Social media for business can be incredibly effective but it’s important to understand how to make it work for you – and your target market. Thinking of trying Twitter? These tips will help.

Should I, or shouldn’t I? 

This is one of the most common questions - Twitter is not really for me, my business does better on Facebook/Instagram/Other social media site, etc. But in one word – yes. You should be on Twitter too. Your business name handle is your online real estate. Even if you are dead sure that Twitter is not the right medium for your business (and you may well be very right!), claim your business name on there before anyone else does. At best, it will be confusing for someone looking for you there, and at worst, it might be someone posing as your business! 

Complete your profile

It’s simple enough, and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but take that time and ensure that your images are clearly seen, the banner image is fine, all the bio info is filled out. Twitter is more popular for people rather than businesses, so it might be a good idea to create a profile as ‘Your Name, CEO of Business Name’, rather than a company profile.

What to talk about? 

There are two parts to this answer.  

If Twitter is the right medium for your business, then you may well already know what to talk about, and who to talk to. However, even tweeting regularly may be akin to screaming into the void if there is no interaction and engagement happening. Keep an eye on the trending topics and hashtags, actually USE hashtags (no more than 1, because, hey, 140 characters!) and have conversations. Initially, jumping into a conversation between two people or a group might feel like that awkward thing you do at networking events where you’re hanging out near a group hoping to be included. But, this is online and nobody can take pity and include you, so jump right in! It is appropriate, and necessary, to start taking part in real conversations on Twitter. 

If you are sure that Twitter is not the right medium for you, create the business profile anyway, set up scheduled content using Buffer/Hootsuite, and push content from Facebook or Instagram using IFTTT. Then, just check in once daily, in case there’s been any engagement. This is the absolute bare minimum you must do, even if you are sure that Twitter is a place for you to invest a lot of time.

How to talk?

Whether you are using Twitter as your business, or as yourself, keep your tone and content consistent. You can be funny, irreverent, intellectual - whatever you want to be - but you must be consistent. Cracking a political joke one minute, posting food photos the next, and talking about management after a day will only alienate followers. People follow you because they expect to see certain type of content, so make sure you stick with your formula, and give people what they expect. 

How can I sell on Twitter?

Simple - you don’t! Twitter is for conversations - listen to what’s out there, be a part of meaningful conversations, offer help and resources, and sales will happen. Your presence and input here is more important than full on sales; if anything, being salesy will only backfire on this particular platform. Invite conversations instead, and create a likeable personality for your brand. This will be memorable, and people will seek you out when they are ready to buy. 

Other Tips

Yes, it’s only 140 characters, but plz dnt rite lyk dis! You may have to abbreviate a word now and again, but work on keeping your content pithy and concise (follow comedians to see how it’s done), and shorten your URLs.  Use software like Buffer, Hootsuite or IFTTT to schedule tweets, but keep the majority of your Twitter strategy to be timely. Be there, tweet regularly on current and relevant topics, reply to people’s tweets, and re-tweet generously! 

Follow your industry top dogs, even the guys you consider competition. If you are new to the medium, spend a few days reading how people are interacting, and you’ll realise that the tone is quite different from Facebook, for example, in that it is a lot more conversational. 

Live tweeting might be a great option. E.g. if you are a food business, jump onto Twitter at 7.30 pm on a weeknight, and search #MasterchefAu. There’s lots of people live tweeting the show as it happens, and this would be an ideal time to start conversations with an audience who is already passionate about food. Same principle applies to sports events, shows like Shark Tank, etc. 

Don’t forget to measure your Twitter success with Twitter’s own analytics, or from any of the websites mentioned above. You’ll know when Twitter is succeeding for you when people (and it’s not your friends and family!) start mentioning you in conversations and re-tweeting your content. 

Good luck, and happy tweeting! 

Rumi Shah is a marketing specialist at Panthera Marketing. You can connect via LinkedIn.