Using twitter has never been this demanding. According to statistics, Twitter is the most immediate of all social media. For personal or professional purposes, Twitter allows you to instantly connect with your clients and your potential business partners all over the world.
Twitter has a great potential to market products or services if one understands the nerves of marketing along with the features of Twitter. This article explains the basic ways to use twitter and provides an overview of how to use videos, images, and cards in Twitter to promote a business.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social platform for sharing one’s views. The users can open their account with Twitter and broadcast their views in the form of short messages. These messages are popularly known as Tweets.
The registered users can write and publish their Tweets. The unregistered users can only see others’ Tweets by following them. The people who follow you can see your Tweets in their list called Twitter Stream. It is not necessary to follow back a person who is following you.
Twitter Terminology
- Handle – A “handle” is your Twitter username.
- Tweet – A tweet is Twitter’s version of a post or status update. The maximum length of a tweet is 140 characters (including URLs, though Twitter will auto-shorten URLs). Tweets are public to all — even people who aren’t following you.
- Follower / Following – When you follow someone on Twitter, you are subscribing to their tweets. You can follow others without them following you,
and vice-versa. - Retweet – A retweet is a tweet by one Twitter user that is tweeted again (or forwarded) by another user.
- @reply – When you reply (or “at reply”), you are tweeting in response to someone else’s tweet. This is also a way to simply tweet AT someone. It doesn’t necessarily need to be in response to someone.
- Like – You can “Like” a tweet by clicking the heart icon. Liked tweets are grouped together on your profile page.
- Modified tweet (MT) – A modified tweet is a tweet that has been shortened, edited, or altered in some way. Add “MT” to the beginning of any retweet that
you’ve altered. Why would you modify a tweet? To change or add a hashtag; to comment on the tweet; to correct a typo or error. - Hashtag (#) – A hashtag (or # symbol) marks keywords or topics in a tweet so that related tweets can be grouped together.
- Direct Message (DM) – A direct message is a private tweet that only the sender and recipient can read.
Twitter Account and Profile
Twitter being a social media platform can bring you enormous opportunities and potential to connect to the people. On this platform you can share what you want the world to see and want.
Let us see how to create twitter account and manage the profile.
Twitter Account and Profile
To get started, first you’ll need to create an account and set up a profile.
- Go to the Twitter homepage. HERE
- Locate the sign up box, which will lead you directly to the signup page.
- Enter your name, email address, and preferred password.
- Click on Sign Up.
Tips on Selecting a Username
When selecting a username, keep these simple tips in mind:
- Use a relevant name. Your Twitter name should be relevant to your name or your company’s name.
- Keep it short. The more characters that you use in your username, the less text characters will be used in Tweets directed to you.
- Be unique.
- Make your username easy to remember.
Twitter Account Profile
Your Twitter profile shows the world who you are. It’s the first thing the audience will see when they connect with you on Twitter, so it’s important to make sure you get it right. The process below outlines the steps to create a Twitter business page to drive customers to your profile.
Every element of your profile — your photo, header bio and pinned Tweet (optional) — should reflect your business identity and branding. This is your opportunity to showcase your best work.
When designing your profile, view it as a business card. You have little space to put your most important information and make a lasting impact amongst the other online noise.
Components of Twitter
Twitter consists of three components:
- You
- Your followers (those who follow you)
- Your following (those whom you follow)
Why am I on Twitter?
An obvious question a twitter account holder often tackles is, why am I on Twitter? The best way to figure out how to search is by defining some keywords that define the type of Twitter user you’d like to engage with. These keywords should be those that you’d use in the content of a Tweet or that you would hope those that would read your Twitter content to be interested in.
Considerations to Follow Others on Twitter
The considerations when selecting those to follow (and things that others are looking at when they consider following you) are:
- Does their bio indicate common interests?
- What is the ratio of followers versus following? Those with tons of followers but are following few are less likely to follow you back.
- How recent are their Tweets and are they Tweeting often?
- Is there anything from a recent Tweet in their feed that you can comment to and engage with?
If you like the answers to the questions, start making friends… Click on Follow.
Twitter will allow you to follow up to 2,000 people with no limits. After you reach this milestone, however, you have to get a certain number of those to follow you back before your following limit is increased.
Sending a Tweet from Twitter
As found on Twitter.com, to send a basic Tweet, follow the given steps:
- Sign in to your Twitter account.
- Type your Tweet into the textbox at the top of your Home timeline. Optionally, click on Tweet button in the top navigation bar.
Make sure your update is fewer than 140 characters. Twitter counts them for you. Remaining characters are shown as a number below the textbox.
Click on Tweet button to post the Tweet to your profile. You will immediately see your Tweet in the timeline on your homepage.
A few vital points as you start:
- If you receive a Tweet, reply back.
- Keep in mind what your twitter feed looks like. Just like any other social media channel, you want to make sure that what you are sharing en-suite reflects your marketing needs and strategy.
- If you are sharing a content from another source, be sure to include the twitter handle of the content owner. Not only will they appreciate knowing that you shared their content, they might even thank you for it and follow you back!
- Leave room for extra characters. Sure, you have 140 characters to use, but you might want to spare a few. Leaving extra characters at the end of your Tweet will enable others to retweet your content without having to edit it.
- Be mindful of hashtags. They help search, but using too many hashtags can also be seen as spam.
Using Hashtags in Twitter
The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword.
Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet – at the beginning, middle, or end; and can even become trending topics on Twitter.
Considerations of Using Hashtags in Twitter
A few key points regarding hashtags are:
- If you Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet.
