This is what the marketing model looks like when applied to social sites like Twitter.

1. Target your customers quickly and easily through Twitter

You can find and follow potential clients online very quickly by using the Advanced Twitter search feature that lets you geo-target them within a certain radius and city. With it, you can get pretty specific quickly with Twitter when it comes to reaching out to potential clients. You can also use sites like Nearby Tweets to target in on future customers with their geo-targeting and industry specific search features.

2. Build Your Twitter Followers

Once you have located and followed them, tweet about content that is helpful and informative to your potential client, and they may return the “love” and follow you back. If you badger them with sales messages, you can expect a very poor follow rate.

3. Create a Blog

Include your link on Twitter in your profile that gives people the option to dig a little deeper into what your services and products are. You do not have to set up a blog but you will get the most benefit if you do and we will discuss why in the next step. You can also use a website or your Facebook page to provide more information about your products and services. Make it easy for visitors to find your services, products, and special offers once they arrive from Twitter onto your site.

4. Write Quality Blog Content

There are plug-ins available for Word Press that allow you to tweet the title of your blog posts automatically to Twitter. The tweet will include a link back to the blog article where people can read the full blog post. Once they are on your site, that is your chance to sell to them. These Twitter posts that include your links may get retweeted to their followers which will bring your blog more traffic.

5. Track the Traffic and Results

You should be tracking and taking a look at your traffic statistics to get a good understanding of where your traffic is coming from and how much traffic you are getting. Google offers the very popular free tool known as Google Analytics to help you do this. It is very easy to set up and only takes about 10 minutes to do so. By tracking your Twitter traffic, you will see what is getting you the best results and you will be able to adjust accordingly for better results.

With consumers taking on the broadcasting role on sites like Twitter, it only makes sense to turn these broadcasters into raving fans of your products and services. When this happens, your message can go viral throughout the web. These fans will help create warm, ready to buy referrals for you, and we all know that there is nothing like getting a good prequalified referral. Those truly are the best people to sell to because they are ready to buy and buyers are what we are in this for.

This is a very interesting marketing shift because now your customers are selling to future customers, and it costs us nothing in return. Now, that is some effective advertising at great prices! Companies no longer have to spend untold hours developing elaborate impressions of their online brand. Their brand image is now being created by everyday people as they write online about their experiences. They do this as they sit in their homes, at work, and at local cafes typing away to their heart’s content on their computers offering their latest opinions, news, tips, and reviews. Social sites like Twitter are now at the forefront of this revolution, and you should do your due diligence to get involved in the shaping of your brand’s image online.

By getting involved in social media conversations, you cannot control what is said, nor the end result, but you can help shape the direction that the conversations go in and help bring about a positive outcome. Disgruntled people are everywhere, and you will not please everyone, but you will have an opportunity  to correct inaccuracies and downright lies about your products and services, and if there are any misunderstandings, you can quickly resolve these.