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#Location, #location, #location

Twitter for business imageLike any other form of marketing activity, to get the best results from Twitter you should be targeting your specific market. It is easy to send out blanket tweets and hope for the best but a little research and investigation can really go a long way to getting you relevant web traffic and even meaningful leads.

Caroline Steer, Oracle Group image

Caroline Steer

Without a doubt the best way agents should segment their market is by location and translating this to Twitter can actually be quite straightforward.

The most valuable feature of Twitter for agents is its ability to create networks and encourage interaction. You may have already started to integrate yourself into your local Twitter community by following other local accounts such as other local businesses and high profile community organisations with high follower counts, such as schools or councils. Using your location as a hashtag can also bring in some good results to encourage interaction and help users find your tweets.

There are currently 316 Twitter hours; active networks that are an invaluable way to connect with local potential buyers!” Caroline Steer, Oracle Group

However, by far one of the most efficient ways to do this is to tap into the ever-growing list of category-based ‘Twitter hours’ or ‘Hashtag hours.’ These active networks that occur at regular intervals throughout the week are an invaluable way to connect with potential buyers and there are 316 to date and counting!

These Twitter hours can be about any topic under the sun, but the ones you should really focus on are locality-based ones. Various organisations have set up interactive, specific events that happen regularly and encourage relevant, local businesses and organisations to interact with each other.

All you need to do is find the hour most relevant to you, add in the hashtag and send out tweets at the right time, then interact as you go. For example, #EssexHour is between 2pm – 3pm on a Wednesday and your tweets will be seen by a targeted, relevant, local audience free of charge.

These networks provide fantastic engagement levels, much higher than if you were just to tweet at random, especially as some of these hours can even start trending geographically.

Here are our top 10 tips for making the most of these hours:
  1. Send out useful, relevant content. For example, send out a link to a property available on your website with a little preamble about your business
  2. Be friendly and polite. Thank anyone that retweets or mentions you.
  3. Be reactive as well as proactive. Listen to conversations and interject if you think your business can help. You could pick up a desperate buyer or seller!
  4. Interact with other businesses and return the favour if someone retweets or mentions you. You could create a useful relationship or contact.
  5. Be present. Some of the Twitter hours are outside of normal working hours, but rather than automatically setting tweets to go out, tweet live if you can. You might notice interesting conversations or opportunities.
  6. Use a tracking link. If you send out content use a tracking link service, e.g.; bit.ly, then you can benchmark which hours are successful by tracking how much traffic you get to your website.
  7. Avoid spelling mistakes. Twitter has no spellcheck, so make sure you are spelling the hashtag correctly or your tweet will get lost!
  8. Double-check the day and time. Keep an eye on these hours in case they change.
  9. Look out for other relevant topics. Non-geographical hours can also be adapted to suit, for example, take part in #NewHomesHour and add your local area’s hashtag too.
  10. Check out the hashtag before you take part. Make sure the hour you’re interested in does not just broadcast inappropriate content or an target irrelevant audience.

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