If you are not taking advantage of Twitter for business, you are missing out on an effective way to market and connect with your audience. Twitter has grown by leaps and bounds and has become the go-to social media platform for businesses, individuals and personalities.

What is the draw? Twitter is instant, it’s quick. It’s a “right now” way to stay in touch. It’s short and sweet and makes you accessible.

Many businesses find that Twitter not only enhances discoverability, it is also a powerful tool for feedback, and for engaging with customers and potential customers.

Setting Up Your Account

If you haven’t started your business Twitter account yet, get going. It’s easier than you think to create a profile, branding and get your first followers. Here are some tips:

• Use your business name and logo. Consistent branding is key, so make sure that your header and photo are good, clear representations of your business.
• Be sure to update your website, blog and email signature line with your Twitter handle so that people can  connect with you.

Here is a much more in-depth guide to setting up your account

Be A Good Follower

Unlike other social media sites, you can’t just wait around for people to find you. Of course, people will, but with Twitter, you really need to be following other accounts, or you will just look like you are there to blatantly sell and promote yourself.

This is not what social media is for. Especially on Twitter, if you send out a barrage of spammy sales posts, people will unfollow you in a heartbeat.

Who should you follow? Follow people who are in the same business, associates, etc. If you are a B2B then follow your customers business sites. Follow people in related industries. Following others show that you are there to connect and engage, and that is what Twitter is all about. Many times by simply following others you’ll be followed back.

What Should You Post?

Twitter allows you 140 characters to get your point across. This limited post length may seem a little intimidating, but it does make for concise messages and adds to the fast pace of the network.

One of the first things you need to realize when it comes to posting to Twitter is that you need to post quality content on a regular basis, without coming off as spammy and without bombarding your followers.

The best way to go is to post a mix of other people’s content, your blog posts, etc. and engagement with others. This could come in the form of responses to the Tweets of others, retweeting relevant or entertaining content from other accounts and also your own Tweets.

Sharing content is a great way to keep putting out quality Tweets. It also helps build relationships with your followers when you share their content. Of course, this must be done effectively. Only post things that add value and are relevant to your audience.

A good rule of thumb is to follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of your posts should be content from others, while 20% should be your own original content. People want useful information from multiple sources, and citing external content is both natural & expected. 

Twitter Engagement

Aside from posting quality Tweets and sharing content, one of the most important things you can do on Twitter is to respond and engage. People may Tweet questions, comments and feedback about your products and services. Responding promptly helps build trust.

Always make sure to pay attention to any feedback you receive on your social media sites. This feedback can be valuable and help you build and improve your business.

Follow Them First

I follow you then you follow me back. This is the most common way to get followers. Careful tho, as there is a limit to the number of accounts you can follow at any one time. Every account can follow 2,000 users total. Once you’ve followed 2,000 users, there are limits to the number of additional users you can follow. The details beyond that are not published by Twitter. Takeaway: Following is good and leads to connections, however it’s not something you want to go overboard with.

Favorite Their Post

I click ‘favorite’ on your Tweet, then you follow me. This method helps you gain targeting following by first finding Tweets that match your interests and targeted keywords. Then you click ‘favorite’ and often they reciprocate. This takes more time, but gives you a much higher quality and engaged following. Takeaway: Favoring quality updates can earn you likes & makes your account more useful to your follows, as they can see your favorites list.

Offer To Follow Me

If you follow me, I give you something of value, such as a document, contest entry , ebook, etc. This can be very effective if coupled with other offers, and depending where you set up the offer you could have very targeted followers or untargeted followers as a result. This works great for local advertising. Takeaway: By combining Twitter with offers of value, you can quickly build a very targeted list of followers by either geography, interest or ideally both.  

Here are some more advanced tactics

Get To Know Hashtags

You have probably heard of hashtags, but you might not know what they are, or how powerful they are.

The hashtag feature allows users to “tag” their post with a specific word or phrase. This hashtag can then be searched, making your Tweet easy to find by people who are exploring specific topics. Events, places and activities often become hashtags. There are also trending hashtags, and when done well, you can leverage these trending topics to gain visibility. This must be done carefully.

Here is a great resource that will allow you to research hashtags

Create Lists

Twitter has a list feature that makes it easy to group the people, businesses and organizations you follow into categories. For example, you may create a list for vendors, customers, businesses, influential people and more.

Twitter is an amazing tool for business, when used correctly. The most important thing to remember is that it is a Social Network, so be social. Keep your followers informed about your business, products and services in a non-intrusive way, and use the features that Twitter provides to grow your following. If you have any questions and/or need help setting up your social accounts, contact us today.