Twitter can be a powerful tool for building your business. Just ask Lady Gaga – she currently has the highest number of Twitter followers in the world.
Here are some quick tips to get the rest of us started without recording an album.
Find followers
There are many theories about the best way to get people to follow you. However, the easiest way is to follow them first. One in four people you follow will generally follow you back. If you search for terms that are relevant to your business, you can find potential followers ripe for the picking! You can also check out your competitors and follow some of their followers. You can avoid “spam bots” by not following people who have no tweets, or x-rated photos and links on their profiles.
Tweet content
Most people on Twitter do not want to see a steady stream of “canned” tweets. Although it is fine to Tweet links, you should also ask questions and have conversations with your followers. It will make you seem more like a “real” person. Don’t be afraid to re-tweet great content. Just because you didn’t write it, doesn’t mean you can’t share it.
Tweet frequently
There are multiple theories about this topic as well, but most estimates range from two to five tweets per day. The content should be varied. Maybe one or two tweets about your company. You can also tweet about the industry. Some can be re-tweets. You should also be tweeting at optimal times. If you are tweeting at 3 a.m., most of your audience may be in bed, and your message will be lost in the timeline by the time they are awake and checking Twitter.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags (# — the pound sign) help mark certain keywords for tracking on Twitter. Often people and programs search for hashtagged words to re-tweet or gather related stories. Learning to properly mark your keywords with hashtags can help you gather followers who are interested in what you are tweeting about.
Track clicks
Twitter automatically shortens the links you include in your tweets now, but if you want to track clicks, you can use bit.ly. It’s a free service which shortens your links so that you can use more of your 140 characters for content. It also tracks the number of people clicking and sharing your links.
Twitter can definitely open your business up to a whole new audience. Just use this guide to get you started. You’ll be off and running in no time with the Twitter world at your fingertips!
