The key to success on Twitter: give and take

This is the first post in a series on how to succeed on Twitter.

Before you create a Twitter account for your company, there’s something you need to know: Twitter is give and take.

It’s okay to talk about your company

People on Twitter expect that your company will tweet about your products and services. It makes sense after all that a company would talk about what it does and what it sells. They assume Coke will talk about their drinks and that Old Spice will talk about their body wash.

If all your company does is talk about your products or services, however, your followers will quickly ignore you. Twitter users want to know about new products, special contests, and secret discounts, but they want more than that.

You need to talk about more than your company

Social media users want to share with their friends, and the things they will most likely share fall into 3 categories:

1. Things that educate
2. Things that evoke emotion
3. Things that answer questions

This is why it’s imperative that companies put resources into branding. Knowing what your company is and what others think your company is helps you craft a consistent message. Plus it makes it easier to find a way to create and publish content that falls into one of the 3 categories above.

You have to engage with your followers

You need to participate in the conversations. You need to answer questions (even if they aren’t directed to you). You need to help people find what they’re looking for (even if it doesn’t land you a sale). You need to respond to what people ask you.

If you can’t commit time and resources to engaging with people in any of the ways I’ve listed above, don’t bother with Twitter. Don’t even set up an account.

You need to interact with others. There’s a reason it’s called social media.