Alan Draper
When people browse the internet and Social Media sites their attention spans are extremely short and if you don’t grab people’s attention within the 1st 10 seconds, then your chance to engage with them will pass.
That’s why I love Twitter so much, 140 characters short and sweet. Communicating in 140 characters helps you to condense your message to make it as appealing as possible. Social Media has changed the way people communicate and Twitter has played a pivotal role in altering how people communicate in short bursts of information.
Small business can use Twitter more effectively by following these 5 top Twitter Tips:
1) Targeting
Hashtags can be used to identify potential customers, industry trends, stakeholders and competitors. Twitter were the 1st Social Media platform to use hashtags which have now become so popular that Facebook and Google+ have now adopted their use as a search function.
Followerwonk is a site that allows users to search for people, businesses and phrases which are not currently possible to conduct via Twitter. The Twitter bio of people & companies often include hashtags, geographical locations and key words such as their industry and specialist areas. Use followerwonk to target potential customers and competitors according to the information provided in their bio, something which is not possible to implement on Twitter.
For example use followerwonk to target restaurants in the Edinburgh area specialising in vegetarian food to target your audience by being as narrow and specific as possible.
Follow your competitors and follow their followers. The list of people & businesses they follow is likely to be a similar target audience to the one you’re aiming to connect with.
2) Lists
Creating lists pertinent to your own industry and interests is the best Twitter tip I can offer, it changed the way I use Twitter. When I first started using Twitter I couldn’t understand why I was receiving so many messages, literally new posts every second – so how do you keep up with the pace of tweets?
Easy – create distinct lists that are relevant to your business and company interests. For example if you’re say a Gardener then create lists of potential local customers, existing customers, competitors and relevant newspaper articles on your industry. This way when you want to read tweets, you can do so according to each individual list created, simply switch lists to view the type of information you want to access.
3) Share and be shared
Sharing is the name of the game, you want your posts to be shared as does everyone else on Twitter. Retweet posts you like and think may be of interest to your audience. When you retweet a post you like make sure you always include the Twitter handle of where it originated. Change the heading of the post or add your own comments to show both the poster and your audience what your opinion is on the subject.
Include a Twitter button on all your blogs & articles to encourage readers to share your material to a wider audience than you can achieve on your own. Invite comments and offer something for free – mainly your time by answering questions and being seen as a leader in your field who is approachable.
Communicate and engage with people just like you would face to face, don’t simply post sales-related content or people will click you into oblivion.
4) Follow and be followed
Here’s where I get a little controversial, with Twitter volume is important. Now this doesn’t mean aim for volume over quality, but aiming for a higher number of followers is essential. Do you trust a business with 56 followers of 5,000? It’s Twitter etiquette, follow and be followed.
Be wary of fake Twitter accounts, they’re surprisingly easy to spot. Someone who has posted 50 tweets yet has 10,000 followers should instantly set the alarm bells ringing.
5) Respond
Set up Twitter notifications on your phone, computer or tablet so you instantly know when you’ve been mentioned in a tweet. Respond to that post as quickly as possible to engage and keep the conversation flowing, after all Twitter is part of SOCIAL media where people socialise.
Always thank people for sharing your posts and link previous posts, articles and blogs where relevant to increase traffic to your posts.
How do you use Twitter? What tips or problems do you face? Any comments are as usual greatly welcomed.
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Alan Draper.
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Great insights, Jason, but I must say that it’s good to disconnect every once in a while. I couldn’t imagine getting all the dozens of notifications to my phone 24/7. It would drive me crazy.
Very true Sandra, I get so many notifications. As long as you regularly check into your social media accounts, notifications aren’t essential. Thanks for your comments :)