And so it is obvious that most of the business bloggers and writers have written, are writing or are planning to write on how to use Twitter for business. There is certainly no deficit of information on Twitter related topics. I decided to write the first blog-post of 2010 on the topic of Twitter as well, but doing so in a different light. I will not be the first one to say that dating is similar in nature to marketing. You have a product, you have an audience, and now you need to brand yourself and create a promotional marketing mix to successfully put yourself in front of your audience. Therefore, let’s consider some of the common suggestions for how Twitter should be used in a business setting and try to adopt them to dating, and vice versa.
The objective of this article is to examine popular Twitter strategies and see if what works in business marketing can help us find dates.
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- Your Twitter page needs to have character. There is already too many Twitter profiles that are not memorable and simply are too generic. The competition is tough, and unless your profile and upcoming Tweets have something unique about them, it will be tough to get the proper attention. Before you start creating content, create your value proposition. In dating terms it often means answering this very simple question – what is so special about me, and why would anyone want to date me?
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- Who is your audience, or what type of people do you think you want to date, and who wants to date you? Unless you are as popular as @APLUSK, it is doubtful that everyone will follow you online. You need to clearly identify who you want to follow, and what type of people you want to follow you. Since you are using Twitter to get in a relationship, it is likely that people who might start following you are potentially interested in learning more about you, or simply are other singles in the area.
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- Listen before you talk. Anyone will tell you that it is very important to listen to the conversations that are taking place around you. Quite often people will tell you just what they need. If on Twitter somebody mentions that they want a cup of coffee, it is a perfect opportunity to send them a coupon to your coffee shop. If somebody says on Twitter that they did not like their date, or that they are spending a Saturday night alone watching a film, it might be a perfect opportunity to engage in a conversation with them.
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- Be informative and consistent in your Tweets. If your Tweets are always about you or about your company’s products, it will become obvious to your audience, and they might stop responding to you. Your tweets have to be engaging, and you have to constantly participate in a conversation with members of the Tweeter community. Just like on a date, everything can’t be just about you. Share with people content that highlights your personality. For example, articles on your favorite movie, schedule of your favorite band, restaurant suggestions. Your job is to paint a picture, and most importantly to have fun doing it.
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- Follow people that matter the most to you. If your company is selling a local service, you mostly care about Twitter users who are located in your area. Use such tool as LocalTweeps.com to help you find local users. Chances are, you probably want to be in a relationship with someone who lives nearby.
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- Follow local thought leaders. For example, following local newspapers and venues will tell you when and where are the best events to meet other singles. You need to be aware of the life of your community, and what opportunities are there for you to shine. In business, the ruls is to go where people are. The same applies to dating – go where people are.
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- Be very creative about what goes into Tweets. If you really are trying to use Twitter for dating, try posting some pictures of yourself from time to time. Feel free to ask different questions; something among the lines of ‘what would you consider to be a perfect date’ might draw attention. Promote other people, and retweet information that you find interesting and informative.
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- Marketing is just like dating; 50% of it works and 50% doesn’t. So experiment. There is tons of material on using Tweeter, but until you begin to experiment and seeing what works for you, you will not get it. Simply following what other people are doing will give you mediocre results, and in dating terms will make you look like a stocker.
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- Twitter is not the only thing you need. Just like in business, Twitter is not your marketing strategy, but rather a tool that can complement your other marketing efforts. In future posts we might consider creating a dating blog.
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- Network, network and network. In dating terms this reads – mingle, mingle and mingle. The more you engage with people, a better chance you have in meeting somebody who just might be perfect for you.
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- Talking about innovation, why not introduce a special # to highlight that your post is specifically related to dating. This way it will be easier to find people that are also thinking about dating. #Singles – might be the appropriate #.
Overall, it doesn’t seem like Twitter is being used to its fullest capacity by people who are trying to date. However, it seems like it might have potential. As long as you are open and upfront about your intentions and keep you Tweets fun and engaging you just might meet another person who is also looking for a nice Friday night date. The way your market your products and services on Twitter can be applied fairly well to marketing yourself when you are trying to date. On the other hand, what works in dating is a perfect example of what can work in company marketing. You have to be engaging.
Lastly, if you think a person might be interested in going on a date with you, why not ask them via Twitter? This way it might be harder for a person to say know, when other people are following them. If this is too much, than stick to DM, or better yet use a phone, and afterwards do not not forget to use Twitter to announce how amazing your date was. @personname I greatly enjoyed our dinner together.
