Twitter Tips for Business

How to Master Tweeting to Market your Business –

Nothing divides opinion more in the world of social media than Twitter. Whereas other social media accounts such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google + seem to be straight forward and simple in comparison, Twitter may appear to the initiated to use rules and posting regulations that frustrate, irritate and completely confuse.

But the fact is social media is vital for creating a healthy business online presence and Twitter really is one of the big players. A recent study by the Internet Advertising Bureau UK reported that 80% of consumers would be more inclined to buy in the future if the brand had a social media presence. So understanding how this fat little blue bird works is essential to your business marketing campaigns.

Like all social media sites Twitter can increase leads, visits to your business website, increase loyalty to your brand, enhance brand awareness, allow you to instantly inform your target market of current events and offers, communicate directly with prospective clients or suppliers, and increase conversions.

So how do I keep to 140 characters?

Tweeting appears quite odd at first as you are only allowed 140 characters. We remember when we started using it for the first time and it really was infuriating at first, trying to cram our elaborate verbosity into a micro blog.

But it is a great discipline to learn. Everything has to be superfast on the net. Surfers want to see what they are looking for instantly and at the push of a button. Text has to be minimalistic, punchy, and powerful while including a call to action. Once you get into the mind-set it will open a whole new world but you need to stick with it.

Take a look at our tips below for the perfect twitter marketing post.

1. Cut down on vowels (classrm instead of classroom)
2. Truncate words (Chars instead of characters)
3. Use actual numbers (3 instead of three)
4. Contract words (its instead of it’s)
5. Try using symbols (% instead of per cent; + instead of and)
6. Go back and take out needless words – you will be surprised what you can take out and still leave the sentence making perfect sense.
7. Don’t forget, you are not trying to insert all the benefits of a new business product into a tweet. The tweet excites and engages, the link takes the reader to your business website where the information is.
8. Link shorteners: apps such as bitly and tinyURL will reduce the size of urls you are putting in the post.

Why and to who are you tweeting?

You need to excite and engage with your business customers in a micro-second. In order to do that you need to:

• Know you target market:

Understand your prospective client inside out: age; gender; income bracket; possible interests and hobbies related to your industry etc.

• Have a clear objective for posting:

You need to have a firm goal as to what you are going to achieve in any one campaign. Your business will of course be putting up spontaneous and frequent tweets which may relate to topical news but Twitter works best when you have a set campaign aimed firmly at a subset of your target market which has a clear goal.

What should I put into my tweets?

1. Use the # to draw in a wider audience who may be interested in the topic of your tweet
2. Share tips related to your business your product or service
3. Offer highlights from a recent conference or event
4. As with everywhere on the net, everyone loves graphics so attach them where you can
5. Join in conversations on current news and trends to do with your industry
6. Comment on relevant news
7. Don’t be afraid to link to articles which are not on your website. This shows you are not just out to get leads
8. Don’t sell – enlighten and inform. Twitter is a community which expects authenticity. Be yourself
9. Talk about latest offers and events

We’ll be bringing you more Twitter Tips for Business over the coming months, so do check back to keep abreast of the best ways your business can use Twitter.

If you’re still not sure that you have the time or expertise to run and manage your business’s Twitter account then Contact Us to find out more about our managed social media consultancy services.