As the blogosphere continues to grow exponentially, a new form of social media called “microblogging” has exploded onto the scene, giving users the ability to communicate instantly through short written updates on sites like Twitter, Plurk, and Tumblr.
Like a lot of other social media sites, these sites are primarily used to communicate socially with other people, allowing you to add “friends” or “followers” whose updates are fed to your account, allowing you to keep up with what they’re doing. However, there are several reasons to utilize microblogging in your social media marketing endeavors.
For starters, it’s a great way to build your professional network. Through my Twitter contacts, I’ve been able to meet people who have helped me with my design work and coding, gotten me in touch with local media to promote The Social Lites, and recommended our company to others, leading to business opportunities that I would have missed out on otherwise. You’ll meet like-minded folks who will provide stimulating conversations, and build great relationships with other bloggers and social media lovers.
It’s also a good way to promote your brand and your blog, and it aids in SEO. By adding a link to relevant blog entries when you post to your microblogging platforms, you expose more people to your content, and you can increase your search engine rankings. And if others “re-tweet” or link to that same post, your exposure and rankings go up yet again.
And, in case you’re thinking that 140 characters isn’t enough to say what you need to say, consider Ernest Hemingway’s famous six-word story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” He’s said to have called it his best work. Also, check out Copyblogger’s Twitter Writing Contest. Big creativity in small packages!
