Twarketing Case Study: @FanFrames

As I get to know my new friend Twitter, I decided to add a separate account for my fledgling business @fanframes. Fan Frames showcases fans' celebrity autographs and photos with beautiful backgrounds, page layouts and frames. Fan Frames does not have its own dedicated web site, just a subpage on my main company web site -- since it was to be a one-time gig at the EyeCon Twilight fan convention. However, based on my success promoting the business on Twitter, there may be encores at future Twilight conventions and other fan forums, and adding a web site and blog.

Note: The photo is not of me... it's one of my new customers who has now joined Twitter!

Here's how it grew...

First, I began following people with a common interest -- the convention and the Twilight movie/stars... I followed everyone who was following the convention's Twitter account. Some of them followed me back; most didn't. That was okay, since many of the people were not active tweeters. I really wanted followers who would be checking in regularly and posting news I could re-tweet.

I also utilized TweetDeck's search feature to watch for certain keywords, then began to follow some of those people and organizations who also showed interest in the convention and the movie. I also re-tweeted interesting information and links for other fans on a daily basis.

After two weeks of this... by the day before the convention, I was following about 250 people, and had about 70 followers. Not an ideal ratio, but necessary for researching what was being tweeted about the convention. I tweeted many invitations to visit me, come say hello, when I would be there, links to my web page showing what I would be doing, plus re-tweeted other interesting news relating to the convention. This was done on a daily basis, actually several times a day.

At the convention (of about 500 registrants), people kept coming up to me, saying, "I know you from Twitter." They actually sought me out as a result of my tweets. How great is that? I felt like a celebrity myself -- although no one asked for a photo. During the convention events, I tweeted from my BlackBerry about actor "sightings", answered direct messages from people asking about at-the-door ticket sales, additions to the schedule and other news.

• "Very exciting! I just saw you're from Fort Myers! I live there too! lol! I'll definitely stop by and say hello!" @SandraR82
• "Hi! I met you earlier today. Tell Jackson I said hi. i was the one who asked him when he lived in midland at photo op" @Nichol_Rachell
• I tweeted back and forth with @ShawneDunn about tickets and the Saturday night concerts.
  

Following the convention, I began to receive more tweets like these...

• "I remember YOU! Eyecon was fun. Your daughter and you seem close. It's really sweet." @GiselleMonique
• "Hi. I saw you at the Convention yesterday! You probably wouldn't reconize me... lol :-) How did you like it yesterday & today!?" @BritJFlax
• "are you coming to the suppercon in ft. lauderdale in june?" @kfjplay

By the end of the weekend, I had added 20 more followers. Then, I also went back using FriendorFollow and cleaned up my own follow list, unfollowing the "Twitter quitters" or those who had not had any recent activity. Now, my ratio is at a much more useful approx. 150 follows to 90 followers.

Not only was this a great experiment in Twitter marketing "Twarketing", but also resulted in many new friends with common interests, and most importantly -- business-building! I hope to see many of my new "Tweeties" at future fan conventions, and will be providing internet promotion services to AccioCon 2010 (Twilight/Harry Potter fan convention)!