The marketing playing field has been levelled off thanks to Twitter: We all get our 140 characters per tweet to have our say. With this level playing field, how does one business rise above and show off their brand? Let’s go beyond simple #hashtag and @mention use and look at some advanced Twitter marketing techniques.

Offer Twitter exclusive content to your followers

Your Twitter followers love hearing about exclusive events, promotions, and sales that you offer to your Twitter fans only. They show this love by retweeting, favoriting, and mentioning the promotions on Twitter so that their followers and friends can get in on the deals too.

Think of it as being similar to a coupon in a flyer. Except on Twitter you have the potential to bring new people on board your account who can participate in your brand story for years to come and spread your message even further.

EXCLUSIVE invites to the 3D premiere of #DawnofApes! The contest is coming soon! Any takers? RT if you want ’em! pic.twitter.com/m7vnlI6ipX — VOX Cinemas (@voxcinemas) July 17, 2014.

Multiple tweets of your best content

Using an automation/scheduling tool like HootSuite can let you schedule your best content for multiple times all at one go. This is important to do because your Twitter followers only really pay attention to the last hour of tweets that are in their feed. Try sending your best content out 3 – 4 times in a day to catch your audience at their device.

You can avoid being a spammer by slightly altering each message. This can also be a great way to do split A/B testing, and experimenting with which location for your links works best.

Be a live tweeter for events in your industry

If there’s some sort of industry event going on, such as a conference in your area that you’re attending, not only is this an excellent opportunity to bring the events to your Twitter followers by live tweeting, but it is also a great networking opportunity. It is also important to be sure to constantly use one of Twitter’s great strengths, marketing during key moments, and use Twitter in the current events reporting way that works.

Most live events will have their own hashtag associated with them, be sure to use it to connect with others at the event. Even if you’re not there you can still join in. Find the relevant hashtags and follow along. Ask questions, comment on tweets already sent out, and build your reputation as a trusted voice in the community.

Try a Flock to Unlock contest

Flock to Unlock is a Twitter contest that involves having your followers get to a certain number of retweets in order to unlock special sales, prizes, discounts, and other exclusive promotions. It can add a bit of incentive to the technique above, driving your reach even further – all thanks to a fun game!

Are you ready to unlock chapters 4 & 5 of SILVER SHADOWS?! If you are on twitter, retweet this tweet… http://t.co/4BldNL1O9Y— VA Worldwide News (@VAWorldwideNews) July 14, 2014.

Work with your partners in the offline world

If you already work together in the offline world, why not partner up on Twitter and try to cross over your followers? You can work with others in your supply chain, neighboring businesses in your community, even your competitors in some situations.

To get your imagination started:

• A bar could partner up with a local microbrewery for a concert that has a hashtag associated with. Both accounts advertise and tweet about.
• A paper company teaming up with a daycare for a drawing contest. Have the pictures posted on both accounts – most comments wins!
• A comic book store could get together with a local costume supplier for a party that gets people at the comic book store, and renting/buying those costumes. A hashtag, some photos, and some fun is all it takes.

The list of possibilities is only bound by what you imagine and who you work with.

Use Twitter’s advanced search effectively

Twitter’s advanced search tool is what serious brands use when they want to see the true power of social media. This is the tool that will help you cut through the constant noise on Twitter, finding those key marketing and social moments that bring new followers to your account.

Used in combination with the “Other” field along the bottom, you can search for questions to your competitors that have gone unanswered, people with positive and negative things to say about products in your industry, and a host of other issues. All you have to do is search, find, and address!

If you have used any of these advanced Twitter marketing techniques, let us know how they worked in the comment section below. If you’ve come across one that wasn’t discussed, let us know!

Author Bio:

Ernest writes about social media, viral marketing campaigns, and other online marketing happenings over on Viral Tactic’s Social Media Blog. Come by to learn about the latest got marketing ideas, and share your thoughts on what’s happening online.