How To Use Twitter in Social Media

As a business owner, CEO or the head of an International marketing department it is imperative to keep up with the changing of the times. Unfortunately, many in the upper echelons of business stick with what they know works rather than trying something new. Instead of expansion, they stagnate, and many eventually fail.

As a business owner, CEO or the head of an International marketing department it is imperative to keep up with the changing of the times. Unfortunately, many in the upper echelons of business stick with what they know works rather than trying something new. Instead of expansion, they stagnate, and many eventually fail.

With the advent of the Internet and following technologies, the world has become smaller. The ability to reach out and connect with customers, potential clients, business associations and possible partners has helped many a business grow. Branding through consumer recognition and word of mouth can be accomplished faster than ever with an online presence.

While social media does not replace the “good old days” of traditional marketing, with deals sealed through a handshake or printed, television or radio ads, it is growing. For those businesses who want to stay in the running, it is vital – not to replace traditional methods, but to expand marketing techniques to incorporate social media. There is a method to the madness.

For those of you reading this article to get some understanding of what social media is and the various ways to use it, welcome to Social Media and congratulations on embracing the possibilities!

Social media is about engaging customers, but it is also about building “proof” of your expertise. In my humble opinion there are a few social networks that are of high importance and value to any campaign. I will discuss one of the most commonly used social network and expertise-building platforms: Twitter, how to use it and why.

As a marketing tool, social media is amazing; Twitter alone reaches out to millions every minute of every day, around the world. As an information tool to help your consumers, it is unparalleled. As a method of tracking how your company and products/services are being received, it is invaluable.

Due to the amount of individuals reading this article and the uniqueness of each marketing strategy, it would be impossible to say, “This is exactly what you should do, step by step”. However, by the time you are done reading, you will have enough information to confidently step out on your own into the wide world of social media and Internet connectivity.

Twitter The Fastest Growing Social Media Platform

Twitter is all about individual user experience. There are several ways to interact with your Twitter account, but only four ways to really use it:

  • To increase your brand recognition
  • To bring interest to your site
  • To engage with your customers and potential customers
  • To create business associations

Originally, many used Twitter as a link building exercise, believing it would help raise them in the search engine rankings. Due to changes in code that block search engines from following links placed in comments, it is no longer used as such. However, what Twitter is used for can do so much more for you and your business than a couple of links.

Brand Recognition – Twitter allows you to add an Avatar (logo or personal image) to your account. By using your logo on a business account, you are building recognition of your brand, product or company. Although we strongly do not recommend that you use Twitter solely to promote your business (more on this later), when you do have your promotions, the logo will go hand in hand with them in the eyes of readers.

Bringing Site Interest – Search engines may not follow links on Twitter, but people will. If your promotional tweets (or comments) are interesting, those people will follow the links you place in the tweets back to your site. In testing the power of Twitter, we have personally noticed at least a 15% increase in site traffic while posting links back to our site, often more.

Engaging Customers  Twitter is an excellent way to respond to customers in real time, or to introduce yourself and your business to potential customers. By engaging them, you let them know there is a real face behind the business. This encourages trust and familiarity.

Creating Business Associations – Every business owner knows that part of running any business is gaining connections. Even if you don’t know if, when or how they will come in handy, you still build them. Twitter can bring you together with professionals like yourself, helping you build a solid foundation of business connections. For more ideas for using Twitter, please visit: Become a Twitter Power User

A Few Definitions and Explanations

Like every social media platform, Twitter has its own language. On your own, it takes a bit to understand everything going on, so we’ve put together some definitions and explanations to help you along:

RT – A ReTweet, or RT, is the same as forwarding a tweet. You copy/paste the tweet into your own box, add “RT” in front of it and send. We strongly suggest that you only RT tweets you have followed the link on and read. In the business world, you are the company you keep, and many have inadvertently RT’d broken links or links to pornographic material. If you RT a post with a link, check the link first!

DM – You may see a tweet that says “DM me”. “DM” stands for Direct Message, which is a tweet that only the user you send it to can see. To DM someone, click on their name, which will take you to their home page. On the right-hand side of the page, you will see “message” and that user’s name. Click “message”, say what you want to say and click “send”. You can check any DM’s to you on your home page at “Direct Messages”, also on the right hand side of the page.

@ – The “at” sign is followed by the user’s name. With all the conversations going on, “@user” is how you know when someone is talking to you. You can also check anything that is said about you on the right hand side of your home page, by clicking “@yourusername”.

The “.” Before the @ here’s an update on Twitter’s lesser-known quirks.

# The hash tag is set for specific topics. For instance, if you put in #SEO in your search bar, you will see a list of comments that have the #SEO tag appended to them. Using the hash tag can help you keep track of comments made about a certain subject or industry, and it helps others to do the same. For instance, if you are a clothing retailer, you might add #clothes to your informational tweets. Anyone searching for that particular hash tag will come across your tweets.

