Basics: Using Twitter Lists to grow your business

Twitter will shortly be releasing its new Lists feature. As I blogged about, I have hopes this will help reignite Twitter’s growth. I think businesses and bloggers can play a key role in doing that. If businesses see enough benefits from Lists and use them right, they can be an enabler of Twitter user-growth. Hence, I’m doing a two-part series on ways businesses can benefit from Lists.

In this post, I discuss how to use Lists to create a cycle:  website visitors follow you (via a List) on Twitter, Twitterers see your tweets, which lead them back to your website.

Basic steps:

1. Plan to share your lists outside of Twitter
2. Add yourself to your List (if necessary)
3. Name your List well
4. Create Lists for your target audience
5. Promote and share your lists in the right manner

Note, step 4 is the one that requires the most thought, but will determine your results. Start thinking about this now, before Lists are released.

1.  Plan to share your Lists outside of Twitter

Everyone is planning on sharing their lists within Twitter. But don’t stop there. Plan on sharing the links to your lists on your website or blog.

Lists will be accessed via a URL like this: http://twitter.com/user_name/list_name.  To promote the list on your website, you’ll just add a link with the URL. And you don’t have to stop there. Why not share them on Facebook, in email, and through your newsletter?

2.  If necessary, include yourself in your Lists.

I haven’t been able to use Lists myself, yet. So I’m not certain on all the details of how they are being implemented. Specifically, I haven’t seen information about whether the List creator is automatically included in the List and/or whether their tweets are automatically included. (If you’re in the beta, please comment and let me know.)

If they aren’t, then make sure to add yourself to any Lists that you promote on your site. (I’m assuming Twitter’s feature doesn’t prohibit this. If it does, they shot themselves in the foot.) That is part of the benefit that you get from creating and sharing lists–subscribers see your tweets, too.

3. Name your Lists well

You’ll give your Lists names, and those names will be part of the URL. Naming your Lists may not be as important as choosing your Twitter handle, but it is important. You want the name to be enticing but accurate. One key type of List I’m recommending is what I call a Twitter Solution (see #4). When you create a Twitter Solution, make sure your name reflects the goal or problem you are solving for your users.

4. Create Lists for your target audience

The first use for Lists that most people will think of is creating a “Top X” List, such as My Top Social Media Picks or Top Sports Bloggers on Twitter. Sure, you might create some of those lists and you might even promote them on your site.

But you want to think strategically.  Take a marketing approach and think of Lists as a marketing tool. Ask yourself these questions (bloggers, replace “customer” with “audience”):

• Who are my target customers?
• Do they fall into distinct segments with different needs or interests? If so, define each customer segment.
• What are their goals, as they relate to my area of business?
• What kind of information helps them reach those goals?
• What kind of information is this type of customer generally interested in?
• Who on Twitter regularly tweets that kind of information? What Twitter resources can be valuable to this customer segment, given their goals?

Now, using the answers to that last question, create one or more Lists for each customer segment, designed to meet their goals. That’s a Twitter Solution.

For example, let’s say you’re a realtor on Twitter. You’d like to attract potential home buyers in the Seattle area. You might decide that the key customers you want to attract are: first time home buyers and people thinking of selling.  Asking the above questions, you come up with this list of information goals for first-time buyers:

• Information about the home-buying process
• Information about mortgage types, qualifying, and so on
• Tips for home-shopping
• Information about what to look for in walk-throughs, inspections, etc.
• How to decide what you want in a house
• Information about Seattle neighborhoods, amenities, schools, etc.
• Real estate market and interest rate trends

Based on this list, you’re able to find several bloggers and home magazines on Twitter that tweet about home buying, loan types, the home buying process, etc. You find some good Twitter sources for mortgage and interest rate information. You find several Twitterers who tweet about Seattle neighborhood statistics or tweet links to articles and blog posts about neighborhoods, and so on. And you add all of these sources, and yourself of course, to create your Seattle First-Time Home Buyer List.

5. Promote your Lists in the right place and manner

Obviously, you’ll have to decide where to put your lists on your site. If you have landing pages that match the customer segments you defined, then it makes sense to add the appropriate Lists to landing pages targeting certain users. Remember, the goal is to get website drop-in visitors (as well as regular visitors) to follow you on Twitter via a List. So, use data from Google Analytics and whatever other sources you have to figure out which pages different types of customers come to, and put the List link in a visible location near relevant content.

The point of creating these Lists is to provide a valuable resource to your customers, and gain some followers in the process. You probably already have a Follow Me button on your site. But people are going to be more inclined to follow a List than a single individual. A List, promoted as a Twitter Solution to their goal, is a lot more appealing than just little old you. Sorry.

So, promote your List as a Twitter Solution. For example, If you’ve created a list for first time home buyers, don’t just say “Use my List.” Say something like:

“I’ve created a Twitter list chock-full of Twitter resources to help first time Seattle home buyers learn more about the home-buying process, and connect with local resources. Just click Seattle Home Buyers to join Twitter and use its many resources to find your perfect home.”

Or you might use a graphic (surely we’ll see badges for Lists, soon) to highlight your List:

New home buyers: click here to see Twitter resources
to help you find your new home

That’s the basic strategy for using Lists to grow your business. In my next post, I’ll suggest some different ways to use Lists, including some unique ideas that I haven’t heard anyone talk about yet.