Don’t be a Twit; Get Your Business on Twitter
Top Tips for Utilising a Business Twitter Profile
No matter where you are, it seems that you can’t escape the internet giant that is Twitter. Created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, the social media outlet has grown from strength to strength and at present has well over 200 million active users who generate in excess of 65 million tweets a day; some interesting, some not so (not looking at anyone in particular Charlie Sheen!!)
With a growing number of businesses now creating Twitter profiles to showcase products and highlight services, celebrities trying to plug a new book or detailing the escapades of a night on the town are now being pushed to the background.
To ensure you don’t miss out on the phenomenon that is Twitter for your business, here are a few top tips for getting the most out of your profile;
1. Branding
When creating a profile make sure your profile name matches as closely to your business name as possible. If you can reflect your services through your Twitter username, all other users will know exactly what you have to offer and, all being well, will follow you to keep up to date with your news and thoughts.
Once you have your profile set up, the next step to consider is your short company biography. Remember you only have 160 characters to work with on the bio so keep it short, sharp and to the point but cover everything that is worth knowing. Add the URL for your website and the basic setup is all done!
2. Gaining Followers
The most effective way of gaining followers for your profile is to get out there and follow relevant companies/individuals/organisations who you feel will be interested in what you have to say. If they aren’t bothered about your profile they won’t follow you back in which case you scrap them and move on!
The more profiles you are initially following, the better chance of gaining more followers for your profile which is when the real fun can begin.
3. Tweeting
Whilst many of the older generation ask what the hell this is when you incorporate it into a conversation, as a business owner it is essential that you maximise the potential of your Twitter presence with regular tweets (updates for those who are still a bit behind).
If you have an RSS or news feed on your website, you can aggregate this to the profile so every time a news item is uploaded to the news feed, a link to it will automatically be tweeted on your profile. It is then down to you to add further tweets. How about considering a ‘Product of the Day,’ a link to relevant national industry news features or retweeting another users tweet? This can all help to develop interest in your profile, however remember not to overload as people can quickly get annoyed with tweets every half an hour; 2 or 3 times a day at max if you can.
4. Contacts
Once you have established yourself, the time now comes for you to get out there and interact with people. Think of it as if you have been sat in a bar for a couple of hours and have finally plucked up the courage to go and chat to the attractive member of the opposite sex stood in the corner (they’ll be no sexism in this post!)
In addition to the previously touched on retweets, there is the option to direct message users or mention users in your own tweets by adding the @ sign before their name. A good level of interaction between you and your followers can build up your respectability whilst giving you the perfect opportunity to publicise what you have to offer (not in the same over dramatic way as some celebrities though, i.e. Katie Price)
5. Build the Brand
As the months of regular use progress, you will effectively be increasing awareness of your brand on a grand scale (excuse the rhyme) and building new connections along the way. The aim is for you to start getting enquiries for business or interest in a product or service via Twitter for you to then convert into cold, hard cash which is undoubtedly the aim of the game for every business.
Investing in social media alongside your SEO campaign is a great way to get your business out there and show that you are keeping up with technology by being a part of the world’s largest online networking service. As soon as you have an understanding of how best to utilise your social media profile, the direction for you to travel will be paved out and the rewards from this will steadily role in. I hope these top tips will help you along the way.
