Since its 2006 founding, social networking platform Twitter has been a game-changer in online business development. Twitter offers a simple, streamlined model in which people and brands share messages with the world in real-time through 140-character “tweets.”
The compact length of each Twitter posting allows businesses to deliver targeted, digestible content to consumers around the world with the click of a button. This method of communication can be invaluable in fostering consumer engagement, driving more people to invest their time and money into your products or services.
Twitter has over 300 million active users, sending a cumulative 500 million tweets every day. There is incredible potential for business growth on a platform with such an immense and diverse consumer base. Furthermore, as Twitter Business notes, 80 percent of said users typically access Twitter via a mobile device—meaning you can reach them any time of day, no matter what they’re doing. Read on for a few tips on how to optimize your business’s use of Twitter to maximize consumer engagement for your product or service.
Firstly, it’s important to first define your business’s goals for its Twitter use. Businesses use Twitter for a wide variety of reasons: customer service, marketing, recruiting, promotions, and more. Twitter enables companies and brands to interact directly and clearly with the consumer base, an invaluable tool in establishing relationships with clientele.
Once you’ve determined your brand’s objectives on Twitter, you’ll want to ensure that you create and curate the most interest and relevant content possible. Tweets may only be 140 characters or fewer, but that length limitation makes each word you share all the more valuable.
Because your brand will be using Twitter to interact immediately and directly with customers and prospective clients, PC Magazine notes that the person (or group) responsible for managing your Twitter account must be knowledgeable, good at listening, and trustworthy. These qualities are vital to the skillful and efficient handling of customer service issues, as well as general product marketing.
You want to use your tweets to cultivate a positive rapport with your customers and the community at large. At the same time, you’ll also want to establish a memorable and distinct identity for your brand. Find a comfortable “Twitter persona” for your brand, toeing the line between professionalism and casual conversation—which side of that line you ends up on depends on your specific business and goals.
Another step in getting social on Twitter is following other users on the platform, exhibiting interest and engagement in what they have to say. Social Media Examiner recommends being selective about whom you follow at first, focusing on customers, business partners, competitors, industry trade organizations, and others in your professional network. Interacting and establishing connections with the right people—i.e., influential Twitter users—can jumpstart the level of engagement in your own business. To better organize the users you’re following, Twitter allows you to separate them into “Lists” (e.g., “Competitors,” “Colleagues,” etc.).
Once you start tweeting, it’s important to hone in on keywords and hashtags that drive engagement within your area of business. Forbes tells businesses on Twitter to use the Google Keyword Planner to identify which words consumers in your industry are searching for online.
Similarly, using hashtags—linked keywords preceded by the pound (#) sign—allows your business to tap into Twitter-wide conversations, making your tweets accessible for all users via the search bar. Use hashtags that are generally relevant to your brand; Forbes suggests that you also be mindful of what hashtags are currently trending on Twitter, so as to connect with users who have similar interests.
You can further engage Twitter users by adding media such as video, photos, or links to your content. A recent Twitter-led study analyzed over two million tweets by verified Twitter users, concluding that the inclusion of media significantly bolstered the number of retweets and overall engagement for each post. Photos, for example, averaged a 35 percent boost in retweets versus their purely textual counterparts.
Finally, Entrepreneur suggests that brands make sure their messages are getting across—without being being too pushy or redundant. Due to the fast-paced nature of this social media network, even the most active users are prone to miss out on a large number of tweets in their feed each day. When your business has something particularly important to share, you can make several tweets about it. Just be sure to intersperse these tweets with other content, and to space them out over the course of hours, days, or weeks.
For information on how EVLiO can help you navigate the world of social media, including Twitter, visit our website. In the mean time, check out our blog to keep up to date on trends in web design, online marketing, social media, and other topics. If you like what you’re learning and would like to see these practices and others working for your business, contact us for a free consultation.