It seems like every company is joining Twitter these days. I can’t blame them; it’s a great tool for engaging with people. If you’re thinking about jumping on the Twitter train, however, here are 5 tips to keep in mind before taking the leap.
1. It’s give and take.
People on Twitter expect that your company will tweet about your products and services. If that’s all your company does, however, they’ll quickly ignore you. You need to interact with others. There’s a reason it’s called social media.
2. Respond
If someone mentions you in a tweet, reply to them. If it’s positive, say thank you. If it’s negative, apologize and find out how you can make things better.
If your company prides itself on great customer service, make sure that flows into social media. If you don’t care about customer service, don’t join Twitter. Twitter’s a fantastic medium for generating publicity and spreading it widely, for good and bad.
3. Follow people.
People use Twitter to talk. If you want to know what people are saying, you need to follow them. Look for suppliers, partners, employees, and customers, but also look for competitors and industry leaders. If your company services a small geographical area, look for movers and shakers on Twitter in that area, too.
Be sure to follow back those who follow you, especially if they’re in your service area or industry.
4. Join conversations.
Because Twitter’s full of conversations, there are many potential marketing opportunities. Keep an eye out for conversations related to your company or products. Also, watch for industry-related discussions. Look for opportunities to help, not just sell. If you can answer a question, find a solution, or point in the right direction, people will be grateful for it and will attach positive feelings and thoughts to your brand.
5. Don’t talk about just you
As I mentioned above, people expect you’ll tweet about your company, products, and services, but mix it up. Find popular content from blogs, Pinterest, YouTube, and other Twitter users and (re)tweet it. If you can tie it into your business, even better. This will increase the value other Twitter users will receive by following you and make it more likely for them to share your content.
Following these 5 steps takes time, but if you follow each of them regularly, you’ll find that people will follow you and start engaging with the content you share. If you don’t have the time to commit to these 5 steps, consider hiring a social media manager who will work closely with you to build brand engagement.
Are you already on Twitter? What engaging tips have you found useful? Share in the comments below.