How To Use Twitter For Your Business
Businesses are jumping on board the Twitter train left and right, but how do you turn this microblogging social site into a destination worthy of your limited time and resources? I’ve seen so many
businesses miss the mark by focusing on one-sided tweets, rarely engaging with followers. But
remember, Twitter isn’t called a ‘social’ networking site for no reason. If you really want to start
bridging the gap between Twitter and improved return on investment (ROI), growing and engaging
with targeted followers should be your number one priority. With this in mind, I’ll show you how to
achieve real business outcomes from Twitter.
1. Tweet industry influencers
Start by tweeting influencers in your industry. Answer relevant questions they ask, ask your own
questions, and offer any information they may find valuable; anything to show you are helpful. This
will help increase your own influence within the Twittersphere. At the same time, the more they
mention you in their tweets, the likelier their followers will become aware of your presence (and
follow you if they find you interesting).
You can use the Twitter search function to find keywords relevant to your industry. Filter the results
by ‘top’ to view only the top tweets. Generally those with the top tweets are influencers. You can
also try Twitter tools such as Klout or Kred, both of which are good indicators of a users influence
within Twitter.
2. Take advantage of Twitter lists
Now start adding Twitter users to your Twitter lists so you can easily view tweets from only these
users. For example, you could create a list for influencers, clients, potential clients and competitors
(set this one to private!). If you really want to get fancy, try Formulist. Formulists allows you to
automatically set up lists whenever someone retweets, follows or @mentions you. Better yet, you
can use their advanced filers to make customizable lists. Examples from the website include:
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“A list of people you follow from the same city as you
"foodies" or "bloggers" you follow based on bio keywords
A "Big Twitterers I follow" list of people who have tons of followers relative to the number of
people they follow”
3. Monitor keyword searches.
You need to determine what keywords you want to monitor. Most businesses tend to use company
or brand names, industry keywords, customers and competitors. If you want to monitor multiple
lists, I suggest you try Hootsuite or Tweet Deck which allows you to create and manage lists more
effectively than Twitter. You can also view multiple lists in one window.
3. Tweet at Optimal times
Considering the volume of tweets that are sent daily, it’s easy for your tweets to get lost in your
follower’s newsfeed. Subsequently, tweeting at optimal times when your followers are likely to read
your tweet is crucial. Generally tweeting from 10 am to 4 pm is best, with 1pm to 2pm being the
most active hour for tweeting. Time.ly or Buffer both come in handy for determining the most
optimal times for you to tweet. These analyze your past tweets to figure out the optimal times to
publish your tweets to gain maximum impact.
But of course, everyone’s tweeting activities are different. That’s where Tweet O’Clock comes into
play. It shows you the timeframes when a specific user is most active (and when you should tweet
them). Use this when you are directing tweets towards specific users such as influencers or clients.
4. Schedule your tweets
Twitter never sleeps, but unfortunately you do. If most of your followers are from a different time
zone or if they’re just night owls, you can use a scheduler Twitter app. Try Time.ly, Buffer or
Socialmotus. These will not only schedule your tweets, but periodically send them throughout the
day.
5. Follow people
First things first, you need to start following others. There’s no point in tweeting if no one is reading
your tweets. Actively following relevant Twitter accounts increases your exposure and the likelihood
they will follow you back and engage with you. Rather than just mass adding random users, try using
Tweetstork or Socialmotus. These tools find similar users based on keywords you specify and then
generates a list of recommended people you should follow.
6. Interact with your Followers
There’s no point having followers if you’re just going to ignore them in favour of posting one-sided
tweets all the time! You should never miss the chance to reply to a tweet you have something
meaningful to contribute to. Remember to consistently monitor your “Interactions” and “Mentions”
folder in Twitter and respond in a timely manner. By no means should you limit your engagements
to simply responding to tweets initiated by others. Regularly monitor your newsfeed or any keyword
searches to see if you can answer a question, or provide any valuable or interesting information. If
you’re looking to build your followers, try Inbox Q. This lets you set up keyword searches and shows
you a stream of tweets asking questions related to that keyword. Install it into your browser toolbar,
so you can easily find and answer questions with a few clicks.
7. Be interesting and informative
This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s surprising how many businesses miss the mark on this one. In
order to build a loyal and supportive following, you want your followers to promote your tweets
through re-tweeting and @reply you so you are seen as an authority figure. This is great for exposing
your brand to a wider audience. Post interesting content and re-tweet others. Social media specialist
Dan Zarraella, found that the following types of tweets had better re-tweet rates:
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News items
Twitter
Links to resources
Those not containing self references were the most re-tweeted
8. Link to all channel
Make it easy for people to find your twitter account. Link it to your website, blog, Facebook
accounts, LinkedIn accounts, email signatures and every other channel you have a presence on. And
don’t forget to put the ‘Follow me on Twitter’ social button on these channels. Rather than simply
placing the button on your site, give them a reason to follow you on Twitter. For example, you could
say:
“Follow us on Twitter to receive the latest industry news, helpful hints to maximize your internet
marketing results, updates on our products & any promotions we're running!”
9. Use Hash Tags
Twitter has its own inbuilt search engine, so just like Google or BING when people search for tweets
using a specific keyword you want your tweet to show up in the search results. Go one step further
and use hashtags for relevant trending topics (these are the keywords that people are using the
most). Generally one or two hashtags within a tweet is best.
There’s so much to say about Twitter, but this simple guide will help you start building your Twitter
presence and generate real business value from Twitter. And now it’s up to you to start putting this
guide into action. Do you have any other recommendations to help other businesses grow their
Twitter presence? Let us know in the comments.