Twitter is not new to the social media scene. Since it launched in 2006, Twitter has become one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet for individuals, celebrities, businesses, etc. As of 2015, Twitter had over 320 million active users sending over 500 million tweets a day. But, why should you care?
Believe it or not, Twitter is more than just a place to follow celebrities. For businesses, Twitter is actually a free, easy-to-use platform for driving website traffic, increasing brand awareness, increasing sales, building brand loyalty, and the list goes on. So, if you’re looking for a free way to improve many aspects of your business, you should think about giving Twitter a shot.
Managing a Twitter account does take some effort if you want to see results. So whether you plan on managing your own Twitter account or you choose to hire a social media specialist to do it for you, here are a few ways you can Use Twitter to Grow Your Business:
- Make Your Business Known. Hopefully your business already has a website or you are in the process of having one made. Your own website is going to be especially helpful in generating Twitter followers because the people visiting your site are already interested in your business. Once you have made a Twitter, you should add a “Follow” button to your website, blog, Facebook, etc., to encourage people to follow your page. This self-promotion is important because without any followers, no one will be seeing your Tweets, and your Twitter will be pretty useless. You can also sync your email contacts with Twitter to find out who you already know that you can reach out to.
- Be Careful Who You Follow. As a business looking to grow, the Twitter “search” bar will become your best friend. It allows you to research top businesses in your industry, trending topics, and keywords or phrases that your potential customers would be talking about. Following top businesses in your industry or fans of your industry will help you start connecting to the people you want to reach. However, you don’t want to follow every Twitter account you see. Make sure you avoid following or being followed by any Spam or Inappropriate accounts, which will make your business look bad.
- Practice Social Listening. Essentially, social listening means paying attention to how your audience behaves on social media sites. Once you start sending out tweets, you will likely receive notifications informing you about likes, new followers, retweets, etc. Instead of clicking the notifications away, use this information to find out who is following you, which tweets get the most interest, what time of day your tweets get the most interest, and so much more. The key to success on Twitter is to engage with your followers and build relationships. By taking a vested interest in your followers, you can better position yourself to post content that will spark their interest.
- When to Tweet. There are many theories about “the best time” to Tweet. However, there is no one right answer. Your “best time” is going to be dependent on a variety of things, including geographic location, audience, industry, etc. To figure out the right time for you, you can utilize the free Twitter Analytics that comes with your Twitter account and keep track of how your Tweets performed in the past. Your social media expert can also use different analytics tools to find out which days and times attract the most engagement from your followers.
- What to Tweet. There are an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to what you can Tweet, and it generally depends on what business you are in. The one commonality among all industries, is that you should always try and include either an image, link, or both in all of your Tweets. Here are some of the best Tweet topics when it comes to content:
- New Product Launches
- Storewide or Product Sales
- Sweepstakes or Contests
- Engaging videos or images
- Current Events (including Holidays, Sporting Events, etc.)
- Retweeting is also an easy way to support the people you follow and engage with your own followers. However, make sure you only retweet things that you want to appear on your news feed.
- Use #hashtags. It’s 2016, and thanks to Twitter the “pound” or “number” sign is now more commonly known as the “hashtag.” Whether you like them or not, they are a great way to increase the number of people seeing your Tweets. Hashtags allow anyone to search for topics that interest them, which you can use to your benefit. For example, if you run a bake shop, you can search the hashtag #sweettooth and immediately get a never-ending list of people who may be interested in your product.Your Twitter feed will also show you hashtags that are trending worldwide, which you can also use to increase your exposure or show your followers what topics or causes you support. For example, you can use the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday to post fun nostalgic photos of your business or products.However, don’t waste your time using hashtags that aren’t relevant to your business because although people may see your Tweets, they probably won’t care.
- Twitter Ads. Since the success of sponsored ads on Facebook and Instagram, Twitter decided to jump on the bandwagon. Don’t be intimidated. Twitter Ads are pretty similar to other paid social media advertising, and they can help you increase traffic and grow your Twitter audience. We don’t recommend Twitter Ads for everyone, but if you have some extra room in your budget, they may be a tool to consider adding to your social media repertoire.
Building your initial Twitter following is going to take a few man hours, but once it’s up and rolling, your Twitter will be a great marketing tool to engage with your audience in a new way. For questions or more information about using Twitter for your business, or other social media platforms, talk to our social media experts at NetSource Technologies.