Are you considering to start using Twitter for business? As you probably know, there is a big difference from doing it for personal reasons from for business purposes. The goals are completely different here and there and so will be your posts and profile.
Having said that, let’s go straight to the point and start talking about how you can use Twitter as a valuable tool of your digital marketing strategy.
Choose the face of your business
If you don’t have a profile yet, it is time for you to get it started. You have two choices here: to create a company profile or to pick one executive to be the face of your company on Twitter.
This is a tough decision, but, generally speaking, only well-known brands go for the first option. As a social media network, people will rather connect with another person on Twitter compared to a business. So you are more likely to succeed if you find someone to play this role.
Of course, it also depends on the values and style of your company. So make sure that you think about it carefully before making a decision.
Research keywords
As you probably know, there is a short intro about you on your Twitter profile. It is that text that Twitter use to index you on their search engine. So when someone is looking for something that you do, they will type some words and get the results from it.
This way, you need to make sure that these words that people might type in are on your intro, so your name will show up on their results. Also, always publish a complete profile, because that information about interests, etc., is also used by the search engine.
Check the most tweeted hashtags
Another thing that you will want to know is which are the most tweeted hashtags in your line of work. It will help you to decide which topics you should be posting about and to organize a calendar of what to publish when – as you know, several hashtags are time-bound, such as #ThrowbackTuesday, #MondayMotivation, #FlashEssay and #FridayFeelings.
To find this information, besides checking it straight on Twitter, you can use one of the free online services available, such as Hashtagify or Hashtags.org. The first one requires registration to access their data, which includes a search engine that allows knowing the most popular hashtags in the last month, week, and at the moment in general, or those related to the keywords you have searched. Or you can get one of their subscription plans and have many more features at your disposal.
Hashtags.org works in the same way. You will be able to type a word that you think could be a hashtag and check if it really is, their estimated tweets per hour, the users who talk about it more often, and the most recent tweets about the topic in question. To get to know more, such as related hashtags and data from over 12 months, and to track hashtags, you have to upgrade the service.
Create a Customer Service
Depending on your line of business, it is very likely that you need to offer a customer service to your client. So why don’t you offer your Twitter account as one of the channels for it?
It will show that your company understands the trends and the needs of their customers, by offering a modern and fast-paced tool. It will also prove that your company is reliable, trustworthy, and have nothing to hide as you will be answering queries publicly. And it will make you look like as one of the coolest Twitter accounts.
This is also something very simple to set up. You just need to let your customers know that you are offering the service and have someone or a team to answer your questions. Just make sure that you let them know from which time to which you will be answering questions, so they don’t think that they are being ignored. And if the volume is too big, you can also set a separate account only for this purpose.
Track your mentions
Another thing that you want to track is your mentions. You need to know who is talking about your company, your products or services, and about your executives. You will also want to know what is being said about your industry so that you can be at the top on any trends.
When someone mentions you directly on Twitter, this information will appear on your Notification panel. You can also type the keyword directly on their search engine and find whoever has mentioned that without using a handle (@) for it. Twitter also have advanced search tools to help you to narrow your search down.
But if you want something more comprehensive and with reports, you should try one of the online social media tools. Hootsuite, for example, allows you to create a stream only with your mentions and other only with the results of a keyword search. This way you will visualize your results instantaneously.
Join Twitter chats
You might have noticed that there are events being held on Twitter on a daily basis. They are known as Twitter chats. Using a designated hashtag, people e-meet to talk about a specific topic over a pre-determined number of minutes (usually for an hour). A moderator is in place to ask questions and to keep the conversation going.
As a business, you can either join a Twitter chat or create yours. To join a Twitter chat, you usually don’t have to know anything but to find out about the hashtag and be online during the time agreed. You don’t even have to tweet anything, as you can just follow the conversation on your news feed. But it is much more productive if you take the opportunity to engage your target audience, get to know more about them, and let them know that you exist on Twitter.
If you are curious about how you will get to know which Twitter Chats are going to happen, you can check the lists available on ChatSalad, Tweet Reports, Twubs. Just remember always to include the hashtag on your tweets and to include an “.” in front of an “@” if you want that everybody sees your reply.
The Bottom Line
So here is all that you need to know to get your business started on Twitter. These simple ideas are a great starting point to any company looking for increase their social media presence and to add value to their brand. And, as a consequence, your sales will be much better at the end of each month.
