Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day [Paperback]

Hollis Thomases (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0470562269 | ISBN-13: 978-0470562260 | Edition: 1

The complete guide to a successful Twitter marketing campaign

Twitter is a microblogging service that's changing the way we communicate. Marketers recognize its value, and Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day offers marketers, advertisers, brand managers, PR professionals, and business owners an in-depth guide to designing, implementing, and measuring the impact of a complete Twitter strategy.

Expert author Hollis Thomases acquaints you with the Twitterverse, its conventions, and its fascinating demographics and statistics. She then teaches you step by step how to effectively craft successful branding and direct response strategies that can be scaled to any organization and its objectives. Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day uses interesting case studies, success stories, anecdotes, and examples to demonstrate how to use Twitter metrics in order to inform strategic direction. You'll discover how top companies-large and small-have leveraged this exciting communications platform.

• Twitter has become a phenomenon with 32 million users, including major companies such as Apple, JetBlue, and CNN
• This step-by-step guide explains the demographics, shows how companies are using Twitter, and explains how to scale the approach to your enterprise
• The detailed coverage includes the basics for Twitter newcomers and explores all elements of a successful strategy
• Expert author Hollis Thomases shows how to set goals, develop and implement a plan, attract followers, and measure the impact of a campaign
• The in-depth book explains how to maintain momentum and explores such issues as contests, promotions, and crisis management

Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day is the ultimate guide to succeeding one tweet at a time!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Craft and Implement a Winning Twitter Marketing Strategy

A Step-by-Step Guide

Twitter has rocketed into the mainstream and is vastly changing how your customers view products and brands. Learn how to leverage Twitter for your business with this smart, practical guide from social media expert Hollis Thomases, who shows you how to design, implement, and measure a winning Twitter strategy from start to finish.

After walking you through Twitter basics, she explains how to craft strategies that can be scaled to any organization or market—including travel, retail, restaurants, healthcare, and service-oriented businesses. Learn how to create a winning, goal-based plan and then implement, maintain, and adjust your plan while avoiding common pitfalls. This detailed how-to helps you:

• Explore the fascinating demographics of the Twitterverse and see how to reach potential customers

• Master Twitter basics, understand tweeting dos and don'ts, and leverage useful third-party Twitter applications

• See how a slew of top brands such as Starbucks®, Zappos®, and Planet Hollywood® are successfully using Twitter

• Prioritize your objectives, create a plan, and get corporate buy-in

• Leverage contests, promotions, tweets with multimedia, and other proven ways to improve engagement and foster conversation

• Let the tweets flow and then track and measure everything from retweets to mentions to increases in web traffic

• Analyze results and frame reports in terms of your key metrics, whether in dollars, traffic, conversions, or other goals

You'll also find:

• Creative ways to map your marketing goals to Twitter metrics, so you can really find out what's working

• Real-world "From the Trenches" case studies that illustrate successes to learn from and mistakes to avoid

• Useful Twitter tools that will help you manage and measure your efforts

Praise for Twitter Marketing:An Hour a Day

"This book walks you through Twitter processes and strategies step by step, from setting an account to setting actionable business goals. Whether you're a Twitter newbie or a seasoned power user, there's something in here that will help you use Twitter more effectively—and more profitably." —Rebecca Lieb, VP Econsultancy and author of The Truth About Search Engine Optimization

"This terrific book is a godsend. It's filled with practical advice and hands-on exercises that will help companies of all sizes tap into Twitter's marketing potential." —Bo Burlingham, Editor-at-Large of Inc. magazine and author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big

"Hollis Thomases has created an extremely practical guide to Twitter for neophytes and serious marketers alike. She clearly and completely demystifies the service. This is an indispensable B2B guide for large or small businesses seeking to build effective social media marketing campaigns on this rapidly growing platform." —Greg Sterling, Principal, Sterling Market Intelligence

About the Author

Hollis Thomases, award-winning founder of Web Ad.vantage (www.webadvantage.net) and a leading expert in Internet marketing and social media, has helped Check Point Software, the Starlight Children's Foundation, Visit Baltimore, and others in the health, retail, nonprofit, and government sectors develop and implement successful social media and online marketing strategies. She authors a ClickZ column and is a frequent conference speaker and presenter at key industry events such as Search Engine Strategies, American Marketing Association, the Public Relations Society of America, and others. Follow Hollis's tweets at www.twitter.com/hollisthomases.

