtags to get into the conversation and out of the corner. In addition to reminding our Dealers about relevant conversations, KJB also promises to retweet at least two of your own tweets every time you use the hashtags we suggest. The value here is that your feed becomes more relevant and stays higher in the larger conversation. All of sudden everyone at the table starts listening to you. Be relevant, be funny, be conversational and everyone on Twitter will keep listening. 

Now pass those chicken and biscuits down here please.

For news and tips on the evolving world of social marketing check out these links:
Four Tips for Tapping Into Twitter Conversations
How To Be Relevant On Twitter Without The Help Of Influencers