Do you want to promote ClickBank Products Using Twitter, but you aren’t sure where to start? This blog delves into the nitty gritty of how it’s done.
What is Twitter, and How Can It Help You Promote ClickBank Products?
Social media has quickly become the easiest and fastest method of generating targeted exposure for ClickBank promotions. Participating in the most effective social networks, and using them correctly, will lead to an increase in conversions and boost your ClickBank sales.
With new social networking sites popping up every day, it can be difficult to determine which ones are worth your investment of time and effort. That’s why today, I’m going to make your life a bit easier. After spending thousands of hours in hundreds of different social networking communities and tracking where my traffic and sales are coming from, I can tell you without a doubt that Twitter has produced the best results for my business.
What Is Twitter, You Ask?
It’s hard to say, really. Twitter means different things to different people. To some people, it’s simply another form of a chat room, public instant messaging, or a virtual water cooler. To others, it’s a place to network with like-minded individuals, connect with customers, and attract joint venture partners.
The technical term that is often used to describe Twitter is ‘micro blogging.’ Each ‘tweet’ is a 140-character blog post. It’s quick and to the point. That’s part of the appeal to many Twitter users, which makes it important for you to understand that you need to provide value within each tweet that you make.
Why Should You Use Twitter?
Connect with Customers and Joint Venture Partners
Twitter allows me to build trust and enhance the relationship that I have with my customers. It’s one more way that I can erase any skepticism they may have in regards to my credibility and the value of my products.
Twitter has also become the easiest and fastest way for me to connect with industry leaders. There have been times where dozens of emails and phone calls failed to reach my prospective JV partner, but one simple tweet did the trick.
Increase Traffic to your Blog and Web Sites
When you are posting valuable content in your tweets and becoming a resource to your followers on Twitter, you can guarantee that they will be clicking on links in your profile and eagerly looking to learn more from you.
When you create a blog post, it is acceptable to announce it on Twitter. Having a catchy title and intriguing first few words of the post will increase click-throughs to your blog post. I recommend that you automate your blog posts to appear as tweets by using Twitterfeed.
Another example of leveraging Twitter is inviting your followers on Twitter to listen in on Webcasts where you are interviewing an expert in your niche.
Get More Incoming Links to your Site
Each tweet is its own unique page on the Web. When you include links to your blog posts, product review pages, or Web sites, you are receiving inbound links to each of those sites. Incoming links mean more traffic, both from direct visits and improved rankings in search engines.
How to Get Started With Twitter
Step 1: Choose a Name (Twitter ID) and Update Your Avatar and Profile
You should decide whether you want to brand yourself, your persona, or your company’s brand on Twitter. Your decision should be based on who you intend to communicate with on Twitter. You may choose to have a Twitter account for your own name, where you communicate with fellow marketers, and have a separate account for your product brand that you use to communicate with your customers.
It’s important to edit your profile with useful information, such as your blog address and a short blurb about yourself explaining how you can help your target audience. Add a picture to your profile immediately. Using the default Twitter avatar can make you seem like a spammer. When you have an avatar that displays your smiling face, it becomes much more inviting to engage in conversation with you.
Step 2: Begin to Tweet
You can start off by mentioning that you are trying to figure this ‘Twitter thing’ out and then share a bit about yourself. Follow that up with some resourceful tips that would pique the interest of your target audience. It’s a great practice to ask questions in your tweets as well. The feedback you get from your followers will expose you to new ideas and tools you’d never have found on your own.
Step 3: Start Following People
When you follow someone on Twitter, all of their tweets will appear in your timeline. You will see the discussions they are engaged in, as well as who they are communicating with. You should follow people who share similar interests with you. After all, you need something in common to talk about
Use the Twitter search tool to find like-minded people to follow. Visit http://search.twitter.com and type in your area of interest. Let’s say that your niche is gardening. Once you type ‘gardening’ into the search box, a list of everyone that has been tweeting about gardening recently will appear. Within that list you’ll find potential customers, as well as other experts in the gardening niche.
In addition to following these individuals, I recommend that you click on their avatar and check out their profile. If they have a link to a blog or Web site, check it out to learn more about them. Then I recommend that you send them a tweet mentioning that you checked out their blog and really enjoyed their recent post, or something along those lines.
Step 3.5: “@” People
You can direct a tweet at someone in one of two ways. You can either direct message them, in which case they will be the only person that views your tweet. Alternatively, you can use the @ symbol and make your tweet public. For example, let’s say the Twitter ID of the person you are sending the message to is ‘gardenguru.’ Your tweet would look something like this: @gardenguru I’m looking forward to learning more about you. Your recent blog post was outstanding!
This tweet would be made public for everyone to see, and because you started off your tweet with the @gardenguru your tweet will appear in the replies section of @gardenguru’s Twitter page. The benefit of making your tweet public, rather than a direct message, is that everyone will see that you are indeed on Twitter to network and aren’t just a self-promoter.
Step 4: Engage in Conversation
When someone posts a question, comment, or statement in a tweet and you have an opinion, share it with them. If ‘gardenguru’ is looking for the best fertilizer to use for his watermelons, you should respond by tweeting: @gardenguru I’ve been growing watermelons for years and found brand x to be the best.
You have now become a resource for ‘gardenguru’ with one simple tweet! Also, other Twitter users will have viewed your useful tweet, making you more of an expert in their eyes.