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (January 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470562269
• ISBN-13: 978-0470562260
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hollis Thomases (@hollisthomases), a self-confessed Twitter addict, is an award-winning online marketer who has spent much of her career educating and inspiring business professionals to tap into the marketing power of the Web. Since 2005, she has authored the bi-weekly ClickZ column, "Planning the Buy" (http://www.clickz.com/hollisthomases). Hollis founded Web Ad.vantage (http://www.webadvantage.net), a boutique agency providing a broad range of strategic online marketing and advertising solutions, in 1998 when social networking meant participating in Usenet groups, email discussion lists, webrings, forums, and message boards. Hollis has seen a lot of digital marketing ideas come and go, but believes that Twitter has staying power.
Hollis was the 2007 U.S. SBA Small Business Person of the Year representing the state of Maryland and holds a B.A. in Social Relations from Cornell University.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential guide and reference for marketing with Twitter February 5, 2010

By Christopher Maddox

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am not a marketing person per se, but as a business executive I have to appreciate any resource that helps me get my arms wrapped around a new technology and how it can be leveraged to improve my results. I have been a Twitter user for nearly two years, but my use is limited mostly to personal networking, following news in my industry, and staying connected with my home city while I travel extensively on business.

The beauty of Twitter is its simplicity, which allows it to be molded in many ways by the user and third-party API communities. It is evolving rapidly as a marketing tool and it's time that my company (and many others) take advantage of this; always better to be a pioneer than a follower. I've found no better guide and reference for this than this book. Hollis Thomases, a web marketing pioneer in her own right, breaks Twitter marketing down into easy-to-digest pieces, lays out a straightforward plan for implementation, and provides at the same time a significant reference for advanced use of Twitter specifically and social media in general.

The book starts with the question that is first on people's lips - "just what is Twitter?" - and explains it much better than I've ever been able to, weaving in its history, features, emerging culture, and who is using it (and for what). Once the fundamentals are disposed with, she moves quickly into a weekly plan to get your organization up and running on the Twitter platform. This is accomplished with an engaging voice, plenty of case studies, and examples appropriate to any kind of enterprise. She includes a lot of discussion on third party applications and tools which are really the heart of Twitter's power and without which this would be just another novel web application.... Ultimately, she gets into the meat of what we're here for: building your brand, promoting your product or service, measuring results, and avoiding the pitfalls that can accompany any marketing tool.

This book will be ideal for those just starting to explore this tool as well as the seasoned social media professional - and for those, like me, not directly responsible for marketing but required (and eager) to understand and realize its strategic value. As a combination of how-to simplicity and valuable reference, this volume can't be beat, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Read more ›

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have Primer on Twitter for Marketing and Business February 2, 2010

By Sima R. Dahl

Format:Paperback

Anyone can teach you how to tweet, and there are countless "how to" books on Twitter that do just that. But Hollis goes beyond the basics to map out a clear and actionable plan of attack for people who want to explore Twitter as a marketing tool and business growth engine. I'm an avid tweeter (@simasays) and friends and clients are always asking me to "teach" them the ins and outs of Twitter. What I have found is that folks just need a bit of hand-holding to wrap their head around the possibilities, approval to tinker, and a step by step guide to put a toe in the water. Twitter Marketing An Hour A Day does exactly that. There are plenty of case studies, best practices and resources throughout this book that were new even to me and I find myself flipping through it again and again to reference tools and tips from my fellow tweeps. If you're considering Twitter as part of your marketing mix, start here - you won't be disappointed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unlock The Real Value of Twitter February 2, 2010

By Douglas Davidoff

Format:Paperback

Twitter. Often mocked. Easily misunderstood. Rarely taken advantage of.

