Twitter is a great business tool. While it is "Free", it costs precious business time. You can hire a social media marketer to manage it for you, or let the Social Media experts at Promise Productions leverage their marketing know-how to maximize your results. We call it Social Media Marketing Management.
Used well, Twitter can provide good exposure for your business - making your products and services known to new prospects, but you can also stain your brand with social media marketing if you're not careful. As a business wanting to get positive results with social media marketing, it's worth learning the biggest dos and don'ts in order to use Twitter wisely.
Tip 1: Be yourself and be human. Social media is all about authenticity. In contrast to the distant and sterile approaches of corporate marketing years ago, the beauty of Twitter is that it's a huge global community of human beings. So do show your human side, especially when using your business account. Talk about things that matter to you. Join in with conversations that interest you - be friendly, show emotion, and use smilies if you want to. Social Media can get results all the slick advertising cannot - because it puts a human face to business.
But while you're being friendly and more personal, remember that you are a business professional and everything you say can be seen. So use discretion and tact.
Tip 2: Watch how you write
Some people write well, others don't. You don't need to be a professional writer to use Twitter, but it helps if you have basic literacy skills. As a business, you are expected to spell correctly, and keep slang minimal.
However good (or bad) your writing skills are, with Twitter's 140-character limit you'll need to be creative with your Tweets. Your Tweets need to be concise yet informative, and often you'll be trying to squeeze in a URL too (URL shortening services like bit.ly and tinyurl.com are lifesavers).
One definite don't is overusing "text speak" because it only makes you come across like a kid, not a business. If you are a businessperson who does not feel they write well for social media purposes, we are, after all, a marketing communications firm, so feel free to outsource your Social Media Marketing management to us.
Tip 3: Share and share alike
Being friendly includes a healthy dose of sharing. If you have some good news - related to your business or your personal life - share it; everybody loves a good news story. Do share links - to your website, your blog, your local news service, or anything else that interests your followers - this is a great way to get conversations going. Just remember to explain what the link's about, or your followers won't know why they should click it.
And don't Tweet the same link over and over; people will quickly become bored and may stop following you. Think "conversation." Do retweet your friends' links, too; they'll be grateful, and so will your followers if the link is interesting and relevant. (making sure, of course, you've looked at the material first yourself to see if you want your followers viewing it)
Tip 4: Be part of the community
Social Media is about being social - about a 2-way conversation. Don't treat Twitter as your personal billboard. It's not: it's a community, millions of members strong, and the community as a whole is not very tolerant of users who constantly advertise.
Try to stick to the 80-20 rule when you use Twitter for business: no more than 20% of your Tweets should advertise or self-promote, and at least 80% should be non-promotional.
Listen to what people are saying, and join in. Twitter is a network of conversations, so it's good practice to listen and respond to parts of those conversations that interest you; don't just stand in the middle of the room with a megaphone, shouting "I'm fabulous! I'm selling widgets at 20% off this week!" Again - if you wouldn't do it at a business networking event, don't do it on Twitter.
Do retweet your friends' requests for help (for example, charity appeals and sponsorship requests), and do introduce friends that are new to Twitter and could do with some followers. And again - do retweet useful, interesting links from people you follow, but always check links before sending.
Tip 5: Mind your language
Don't use offensive language when representing your business on Twitter; even mild swearwords can put sensitive prospects off following you (and besides - cursing in public is hardly professional). Use Twitter to answer customer questions and solve their problems, by all means; many organisations use Twitter as a customer services tool very effectively.
SUMMARY
Its not complicated, it is just a way to converse as a business that is more open and inviting! A way where your prospects can listen in on the things your tweet and get a sense of your values, your business' personality and decide if they want to come on in!
On Twitter, everything you say is out there for everyone to see, so leave your followers with the best possible impression of your brand at all times... the Internet has a very long memory and you want to uplift!
We call it ATTRACTION MARKETING. We're here for you in all aspects of marketing communications including Social Media consultation and Online Visibility strategies.
To your success, Promise Productions.
877-858-0071
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