People are at the heart of marketing. Whether you’re talking about the old rules of marketing and PR where two or more people shook hands and stood around blowing smoke or more modern marketing where we engage prospects online in social media as well as in person.

In order to engage people, people need to be involved. Automated marketing doesn’t work nearly as well as true human engagement where a consumer can put a face and personality to the information and content their dealing with. That’s why it’s so important to take the time to flesh out profiles – especially on Twitter.

Twitter has become a monster source for content marketing and lead generation, particular in local or geo-specific marketing. The problem with the micro-blogging platform is simply a limitation on space so you have to optimize the space you have in order to convey the message that you are human, you’re relevant and worth following.

Since you’ve got about 15 seconds to impress someone examining your Twitter profile, there’s no room for error.

Write A Bio The Moves People

You can’t write a short story, or even a paragraph. You’re limited to 160 characters on your Twitter profile, so the space you have to wow someone leaves a lot to be desired. Make every character count and use them all. Often people overlook the importance of a bio, no matter how brief. It’s true that all your closest friends know you kick ass. Your mom has been reassuring you since you were 10 that you’re cool but everyone else probably needs some method of persuasion to get the point.

You should place information and keywords within your Twitter profile bio that you want to be found for. Twitter is a massive people-based search engine and you’re a search result. If you want to appear for the words “copywriter” and “marketer” then they should be included. Use them as the foundation of your bio and write around them.

Try to maintain some personality and keep in mind that others don’t want to connect with a spambot. Show that you’re human by adding something personal, personable and perhaps even amusing. Real people are what other real people are looking for.

A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words

Custom backgrounds are such a big deal with people on Twitter. While your bio might be 160 words and it’s longer than a tweet it’s still not enough space to show your stuff. And prove that you’re in fact pure, 100% awesome marketer.

A custom background can be setup so that additional information, bio, contact details, extra pictures, logo etc can be mashed into the background. Anyone examining your Twitter profile would find all that information in plain view.

Whatever you do, avoid the default Twitter backgrounds and create something that is unique to you. When you’re marketing, you want to brand yourself and do all you can to engage people and develop trust. A custom background helps people connect with you on a more human level.

“Who Be You”

You can’t ever go wrong with a head shot picture that makes eye contact and utilizes a smile, unless you’re trying to post a mugshot. I’m not sure how effective that would be. It sells magazines, so it might work on a Twitter profile. It’s a good idea to avoid other logos or stock photos/clip art. People connect more readily with a human face and it helps build credibility.

Freebie Weblink

The link above your bio on Twitter is pretty much the only place you can squeeze off a good URL without having to utilize a URL shortener. It’s certainly helpful if your web address plays a part in your branding.

Don’t leave the weblink location blank. Even if you don’t have a custom website, you can still link to other social media profiles like Facebook or a Google profile. Use this as a way to help people get to know you.

When you’re marketing on Twitter, it’s all about engagement. People want to know that you’re not just another bot cycling RSS content into the fold. All of these factors play apart in delivering a bit of your personality to people so they understand who they’re networking with, but nothing is more important than the tweets you post. Be human in all that you do, starting with your Twitter profile setup as we’ve covered here.