Twitter! #whatsthepoint?

OK so you’re running a business, or maybe just working for a small to medium sized business, you feel like you should be on Twitter but you don’t really know why? Here’s some info to help you get started.

I don’t want to list too many obvious factors, if you’ve found your way to this blog then it’s likely you’re savvy in some elements of social media or online content. But Twitter is a great place for any business:

• there’s a huge potential market of clients and customers
• it allows Twitter users to engage with you as a business through a medium they feel comfortable with
• you can network with clients, potential business partners and suppliers all at once
• you can learn new things through a carefully selected list of profiles to follow

I could go on about the benefits for ages – but if you find the title of this article interesting, I’m going to assume that the notion that you’re ‘missing out’ by not being on Twitter along with the above four points are sufficiently enticing to encourage you to give it a go.

So, what now?

Here are some tips to get you started on how to make the most out of Twitter, and rather than it being a pointless waste of time, make it a fantastic benefit to your business networking and marketing.

1. Be frugal with the people you follow

Don’t follow everyone in the whole world. Follow the people who will inspire you, who you admire, and who are related to your business. This will mean you end up with a dynamic feed of information that is closely linked to your interests and relevant to your business goals, rather than a load of rubbish about what someone had for dinner.

2. Get your profile out there!

People who use Twitter, like to follow people they know on Twitter. So start telling people you’ve got an account. Got a website? get some icons or even a Twitter feed on there. Got an email signature? or a Linkedin account? I bet every corporate chap has a Linkedin account somewhere, particularly all those recruitment consultants we speak to on a daily basis – get your profile linked, synced, and advertised anywhere you can think of. An @ before a profile name is a honeypot to any local Twitter bee.

3. Be informative, but don’t lose your personality

Imagine when you’re tweeting that you’re speaking directly to your customers, face to face. Is what you’re saying interesting and will they want to know more? Is it funny? Does it have a visual aid? Is it something they’ll want to retell to their friends? If the answer to all of these is no – you’ve got to think of something better to say!

4. Credit people with stuff they’ve said

Learn the ropes in RT (retweeting) MT (modified tweeting) and ‘via’. Someone says something you like and you want to broadcast it? do so – it’s a compliment. But make sure you do it right. Tweet something someone else has said without the correct credit and you might get someone’s back up. Social media faux pas can be easy to make and they can be deadly to your social media strategy.

5. #chilloutman don’t use hashtags for everything!

Be concise with your choice of subject per tweet. Sure people search by hashtag so you want to get one or two in there. But add too many and you look like somebody celebrating their sweet 16 birthday with their #mates #bffs #friendsforever #cantwait #partytime. Leave it to one or two hash tags and you’re done. Lovely bubbly.

The best thing to do is join Twitter, get yourself a branded profile setup, follow some people you find interesting, and who you think might find you interesting, start advertising your profile, think of some interesting stuff to say and say it. You never know, you might end up enjoying it!

If you want more information on how Twitter can help your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch.