5 Ways to Monetize Twitter for Your Line

With only 140 characters, twitter seems to be a one-trick pony. What can you really do with that? Plenty, as it turns out. It takes strategy and some time but Twitter can generate buzz for your line…but more importantly, it can generate revenue. Here are 5 ways to do that:

1 Give Them a Reason
Whether you ship internationally or sell through a storefront, a happy customer should realize at the time of receiving their new item that the shirt’s tag contains instructions to tweet about how much you like it in exchange for 10% their next purchase with you. Don’t just ask people to tweet about you or follow you, give them a reason. They already love what you make and how they look in it…why not give them a reason to tell their friends about you, and, on twitter, it couldn’t be simpler to do that.

2 Express Urgency
Once you’ve given your flock incentives to follow you, keep your tweets meaningful. Never tweet junk; when in doubt, if you know someone with ADD, pass it by them and if their attention span holds, it’s ready to post. Is a loyal or potential customer going to miss a twitter-only sales announcement or a 1-day-only special? Never. Let your customers that follow you know that they need to act now or they will miss out. Not only will this prompt a decision for a purchase, but it is inherently viral when a message is urgent and time sensitive.

3 Spread Goodwill
Search twitter for people that have had poor experiences with your line. There are those out there that will trash-talk anything and everything but for those that legitimately have a problem with your customer sales department or how their package from you arrived, respond to them. How you respond will be seen by your current customers and by your wary potential customers. Handle complaints well and you can win back repeat business. While we don’t necessarily suggest having an incredibly broad return policy like Nordstrom, we highly recommend making sure those disgruntled customers feel heard, their concerns have been addressed, and a visible effort has been made to reach out and win them back. When seen from an outsider who has never purchased from your line before, no one expects you to be a perfect company, but they do expect action to be taken when a mistake is made.

4 Be Random
Engage your followers in surprising ways. Randomly address a specific follower or several followers and give them a valid-today-only coupon code just out of sheer generosity. You become worth following as a brand when you are engaging in a pleasantly surprising way. Twitter users have a lot of sensory overload so you do need to keep your followers on their toes to hold their attention span.

5 Location, Location, Location
Putting on a fashion show? Going to have an in-store event? Participating in a convention like Magic in Las Vegas? Tell your followers about it. Twitter can and should assist your line in encouraging physical, in-person interaction between your line and your customers. Immersion and interaction is key to transitioning a casual customer to a rabid fan but you need to provide the opportunities to do so.

About the Author
Polina Raygorodskaya is an acclaimed analyst and public relations specialist for the fashion industry. As president of Polina Fashion LLC, she has addressed the marketing and public relations needs of countless up and coming designers. For more information, please visit www.polinafashion.com or email info@polinafashion.com.