Finding Who to Follow

Most use the “Find People” button to search for family, friends and businesses they already know. However, once you have done this, we suggest you search for industry keywords.

If you are in real estate, for example, you can search “real estate” and see a list of people that have the phrase in their bio or name. You will notice a direct link to their Twitter page including a short bio, number of followers and a “follow” button.

You can also follow people outside of your industry, finding them by putting in keywords that interest you (not necessarily just keywords that have anything to do with your services, product or company). These are your future customers, business partners, associates, etc.

Open your mind
Open your mind

Posting

Posts will initially look like a bunch of useless information, but once you get settled and start watching the feed, you will see some things that interest you. Feel free to respond or make your own comments.

Many beginning business users of Twitter make the mistake of posting only information on their company, product or services. They post only their blog and site links. This is not a small mistake. Imagine that Twitter is a huge get together, and you have chosen to chat with a small portion of that get together. How would you feel if there was one person constantly shouting at you, “Look at me”?

Make sure that what you send out adds value to others, whether it has to do with your company or not. RTing a tweet that has nothing to do with your company may not help your company out immediately, but it will help build your following and reputation. Yes, post your links and information, but pass on the links, comments and information of others, too.

Things to Remember

When you first start on Twitter, make sure you use @ before the user’s name. Also, remember that you have to get your message across in 140 characters (counting spaces, and remember – characters, not words). This becomes a daunting task, since we are used to emails or IM, but you will learn the acronyms and even make some up for yourself.

As you continue to use Twitter, you will hear of the “right way” and the “wrong way” to use it, which changes depending on the person writing the information. Remember that everyone has an opinion. There is really is no right or wrong way to use this social media platform; it all depends on what you want to get out of it!

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23 Responses

  1. Wonderful site and I wanted to post a note to let you know, “”Good job””! I’m glad I found this blog. Brilliant and wonderful job ! Your blog site has presented me most of the strategies which I like. Thanks for sharing this.

  2. Great article. Twitter is a good platform to incorporate into Social Network. On twitter we get quick response. So, twitter is really good. This article is really nice to new user of twitter. Thanks.

  3. hi good day!!!!First of all, don’t call it “The Tweeter”. Calling it that is either ignorance or obnoxiousness, and sometimes both. Twitter is an important part of the social media tool kit. It is a great way to get involved with your community, both talking with and listening to them.

  4. Great article Gabriella. I too believe that Twitter is a great platform to incorporate into your Social Media Strategy. It has all the benefits that you mention, and you can also set the speed you want your follower base to grow. If you use Twitter correctly for your business, without a bought the rewards will come streaming in. Pardon the pun! 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us.

    1. Thanks Gary 🙂 I’ve been a huge fan of Twitter…most people think it’s a lot of noise but, after years of using/measuring/creating campaigns that fit into this social network model, I have to admit it’s been one of our best returns.

  5. Hello there,

    Thanks for sharing this because of i am new in twitter i always do posting new technological links there, but for description it gives limited.. after reading this i realize that how to use twitter.
    Thanks.

  6. Hi Gabriella,

    Thank you for sharing. I’m also a Twitter user, but I admit that I am more likely to use Google+ and Pinterest compared to Twitter. I do not look down on twitter, but I just have not been optimal in using it. No one taught me about it.

  7. Great article I like using Hootsuite and Buffer. Hootsuite is my favorite though. I love the idea of dominating your niche. Does anybody use SocialOomph?

    Waiting for replies

  8. We can add videos to our Twitter timeline, but we cannot add them directly from Twitter. We must first upload them to another service like YouTube, and then link to them in our tweet. When a tweet contains a link to a video, Twitter allows us to play the video within the tweet. Click on View media to open the video player.

  9. This is one of the best “Twitter for business” how-to’s I’ve come across. Very well done! I’m going to include it in the mix of training materials I provide to clients.

    It’s so thorough it even includes one of the tips I’ve been telling people for years:

    “Note: Many small businesses use their business name for the account and a personal photo for the profile photo. This adds a personal touch to your Twitter account.”

    I would add that one of the key benefits of a personal touch like this is that other users are much more likely to want to connect with a human being rather than a faceless entity. You’ll have a higher follow-back rate, deeper engagement, etc.

  10. Really enjoyed your post – thank you! One thing that has puzzled me about Twitter is if you`re in 2 or more different niches can you have separate Twitter accounts for each niche?

    1. As a matter of fact yes you can I am personally managing 6 different account on Twitter. Each has it’s own brand, niche, message, story. Here is a post that gives you an idea of what measurement and key elements I use in my social media.Social Media Measuring: The 4 Key Elements. Let me add I love using Hootsuite.com it’s a great platform that allows you to have as many accounts as you need (the paid version very inexpensive). I know what each account needs to accomplish, and the beauty here is that Hootusite allows you to have a conversation with all of your followers.

  11. Initially twitter is not as interesting as Facebook or Google+, but once you know how to use it properly you would love it more. What I like most about Twitter is instant connection with audience and quick response.

