Your business signed up to Twitter - WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?

Everyone is talking about Twitter so you got your self a Twitter account. That was pretty easy!

Now you wonder where should I start? How do I make this work? 

 I recently gave these tips to a business who is involved in the IT industry but had no real idea about using Twitter for business. I received great feedback, so I thought I would share them with you. 

 

 

Here are some tips:

1. Twitter should not be used as a direct sales tool.

Twitter is ‘social’ media – it is a dialogue not a noticeboard to pin your latest press release.

If you truly want to benefit from Twitter you need to actively engage and create a discussion.  If your followers only ever see you post links to articles or press releases, they will soon tire of this and not bother with you.   Do not use it as free advertising space.

2. Engaging with your followers or initiating conversations with those you follow on Twitter will increase your credibility and make you an account that people will take notice of.

Note: I recently attended a Conference, the ProBlogger event, where Tim Ferriss spoke briefly – his book The 4-Hour Workweek is read by many of the "top tech CEOs in the world”.   

One thing he mentioned was that ‘People need to trust the Messenger, before they trust the Message’.

3. Offer information that you find interesting, not only information about your business. If you are interested I am sure your followers will be grateful and be interested as well.

Note: beware of ReTweeting (RT) posts from accounts you know most people would follow already.No one wants to read the same post over and over.

I have found Google+ is a great source for technology tips.

4. Follow lots of accounts in your industry- Who are the influential commentators and Media? – follow them and ENGAGE.

5. You can ask for help or opinions on Twitter, you don’t always have to ‘tell’.     People are always happy when you are interested in what they think.

6. Download TWEETDECK or HOOTSUITE and search topics you are keen to engage on – who are the people talking on this stream ?– follow them. Use this interface to monitor multiple topics.

7. Allocate time – it will vary – to make Twitter work well for you.

* Actively search for relevant links to share (note try to find new fresh things,not same stuff everyone is talking about).

* Reply to people who have engaged with you
* Thank people who may have RT your post
* Search relevant topics and follow those who are active on the Twitter Stream

8. A clear Social Media policy should be in place for those who are managing your Twitter stream.


Have a clear policy regarding what to do with negative feedback, Spam accounts, or abuse.

Also be clear on who will answer questions, make sure you are courteous and reply – do not ignore Twitter questions.

9. Obviously Trade Shows are a fantastic time to be highly visible on Twitter, don’t forget to post plenty of pic, not just of you but customers too.  Customers will most likely RT these. Link on to the #eventhashtag and see who else is talking.

10.   Analytics and Monitoring:

If you are adding links to your Twitter posts you should use Bitly  https://bitly.com  – it shortens the URL and also allows you to track and monitor the distribution of that link.

You can use tools to measure your influence Klout http://www.klout.com/home (although they have recently overhauled their measurement process and many people are not impressed)

There are many tools available to provide analytics on your Social Media activity. Google Analytics and Hootsuite provide free reports with more detailed reports that can be acquired as needed.

You can also search Twitter – to find who is mentioning who, RTs etc. http://twitter.com/#!/search-home

Plus many more options are available.

This is just a basic list, but hopefully it will get you started and you can always reach out to the Twitter community for more help if you need it.

Happy Tweeting