In the world of social media, Twitter ranks at the top, with over 645 million users (115 million active users) and growing at a steady pace of 135, 000 new users every day (http://goo.gl/3SH7BZ). As you can see, Twitter is no slouch. In today’s “Digital Age”, any approach to possible end consumers should not be overlooked. The following blog provides you with the first 5 key steps a business must take when initially signing up with Twitter. Please note that this how-to is contingent on an already created Twitter account. If you do not have an account, sign-up now.
Step 1: Add Description to Your Profile
Twitter descriptions allow you the opportunity to provide a little information on what your company does, or who you, as a person, actually are. To update your description, go into edit mode on your Profile:
From here, you can then update your description to suit your needs. If your Twitter Handle does not include your name, or your company name (or at least close to) include it in your description. This allows new viewers to clearly identify who you are, and what you, or your company does.
Step 2: Add Website Link to Your Profile
Adding your website link to your Twitter profile allows viewers (and followers) to find out more information about your company. To add a website link to your Twitter profile, just simply copy and paste your URL into the Website slot:
Step 3: Add a Photo to Your Profile
Adding media to your profile doubles the engagement rate amongst your followers. To add your profile picture and banner picture, go into edit mode. Once in edit mode, select the “Change your header photo (or profile photo) icon”. Select “Upload Photo”, and from your computers picture library, upload the photo of your choice.
Adding a profile photo and header photo help your viewers and followers to easily identify the logo, print ad, etc. associated with the business and will help them to recognize your business elsewhere (for example. Facebook).
To actually add photos or other media to your tweets, select the “Tweet” icon in the top right of your screen:
Once selected, a compose box will appear:
You can then pair your tweet’s with photos by simply selecting the “Add photo” icon, which can be seen above. With a large portion of your tweets, there should be some form of media linked within that tweet. Whether it be a link to a URL, a video, or a photo, adding media to your tweets has been proven to double the engagement amongst your viewers.
Step 4: Follow 20 Profiles
The first step in attracting followers is to start following. It’s preferred you follow initiatives that match up with your companies interests. This will help to maintain your company vision (or goals) and help to foster future conversations. To find profiles to follow, select “#Discover” at the top of the screen:
This will then take you to the discover page where it has a number of possible profiles that suit your interest:
If you can’t find any profiles that suit your interest’s, you can simply just search for profiles in the “Who to Follow” tab. Enter the interest that suits you (for example, Online Presence) and select “Search Twitter”:
A number of profiles will then appear (as seen below). You can then search through the list and select and follow the profiles you find to be the most interesting or hold the greatest potential for future conversations:
Step 5: Start Tweeting
While you can start following people and waiting to get a follow back, the best way to fast-track this process is to start tweeting. Start Tweeting about the following:
1.) Start tweeting interesting content that either applies directly to your business or something that is currently affecting your industry.
2.) Ask questions and interact with your customers
3.) Thank you’s-When people do start to follow you, thank them for the follow. You make the user feel appreciated, which leads to the user feeling more comfortable to spark up future conversations or re-tweets
4.) Use #Hashtags-this allows people who are not currently following you to see your tweets and content, which leads to increased follows. DO NOT use more than 1-2 #Hastags per tweet, anything more begins to look like spam.
5.) Retweet Info that relates to you-Be selective when retweeting. Only do so when the tweet is important to you, your business, and your marketing strategy. To Retweet, simply select the Retweet icon at the bottom of the tweet:
6.) Tweet using @-To tweet @ a specific profile, or to share an interesting find with your friends, use @ paired with the specific profiles Twitter handle (for example, @HunchManifest). This sparks conversations with your followers. This also leads to followers from the other profile that are not currently following you to see that you are conversing with a profile that they currently follow, which may lead to increased followers.
Twitter is a leading Social Media Tool that should not be overlooked. For those first-time-tweeters, we highly recommend you follow these recommendations in order to fully optimize your Social Media Presence.
