Twitter is perhaps one of the easier social media platforms to navigate- you can speak directly to your audience, and there isn't as much pressure to be completely creative as on other apps and websites. The whole premise of Twitter is you can say whatever you want to- as long as it fits in 140 characters. These characters can also involve a whole host of aspects, from videos, to website links and photos. It is easy to hook your website up to your profile and hopefully drive traffic to your site, you can interact with existing and potential customers, and discuss your products and services, answer questions, and retweet good feedback anyone has mentioned you in. We have put together our top 5 tips on how to get the most out of your twitter in building your business' online presence.
1. The first thing anyone will see whilst accessing your profile, aside from your tweets, is your profile picture and header. Twitter isn't overly customisable and so it is important fit it in with your brand identity, if you have a completely white website with soft pastels for example, don't go on twitter and use block red and black colours, people won't think you're the same brand if they're looking at your site. Make sure you don't have a pixelated or stretched header, these don't look good and can make your brand look unprofessional no matter how great your content is. You can find websites online which will help you fit your photos onto a header, such as pixlr, and you can design your own headers online too.
2. Make sure your twitter 'bio' is filled out. You need your website URL in this, you need what you sell/ service you provide, and something a little bit about your business, amusing or otherwise which makes viewers want to read your tweets, you need to engage people as soon as they view your profile. Below I've included some of my favourite twitter bios from businesses- notice how they've added a short bio, a location, then a website you can find them on. I found these online on PR Daily where they compiled some of the best creative twitter bios by brands.
3. Keep your self-promotion in balance. If you're selling boots, and the only thing you ever tweet about are your boots- your boots in the snow, your boots in the rain, your boots drying on the radiator, your boots packed in your travelling bag.. you get the idea. It is boring, as much as people initially like your product, being blasted by it all over their homepage could lead to a swift unfollow. Keep your products mixed in with other content- humorous tidbits of your day or anything interesting you've seen, mix in some of your personality, link your followers to other fun things you've done/seen/read so there is some value followers are gaining from your site additional to them just liking your boots.
4. Interact! If someone mentions your product on twitter, make sure you check your mentions- sometimes you won't even be tagged, but make sure to reply and thank them for liking your product/service. By doing this, you are building your brand and community- and when other people see a glowing review they may be enticed to also purchase from you- reviews and recommendations are worth more than any tweet about your product you can give! The way you handle any bad feedback you may be given online can also suprisingly be used to your advantage- be seem to be helpful, concerned and always fix the problem. This will promote a feeling of security amongst them ordering from you- they can see if anything goes wrong, you will be swift and polite in fixing the problem.
5. Hashtag! Whilst these may seem like they're only relevant on teenagers t-shirts, hashtags are helpful for people interested to be able to find your product. It is a way of categorising your tweet, by hashtagging you are putting them into a narrowed conversation on twitter- those interested can then find your tweet easily, and brings them into your business they wouldn't necessarily have known to follow before.
