Twitter is a phenomenal tool for engaging with your customers, building your brand awareness, and even driving traffic to your website. But where do you start? How can you ensure that you are using Twitter effectively? How can you make sure that posts are compelling enough for people to share? Below I'll be discussing some of the best ways to use Twitter for business. Read on to learn how to set up an Twitter account, create an engaging profile, use hashtags, and more!
How To Setup Your Twitter Business Account
If you're on the fence about whether to create a Twitter account for your business, I'd recommend it. Here are some reasons why:
It's free.
You can reach a wider audience with tweets and hashtags.
You can post videos and photos from any of your social media platforms on Twitter.
It opens up a whole new avenue for customer service, as it's a site where your customers will be on daily.
Here are some tips on how to set up your account:
Create an account that contains your company name and slogan or catchphrase such as "The home of the best ____ in town!"
Use keywords related to your company so people can find you when searching through their Twitter feed or looking for businesses like yours. For example, if you sell organic foods, include words such as organic, vegan, farm-fresh, gluten-free etc.
Include any contact information such as email address and phone number so people can quickly get in touch with you if they need more information or want to buy something from you after seeing one of your posts on Twitter.
Your Business Twitter Account
First things first, you need to have a Twitter account. You can sign up for an account by visiting Twitter's homepage and clicking "Sign Up." It takes just a few minutes to have your account set up.
When you have your account set up, it's time to fill out your profile. When creating your profile, be sure to include a photo of yourself or your company logo, so people know who is tweeting.
A simple way to gain and attract new followers is by following other users in the same industry. This will allow you to see their tweets and see what they are talking about in their industry. Followers will often follow back when they know that you are interested in what they do!
UPDATED: Twitter has now enabled new profiles called Twitter Professional designed for creators, publishers, businesses, nonprofits, developers – anyone who comes to Twitter to do business.
There will be exclusive features for those using these accounts, which will be rolled out worldwide over the next few months.
To activate Twitter professional, head to your profile and an option for Twitter Professional should come up. Just follow the steps. If you want to learn more, click here to head to Twitter's resource page.
Your Twitter Business Profile
Before you can even begin to use Twitter for your business, you need to make sure you have a complete profile. Your potential followers will need to find all the information they are looking for in your bio section.
So if you haven't yet created your account, go back and do that now! After you've created an account, come back here and continue reading.
Your bio should include the following information:
Your company name
A short description about what your company does
Your website URL
The location of your business (a link to Google Maps is good enough)
Keywords for search engines so people can find your page when searching online
The languages you speak
One thing not included in the bio section is a call to action. You'll want to have a call to action, so people know what they are supposed to do with their visit. Some ideas are: "Request a quote," "Shop our products," "Talk to us about our services," etc.
Content On Twitter
When you post on Twitter, it's important to post quality content. Try not to use too many abbreviations or emojis, as those posts will be difficult for some people to read. Instead, try using hashtags that help your audience find relevant information. Be careful though, Twitter only has a character limit per tweet of 280 characters, and that's about 40 words.
To improve engagement on Twitter, you must engage with your followers. Retweet their posts and respond to them when they comment on your tweets. Provide helpful information, answer questions, and share engaging content. In return, they will retweet, like and engage with your tweets.
Don't forget to have a content strategy with your main content themes in focus. If you are not sure what I mean by content themes, you can find more about content themes in my blog on finding social media content ideas.
Look no further if you're looking for a content calendar ready and prepared for 2022. Head to my resources page, where you can find a free social media content calendar template ready to be downloaded.
Tweets: Short & Sweet
The best way to use Twitter is to tweet! It only takes 280 characters per tweet, but that doesn't mean you should fill up your tweets with as much information as possible. This will cause your tweets to be a jumbled mess for people who follow you. Instead, keep your content concise and precise so people understand what you're trying to say.
Twitter can be an excellent tool for disseminating information quickly. But if it's too overwhelming for someone to read one tweet, they'll move on. Keeping all of your content short and sweet can help people stay engaged with your content and build brand awareness in the process.
Twitter Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to get your content seen by a wider audience. Hashtags categorise posts and make it easier for people to search for posts on a specific topic, event, or hashtag.
For example, if you wanted the hashtag #socialmediamarketing, someone searching for that term at a later date will be able to find all of your posts that use that hashtag.
The best thing about hashtags is that they do not have to be complicated! Keep them short and sweet—between 2-4 words are perfect and relevant to the topic you are tweeting about.
Twitter Engagement
Finding ways to engage with your customers is crucial to success, whether you are a brand or an individual. Twitter provides a platform for individuals and brands to engage with potential and current customers.
An effective way to engage your audience on Twitter is by using hashtags. Hashtags allow users to search for discussions about topics that interest them and join the conversation. This is especially helpful if you want to target specific audiences (e.g., sports fans) who might not follow your company account otherwise.
As a brand, you can also use hashtags as a way to engage with related accounts or influencers in your industry or participate in trending conversations. It's essential to find the relevant hashtags and join in the chat without spamming other users! Hashtags give brands visibility and help increase engagement.
Tweets must be compelling enough for people to share, so try including images and videos when possible. A visual element will make it more likely that people will retweet and click on links.
Putting it All Together
Getting started with Twitter can seem daunting, and learning how to use Twitter for business comes down to seeing what works for your brand. Hopefully, the information outlined in this blog will make the process a little easier for you to get started.
The first thing is setting up your account. The vast majority of users have a profile picture and their username as the only two pieces of information representing them on Twitter. You'll also want to put some thought into your header, which is another opportunity to convey your brand's message.
Beyond that, you'll want to use hashtags when tweeting about products, services, events or new promotions for maximum exposure. Hashtags help people find what they're looking for while browsing Twitter, including tweets related to your company's events or promotions. Additionally, you will want to post compelling content on Twitter that interestingly communicates your brand's message; this will encourage people to share posts with their friends!
Do you use Twitter for business? Let me know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading,
Jack Willoughby