With so many Twitter "experts," "coaches," and "gurus;" it's refreshing and helpful to get practical how-to advice from someone who has clearly guided others to achieve real business results from Twitter and, as importantly, practices it herself. I've been using Twitter for the last two years and have been able to create business opportunities and sales from my efforts. Despite my knowledge of Twitter, I easily unlocked new applications and methods to further improve my results. I've also begun sharing it with members of my team who are true "newbies" and they appreciate the easy to understand, easy to implement ideas included in the book. All levels of Twitter users will benefit from having this book on their shelf.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Read! May 12, 2010

By Shelly Kramer

Format:Paperback

This was a really fantastic read - Hollis has her finger on the pulse of what's happening in the world of social media and has written an easy to understand and, more importantly, easy to implement guide to making the most of your online presence. Buy it. Read it. Do it!

Shelly Kramer
Find me on Twitter: @shellykramer
[...]

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good basic information on how to use Twitter to market your product or service January 18, 2010

By Susanna Hutcheson TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

I read this hoping to find new and useful information about marketing on Twitter. I've had an account a long time and used it considerably. I know the many facets of Twitter and am far beyond the basics. So I found little of use in this book because it is basic.

It does, however, go into such things as syndicating your twitter content, which is useful. For the person just starting to think about marketing on Twitter, this is an excellent book. I personally have found Twitter pretty useless as far as marketing is concerned. Moreover, one can make himself too available on Twitter, which is why limiting your time on it is an excellent idea.

There are, however, many useful functions of Twitter regarding your business. To that end, I recommend you read this new book.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Textbook meets Reference Book December 15, 2010

By Jeremy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book was certainly the most interactive books I've ever read; even more so than those `Choose your Own Adventure Series' books that I will never actually admit to purchasing. The medium in which the author made her book available played a huge role in my enjoyment of the material. I was able to purchase her book through the Kindle store on Amazon.com and download it onto my iPhone. This made it extremely convenient to interact in `real-time' with the various website links that Thomases provided in her data references. This `interactive' theme carried its way throughout the entire book, enabling me to be `just click away' from relevant blogs, stories, feeds and references.

Another example of Thomases interactive theme was the placement of personalized handles for specific references (i.e. "Jeremy Neas (@Jeremy_Neas) sites in his review..."). By integrating this feature, she enabled the reader to conveniently add new tweeps to their follower list, as well as stay up-to-date on the more interesting people and companies mentioned throughout the text.
Though the intended audience for this book is mainly companies looking to use Twitter as another form of e-commerce, the average `Twitterer' can easily find value in it as well. The layout is well thought-out and easy to navigate through. It initially dives into the history and the basics of what Twitter is, but quickly moves to the common assumptions about Twitter and then gravitates towards the power Twitter can provide for anyone looking to advertise/expand/grow.

She starts by stating "What Twitter Is Not:

1. Twitter isn't accessible only on the Web
2. Twitter isn't the "new" email or cell phone
3. Twitter isn't a form of instant messenger
4. Twitter isn't a micro version of your blog
5.... Twitter isn't private by any means
6. Twitter isn't a replacement for Facebook, Myspace, or other social networks.
7. Twitter isn't a competition."

Twitter creates value because it helps with:

1. Keeping in touch
2. Making new friends
3. Connecting with Like-Minded People
4. Voyeurism
5. Event Planning
6. Activism
7. Entertainment
8. Getting a company's latest tweets
9. Marketing and business Development
10. Monitoring Brands and Reputations
11. Keeping up with the Latest News

"The most successful people and brands using Twitter are the ones who treat Twitter as an ongoing, open, and thought-provoking conversation rather than just a broadcast medium."

Thomases provides in-depth look on exactly who is on Twitter and their motives, as well as the demographics of the users and what you are may come across when you start your venture forth. I went into this book with an open mind, erasing my previous knowledge about Twitter in order to use this book as a guide. Doing this definitely gave me a newfound appreciation for everything Twitter offers and made my reading experience that much more enjoyable.

Textbook to Reference Guide

The book makes a big transition after chapter three which ends part one. It transitions from a text book to a reference guide. Part two goes hour to hour, day to day, and week to week about how to transition from a Twitter "rookie" to a serious power user. I consider it a reference guide because the author understands she doesn't have all the tools. She does understand where all those tools are, what they are, and the benefits of each one. Additionally, she does a very good job at clearing out the noise of the web and consolidating all the necessary requirements that a business (or person) must have to extrapolate the functionality and usefulness of Twitter. That is what makes this book so powerful. Read more ›