The times are changing, and it is hard to keep up with social media. The easiest thing to do is to dismiss the trend entirely and say disparaging things about it like “do you Twitter” or “I’m not much of a twitterer.” It’s easy to make jokes about it, but why not actually learn how to use Twitter? Twitter and the ability for users to help make trends go viral are extremely important marketing and sales-driving tools that you are foolish to ignore or to poo-poo. Here is a crash course for getting your Twitter use working for you.
Brand
Your Twitter profile needs to reflect your brand. That means your avatar must be your company logo, your handle (aka username) should be your company name or something close to it. Your profile should be full of information about your company with a link to a fuller website. Brand your tweets with your company name as a hashtag.
Hashtags
What are hashtags you may be wondering? It’s a way of stamping your tweet with an identifiable term that any user can click on to see any tweet that has that same hashtag. Like a Gmail label or flag in Outlook, if you tweet with your company hashtag, you can click on it and see all other tweets that have mentioned you by hashtag quickly and easily.
Diversify
If your Twitter feed is only ever self-promotion, it may get boring and either people will unfollow you or will learn to gloss over your tweets. Keep it engaging with links to your own assets and links, but also other links of interest that your followers may enjoy even if it doesn’t directly promote your own page.
Actively Encourage Followers
If you put the Twitter logo on your website, it will encourage others to follow your twitter account more. Even just seeing the logo, at this point, a very familiar sight, will get folks who find your page but don’t follow you to make the simple click to follow you. Getting more followers helps build your credibility so it is important that you not only engage your current followers, but that you also are always seeking out more..
Discounts
Feel free to entice people to click more actively on your links by offering Twitter-only specials and promotions, if that’s something that’s relevant to your company. Discount codes not only attract new customers but can also help track the success and outreach of your particular tweets.
Don’t Just Post, Listen, Too
It’s all well and good to post your tweets, but it’s also important to explore Twitter to see what others are saying both about you and about your competitors. Click on relevant hashtags and find users who are actively talking about the pros and cons of each company. You can also get tips on new products that are coming out and about issues or concerns that your customers or fans are having, so that you can address the negative and reinforce the positive with efficiency unavailable to our forefathers.
Engage Publicly
Don’t worry about Tweeting directly at someone to engage in a public conversation, particularly if that person is a fan or customer. People like to engage with a company directly, and if others see the amicable back-and-forth, it could encourage them to connect with you to.
Contests
It’s also not wrong to hold Twitter-only contests. It may seem gimmicky but don’t be too concerned about that. It’s okay to try anything you can to generate more traffic to your site. Remember, thinking outside the box can really help you excel at Twitter.