Twitter is growing at the rate of 5,000-10,000 new accounts per day, and is pretty much a must for companies to understand and integrate. Lately, a lot of people are asking us about Twitter, and how they can use it to promote their website and business.
Twitter is a bit of an unknown for many businesses, and can be somewhat intimidating to get started with. A lot of companies know that they should be embracing it, and are not sure how to get started.
Here are some steps to consider before getting started:
Have a Twitter plan in mind. For example, will you offer promotions or special deals to your existing and potential customers? Will you use twitter for customer support? Or perhaps a combination of these?
Choose your Twitter username wisely. We recommend using a generic name to represent your company – for example, we use @dazil, as that allows more than one company representative to Tweet and represent us using Twitter.
Build a good profile. Make your Twitter profile sounds engaging, and make sure to create nice wallpaper for your twitter page. Use your company’s logo and look at other twitter examples for ideas.
Follow the right people. The whole concept of Twitter is based on following hands being followed. When starting out and looking for people to follow, choose industry experts from your industry. Find people with similar interests or simply people you would like to track because you find them interesting. And of course you should follow colleagues and people that you already do business with, some of them are likely already own twitter.
Learn the lingo. The “at sign”: The @ sign is used when you want to send a public message to a specific person. For example if you want to send us a message via twitter, you would say something like “@dazil Hey, have you checked out this new WordPress theme: http://somesite.com/someurl”. That message would then show up in our “Replies” near the top of your Twitter page. Don’t forget to check this tab whenever you sign into Twitter it’s where any replies to you specifically to you will be located. Direct messages: The letter ‘d’ allows you to send a direct private message to anyone you follow who also follows you. In many cases users direct these messages to their cell phones via text message, so it is a good way to get ahold of somebody quickly and privately. Access direct messages through the narrow column on the right of your twitter profile following the phrase “Direct Messages”.
Join the conversation. Once you’ve started following people, you will see their tweets. Read what other people are doing and reply to them if you find their tweets interesting. If someone asks a question that you know the answer, don’t be afraid to respond.
Contribute. Find a topic that interests you and Tweet about it. Because you have likely chosen people you follow based on similar interests, and some of those people are likely following you, tweeting about topics that you have similar interests in will likely garner their attention and will build your readability through the knowledge that you are sharing.
Tweet often. Make a habit of posting to twitter several times per day. Join conversations about things that you’re interested in, and don’t be afraid to reply or simply give thanks when others share interesting or helpful information.
Build a reputation. You will build trust and credibility by giving away information and sharing your knowledge with others. Over time others will notice this and will take note of your future tweets. You never know when this reputation will lead to enhanced sales for your business, and new opportunities for you and your business.
Be Consistent. A significant percentage of those who sign up for a Twitter account do not actively participate in conversation. Many Twitter users become passive and join for the sake of joining and because it is all the rage, but in the end it is consistency and regular posting that will give you a competitive advantage.