One of the best ways to learn how to get the most out of Twitter is to follow people who are using it effectively and learn from the conversations that they are having. After you sign up to Twitter, feel free to follow my tweets by visiting www.Twitter.com/TheFitB and clicking on the follow button. Send me a tweet letting me know that you found out about me through the ClickBank community, and be sure to let me know how I can be of help to you.
Twitter Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs
Twitter is all about conversing and building relationships with like-minded people, whether they are customers or joint venture partners. If you are using Twitter for blatant self-promotion, you may make some sales of the ClickBank products that you promote, but you will quickly be ignored by the Twitter community and lose out on the massive benefits that Twitter has to offer.
In my previous two posts, I shared the reasons why you should use Twitter as a means of promoting ClickBank products, as well as how to get started. Today I’ll share the most effective strategies for incorporating your promotions through Twitter, including the most important “Do’s” and “Don’ts.”
Your goal in using Twitter should be to become a valued resource in your niche. Ideally, you’ll become a resource for both potential customers and other experts in your niche. Offering a little bit of help can go a long way toward this goal. On the other hand, if all you do is include links to products in every tweet, you are setting yourself up for failure.
So how do you strike the perfect balance between promoting ClickBank products and providing useful information on Twitter? Understanding these fundamentals can mean the difference between turning on customers and joint venture partners and turning them off. Let’s start with the “don’ts” of Twitter.
Twitter Turn-Offs
- Every tweet that you do has a link to a product or your blog posts.
- Not engaging in any form of conversation. If I visit your Twitter profile page and I don’t see any form of conversation with other Twitter users, it’s likely that I won’t follow you because I can see you’re not really participating in the community.
- You are still using the default Twitter avatar. This gives the sense that you could be a Twitter spam-bot, rather than a real person.
- You’re following 2,000 people and only 10 people are following you. If you have followed that many people and only a handful have followed you back, it’s proof enough for me that you are not a useful resource.
- Neglecting to respond when someone begins a conversation with you. If you visit your replies box and see that I asked how your recent product promotion was going and you don’t respond to me, chances are that I will not try to engage in conversation with you again.
Twitter Turn-Ons
- An inviting profile page, including a vibrant avatar picture of yourself and an intriguing bio that makes me want to learn more about you.
- You are engaging in conversation 80 percent of the time. If I visit your profile page and see that the majority of your tweets begin with @twittername, it’s a sign that you are regularly communicating with others.
- Sharing resources. I once heard someone refer to Twitter as a global Rolodex. It’s a place to discover amazing resources that are working for others. Join in the sharing. When you come across a helpful tool or service, let your followers on Twitter know about it. They’ll look to you in the future as a good resource, increasing your stature in their minds.
- Twitter Shout Outs! This can be done in many ways. If you really enjoy my tweets, do a tweet yourself, saying, “If you are not following @TheFitB do so now, he’s a great fat loss resource.” You’d better believe that you’ll catch my attention with that and get some reciprocation.
This last point is one of the biggest potential benefits of Twitter, so I’ll explain it a little more thoroughly. What do you think would happen if I responded in a tweet, saying, “@yourtwitterid I appreciate your kind words, I see that you are an expert in my niche as well. It’s great to see you helping others succeed.” I’ll tell you what would happen. You would get a bunch of my followers following you!
You may not be able to get a guru in your niche to send out an email promotion for your product to their list, but when you use Twitter effectively, you can get them to bring their followers’ attention to you and the work that you do.
How To Incorporate Promotions Into Your Tweets Without Turning People Off
If you follow the 80/20 rule, you’ll do just fine. If you restrict promotions to just 20 percent of your tweets, your chances of turning those tweets into sales are much greater. One key reason is trust. Another key reason is that you have proven to be a useful resource with your free advice. If your tips have helped them out and you are now recommending that your followers check out a product that would be helpful to them, chances are good that they will click on it.
I spend most of my time engaging in conversation, and then when it’s time for me to work out, I’ll post a tweet mentioning that I’m about to hit the gym for a great workout and provide a link to a blog post review that I did for that workout program. I don’t send them directly to a sales page through my ClickBank link. Instead, I provide them with more information to help them decide if the workout program that I’m following would be the right fit for them as well. At that point, they can click on my ClickBank affiliate link to check out the program. Chances are much higher that they will purchase at this point than if I had just posted a link to a pitch page with no explanation.
Sometimes Twitter users will come right out and ask if anyone knows of a great product to solve a certain problem. This is a great opportunity to share your affiliate link for a product that you believe would be of great help to them. The more respected you are as a resource to your Twitter followers, and the more trust you earn from them, the greater the chance that they will purchase the products you recommend.
And Always Return the Favor
Be sure to return the favor, as well. If you purchase a product because someone recommended it to you, be sure to tweet them and let them know. I have discovered some pretty awesome products because of people I’m following on Twitter. I let them know that they deserve the commission for helping me make a wise purchasing decision.
Twitter really is a worldwide Rolodex at your fingertips. It will help you and your business in more ways that you can imagine. Use it effectively, and you can harness the power of its true potential.
Scott Tousignant of www.unstoppablefatloss.com harnesses the power of social media to help bring him closer to his goal of reversing the nationwide obesity trend by 2015. Connect with Scott by following him at www.Twitter.com/TheFitB