    1. Hello Aahna… I’ve been telling people that Twitter is like a cocktail party, you don’t get to speak to everyone but you do get to speak to a few people while you mingle. 🙂

  12. Hi Gabriella,

    Thanks for writing this mate. I see many people are slowing ditching Twitter because of Google+ and LinekedIn but glad you wrote this. Am a big fan ot Twitter!

    For me, I practise sharing good information from time to time while playing with 1 to 3 hashtags at one time. Also, I am sharing more than giving out. This means that I try share 10 different articles of others before sharing 2-3 of mine 🙂

    Just my 2 cents.

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As a business owner, CEO or the head of an International marketing department it is imperative to keep up with the changing of the times. Unfortunately, many in the upper echelons of business stick with what they know works rather than trying something new. Instead of expansion, they stagnate, and many eventually fail.

Today's Author

WHAT’S NEXT?

SUPPORT OUR AUTHOR AND SHARE
Interested in Guest Posting?
Read our guest posting guidelines.

23 Responses

  1. Wonderful site and I wanted to post a note to let you know, “”Good job””! I’m glad I found this blog. Brilliant and wonderful job ! Your blog site has presented me most of the strategies which I like. Thanks for sharing this.

  2. Great article. Twitter is a good platform to incorporate into Social Network. On twitter we get quick response. So, twitter is really good. This article is really nice to new user of twitter. Thanks.

  3. hi good day!!!!First of all, don’t call it “The Tweeter”. Calling it that is either ignorance or obnoxiousness, and sometimes both. Twitter is an important part of the social media tool kit. It is a great way to get involved with your community, both talking with and listening to them.

  4. Great article Gabriella. I too believe that Twitter is a great platform to incorporate into your Social Media Strategy. It has all the benefits that you mention, and you can also set the speed you want your follower base to grow. If you use Twitter correctly for your business, without a bought the rewards will come streaming in. Pardon the pun! 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us.

    1. Thanks Gary 🙂 I’ve been a huge fan of Twitter…most people think it’s a lot of noise but, after years of using/measuring/creating campaigns that fit into this social network model, I have to admit it’s been one of our best returns.

  5. Hello there,

    Thanks for sharing this because of i am new in twitter i always do posting new technological links there, but for description it gives limited.. after reading this i realize that how to use twitter.
    Thanks.

  6. Hi Gabriella,

    Thank you for sharing. I’m also a Twitter user, but I admit that I am more likely to use Google+ and Pinterest compared to Twitter. I do not look down on twitter, but I just have not been optimal in using it. No one taught me about it.

  7. Great article I like using Hootsuite and Buffer. Hootsuite is my favorite though. I love the idea of dominating your niche. Does anybody use SocialOomph?

    Waiting for replies

  8. We can add videos to our Twitter timeline, but we cannot add them directly from Twitter. We must first upload them to another service like YouTube, and then link to them in our tweet. When a tweet contains a link to a video, Twitter allows us to play the video within the tweet. Click on View media to open the video player.

  9. This is one of the best “Twitter for business” how-to’s I’ve come across. Very well done! I’m going to include it in the mix of training materials I provide to clients.

    It’s so thorough it even includes one of the tips I’ve been telling people for years:

    “Note: Many small businesses use their business name for the account and a personal photo for the profile photo. This adds a personal touch to your Twitter account.”

    I would add that one of the key benefits of a personal touch like this is that other users are much more likely to want to connect with a human being rather than a faceless entity. You’ll have a higher follow-back rate, deeper engagement, etc.

  10. Really enjoyed your post – thank you! One thing that has puzzled me about Twitter is if you`re in 2 or more different niches can you have separate Twitter accounts for each niche?

    1. As a matter of fact yes you can I am personally managing 6 different account on Twitter. Each has it’s own brand, niche, message, story. Here is a post that gives you an idea of what measurement and key elements I use in my social media.Social Media Measuring: The 4 Key Elements. Let me add I love using Hootsuite.com it’s a great platform that allows you to have as many accounts as you need (the paid version very inexpensive). I know what each account needs to accomplish, and the beauty here is that Hootusite allows you to have a conversation with all of your followers.

  11. Initially twitter is not as interesting as Facebook or Google+, but once you know how to use it properly you would love it more. What I like most about Twitter is instant connection with audience and quick response.

    1. Hello Aahna… I’ve been telling people that Twitter is like a cocktail party, you don’t get to speak to everyone but you do get to speak to a few people while you mingle. 🙂

  12. Hi Gabriella,

    Thanks for writing this mate. I see many people are slowing ditching Twitter because of Google+ and LinekedIn but glad you wrote this. Am a big fan ot Twitter!

    For me, I practise sharing good information from time to time while playing with 1 to 3 hashtags at one time. Also, I am sharing more than giving out. This means that I try share 10 different articles of others before sharing 2-3 of mine 🙂

    Just my 2 cents.

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This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

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