- Don’t #spam #with #hashtags.
- Don’t over-tag a single Tweet.
- Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.
Types of Twitter Hashtags
There are the following prominent types and ways of using the hashtags:
- Brand Hashtags
Brand hashtags can be created to represent your brand consistently on Twitter. You’ll always use the same hashtag no matter what you are promoting. You create your own brand hashtag. Make it your company name, or a tagline that people know (or will know) about your business. Use it as your central business tag, that you – and your customers – can use anytime, and on any social site. - Campaign Hashtags
Campaign hashtags are used for each of your marketing campaigns and will have a relative short lifespan. For a campaign tag, make it a word or phrase that is unique to your short- term contest or promotion - Trending Hashtags
A trending hashtag is nothing but a very popular hashtag topic. You probably know people talking about What’s trending now?; means they are referring to the hashtags that are the most talked about right now.
Trending hashtags are changed continuously in real time. For example, a top 10 trends can set and vanish within minutes. When you see your business related trend, you can engage in it by using this tag. - Content Hashtags
These are the hashtags you can use in your posts. They are not branded and they are not used to define your business or marketing. They may or may not be trending. Content hashtags improve the SEO of your posts. - Event Hashtags
Event-based hashtags can be cool to include in a content update. An event could be anything from a local community fair, to a well-known global celebration, to a live product launch or a live webinar you’re hosting online. - Location hashtags
If you are a locally based business, you need to connect with your local customers. Use specific geo-targeted hashtags to get your business known in your city.
Best-Practices for Composing Tweets (Book Author)
- Interact! You can’t just tweet “buy my new book” every couple hours and expect to see your number of Twitter followers growing. Instead — be interesting! Post compelling content. Share truly exciting news about your writing life. Let them behind the scenes on your latest book project. Be vulnerable, and show them the ups and downs of your creative journey. Ask questions. Reply to those folks you’re following. Join existing conversations. Be useful to others first. Then you can expect your followers to help promote your writing.
- Be consistent. Whether you tweet once a day or once an hour, stick with your schedule for a little while and you’ll soon see how effective Twitter can be as a book promotion and networking tool.
- Share other peoples’ content. There’s an unwritten rule in the Twitter world: you share my content,I’ll share yours. By retweeting, you’re earning karmic points and increasing your chances that you’ll get followed back. Plus,
if it’s interesting content, your followers will want to see it too! Tell your fans about some other great authors you love. Hype their books and readings. Link to other folks’ blog articles and YouTube videos. - Don’t autopost everything. There are tools you can use to post a single update to multiple social profiles — Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. — with the push of a button. But people who follow you on every platform want to get a unique experience in each place. So while it’s ok to use the autopost method occasionally, try to give your Twitter audience a little something different than they’d get on Facebook.
- Pretend the whole world is watching. Unless you have a private/protected profile, everything you tweet is public. Don’t write something you’ll be ashamed of later.
- Write longer tweets. Internet marketers like to tell you to keep things short. But a tweet is only 140 characters, so it’s one of the few cases online where you actually benefit from using all the space you’re allotted. Also, some data shows that longer tweets get more clicks.
- Go verb-crazy! We’re emotionally stirred by action. So make your tweets sing, screech, punch, and dance.
- Tweet in the afternoon and evening. After 2pm, Twitter traffic increases fairly dramatically. Maybe folks at the office feel like they’ve gotten enough work done for the day that they can afford to sneak in 5 minutes on Twitter.
Whatever the reason, you might want to schedule your tweets with those people in mind. - Tweet closer to the weekend. Similarly, as the workweek draws to a close, Twitter traffic soars, with Friday being the busiest day. So your heaviest Twitter activity should be on Thursday and Friday.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for a retweet. A lot of times in life the easiest way to get something is to simply ask. The same goes for Twitter. People are far more likely to retweet your content if you ask them. Doing this too much, of course, can have the opposite effect.
How Can I Use Twitter for Marketing?
Twitter visitors often visit Twitter out of the motivation to know what is happening in the world overall or with respect to a particular subject. With hundreds of millions of users and over 500 million Tweets being sent each day, there is a great opportunity for businesses to reach a global audience of new and existing customers through Twitter. Also Read – Top 10 Twitter Marketing Strategies For Your Business
Conversations on Twitter are just like the face-to-face encounters you have with customers each day. Compelling content helps you attract new followers and keep them engaged over time, building awareness of your brand, and asserting yourself or brand as an authority in your industry or niche.
Conclusion
You might try Twitter out for a couple weeks and throw your hands up in the air, frustrated at the lack of response and your short list of followers. Hold your horses! Slow-growth is healthy on Twitter. It’s about building relationships, and you can’t just crowbar your way into a meaningful connection.
Here are some final tips if you’re feeling restless on Twitter. Try them out and, within a couple months, you’ll be
singing a different Twitter tune.
- Take your time with Twitter. You’ll need it to figure out your 140-character voice, niche, Twitter etiquette, etc.
- Grow your community of followers slowly. After all, it’s about connections. Pacing yourself will ensure that you actually get to know the people who follow you.
- Join a conversation before you start one. Don’t just blast people with your content. Once you’ve replied, retweeted and commented on someone else’s stuff, they’re more likely to listen to you.
- Don’t be afraid to talk to your idols. Everyone is equal on Twitter, and you can converse with anyone — not just your existing fans and followers. But you’re not guaranteed a response, of course — so don’t be offended if you don’t get one from a publishing industry star.
