Do you have a Twitter account?  If you don’t – you should.  (and follow me)

I follow a lot of companies and artists/bands on Twitter so I have come to find some things that people do that bother me.  I feel that I could really help them out in determining how to properly use Twitter to spread their marketing message.  The following are a few tips I have come up with.

• Some people open a Twitter account and start posting their marketing message right away.  “Come to so and so event tomorrow!” “Buy our new album here!” “Buy one of our shirts, sale now!” etc.  But never post anything about themselves as a personality, they never Retweet (RT) anything interesting, etc.  Remember, people like a personality.  If you’re a band member, fans are following you because they want to get to know YOU, where your band is playing and what you’re selling comes a close second.  Do you think if we didn’t get any emo tweets from Pete Wentz, we’d care to follow him on Twitter?  Nope.

• If you want something Retweeted, please, PLEASE, leave enough room in the 140 characters for “RT @yourtwittername.”  It really annoys me when I go to retweet something and I have to adjust it to fit 140 characters.  Sometimes I’ll give up and just not RT it.

• Do occasionally have a couple Q&A sessions.  Set a certain amount of time aside to answer @replies.  I’d like to think that if you have enough fans and you ask them to add a hashtag, (ex. #bandname), you could potentially become a trending topic.  Basically, talk to your fans through twitter, answer their questions.

• GIVE AWAY FREE STUFF!  No one would follow any companies on Twitter unless they gave away free stuff!  How many followers do you think you’d gain if you told them you’d be given away an autographed copy weekly through twitter?  If you’re a small band, maybe you can throw in something else.  For example, if you’re a band starting out, give away a copy of the record plus a Jac Vanek “Harmony” bracelet.  Ask them to RT it to their friends of course!  This way, even if they don’t give a crap about your band, you’re giving them something they are familiar with and want.  Then, they’ll get the package, listen to the record, and there, you’ve gained a fan.

• Search for tweeters tweeting (lol) about similar bands.  Follow them.  Send them a @reply.  Do READ what they’re saying.  I’ve had people @reply to me with something completely unrelated to what I had tweeted.  Perfect Example.  Bad Example (I have no idea what they were talking about!)

• Spread it out.  Okay, so I’m guilty of not doing this sometimes but if I’m really excited about something and people start @ing me and I reply, I can’t help it.  But DO NOT try to post a certain tweet a million times to get people to pay attention to you.  THEY WILL UNFOLLOW.

• Suggest other bands/artists/etc.  Don’t be so full of yourself and network.  Ask your fans to check out other bands and in turn, they will tell their fans to check you out.  Ah, see how that works?  Don’t be so stingy!

• Don’t you hate when someone says, “THIS IS SO COOL http://someblindlinkhere.com” because I do.  I won’t click on it, you need to tell people WHAT is so cool and WHAT they’re going to see.  “Check out a clip of our new song here:  http://bit.ly” is a lot better and will get people better then “CLICK HERE!” Seems obvious, you would think.

• Follow your fans back! I love when I get an email that says “YourFavoriteSinger is now following you on Twitter!”  People will tweet at you, tell their friends, and spread the word.  This helps your cause. I hate when artists have 1million followers and are following 10 people, it makes them look snobby – to me.  Don’t worry – you can use many applications to sort out the people you’re following so you can catch your friend’s tweets.  When I was interning with Epitaph Records, a lot of people would tweet, “OMG @EpitaphRecs is following me!”

• Okay, I’ve told you to not overdo it but don’t forget to actually do it! Do send them updates, tour tickets purchase link, tour dates, webisodes, etc.

• Do you have a local venue that highly supports you?  Maybe a coffee shop, record store, etc.  Ask them to tweet your band!  Basically, cross-promote.  Example.  Coffee shop’s tweet: “#Nowplaying at coffeeshopnamehere is bandnamehere, make sure to give them a listen, we love it!”  Your tweet back: “Thanks @coffeeshopname for the tweet!  I love your hot chocolate!”

• @reply, RT, follow – INTERACT!  Be Human.  Do not just use Twitter as a podium for your sales pitch.  Relax – Twitter can open many doors!