Way back when Twitter first began, it was a bit of a learning curve. At first, the social media platform only let you post up to 140 characters at the time (280 characters as of the time this is posted). What was once used as a platform to inform others of mundane life events such as, "Going to grab a coffee!" or "Just got back from the gym." has turned into a giant in news reporting and marketing. As of 2017 the social media platform boasted over 330 million users. With numbers like that, you definitely do not want to miss out on Twitter. Even if you only reached 1% of their users, you would still be reaching 3.3 million people, which would obviously be a major boost to your business.
Here are some helpful tips on how to put Twitter to work for your business:
Choose a straightforward handle: Your Twitter handle is your username. You want something relevant to your business, such as your business's name (e.g. @JamiasCreative) or as close to your business's name as you can get. Don't choose something vague (e.g. @MarketingGuys2310). This is the identifier your audience will be engaging with, and you want to make sure they know your business's name. Remember that your brand needs to be easily identifiable regardless of the platform you're on.
Post with relevant hashtags: Hashtags are simply words or phrases with the pound or hash sign in front of them (e.g. #Marketing). Hashtags are perfect for targeting exactly where you want your content to be seen and who you want it to be seen by. Make sure you're posting with relevant hashtags. That way you can reach out to a larger target audience. Hashtags are a great way to follow specific events or subject matter such as the #royalwedding or #nbaplayoffs.
Like and re-tweet your own tweets: Just like Facebook and Instagram, Twitter has an algorithm. The Twitter algorithm is much easier to explain. It simply shows people the tweets it thinks are the most important. How does it do that? Partially by detecting what tweets have been liked and re-tweeted. It seems a bit silly and almost embarrassing to like and retweet your own content, but by doing that you're ensuring that you'll pop up in your followers’ feeds. This strategy is a great way to remind followers of weekly events or seasonal sales.
Create visual appeal: Instagram is often where a lot of time and energy goes into creating the perfect photo, but make sure you save some of that blood, sweat, and tears for Twitter! People are very visual creatures and are more likely to engage with a pretty picture. Make your Twitter profile shine with gorgeous visuals and customers will come flocking!
The bottom line is this: Twitter gets results. Don't ignore it. Don't sleep on it. It could boost your business to a whole other level! Go follow us on Twitter, @JamiasCreative, and shoot us a tweet! We'd love to hear from you!