Getting Started On Twitter

 

Twitter is a great social platform to connect with colleagues, customers and future customers from all corners of the globe.  But it can seem overwhelming to new users when it all flows by so very quickly.  However, with 140 million users, it is a platform that should not be discarded.  Twitter is another social networking site so use it as a tool for conversation and connecting with potential customers.

 

Try following the below tips to engage your clients and customers:

1.  Ask a question

This is a great way to engage your audience online. People love to share their opinions, recommendations, or stories, so asking questions is a great way to start a conversation with your followers.   But keep the questions relevant to your audience and target market.

 

2. Provide details about you

Customers and potential customers don’t follow you on social networks just to be sold to all the time.  They also like to get a glimpse of the person behind the business.  So mix up your tweets and show some personality.  Have some personal tweets mixed in with business focused tweets.

You can also tweeting about an experience you having whether it is having your hair done or at your local café.  Include the Twitter handle of the business where you are and they may then reply or retweet giving you further exposure to their audience as well.

 

3. Share useful tips or advice

Share tips, articles, and resources that would be of interest to your followers.  Examples may be inspirational quotes, or articles from experts in your industry.  Even other businesses that have a special going at the moment that would be of interest to your followers but obviously aren’t products that are similar to your own.  This will also help get your name out among other businesses that may return the favour one day.

 

4.  Use hashtags

In my opinion, some Twitter users go overboard with the use of hashtags, however if used wisely they can be a great marketing tool.  For example, if you have an event happening ask the participants to tweet about the event and to use a short hashtag.  Run a competition and users will get an entry when they include that hashtag in their tweet.  It is a great way to build some hype and awareness.  You can then conduct a search for all tweets using a particular hashtag.

 

5. Respond to @ mentions

Twitter is no different to other social media networks in this respect too.  Make sure you are replying and engaging with your followers.  How you respond to your customers online, and the time it takes, can be indicative to your business’s customer service procedures.  If someone mentions you in a Tweet, (ie. @mention), reply to them even if it is only to acknowledge them.  If a client or customer tweets something negative, respond to them to show that you are following up and then try to resolve the problem away from the Twitter environment, or at the very least via private messaging.  Also, thank others for re-tweeting your content.

 

If you have a Facebook Business Page I also find it handy to have your Facebook content feeding through to Twitter.  As the Twitter Feed moves very quick, you can get away with posting more often then you would on Facebook.  To save you time you can also use scheduling tools such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to schedule your Tweets throughout the day.

Just remember to be monitoring it so that you can reply to any replies or retweets you receive.

Now you have some momentum and getting some content in your feed, learn the secrets to getting your tweets re-tweeted.