In the previous two blog posts we have introduced you to the wonder of Twitter, explained what each symbol means and helped you sign up and start tweeting. This week we go over what to do and what not to do on Twitter.
Like all social media, twitter works best when you are interacting with your followers. Build up trust and a rapport with them, retweet their tweets, answer their questions and show interest in what they are doing.
If someone retweets you or mentions you, acknowledge this – thank them. Try to do it relatively soon after the tweet has been sent (if you can.)
Always show your personality, let people appreciate the human behind the brand. You want your customers to know you, and then they will buy into what you are selling. Act as if you are chatting face-to-face - be friendly and authentic. People love a bit of humour too, if it is appropriate. Be YOU!
As a business, you have so much content to share with your followers that you should never be short of things to be tweeting about. Use Twitter as a tool to direct people to your blog, your shop, your website. Tell your followers about your motivations, inspirations and interests. Tell them about local events, news stories and attractions. It may seem like every day details to you, but it is of huge interest to them.
We tell our clients not to ‘sell’ your business or your product – yes this may seem strange at first but try to use the 80/20 principle. 80% of your tweets should be interaction with others and then once that trust has been built you can start letting them know what is on offer with your business (the other 20%.) You may want to let them know about new products or services, offers or promotions. Your followers will then show interest and RT your tweets as you have been doing for them.
Don’t tweet too much, and try not to link from other accounts. Think about what would make you ‘unfollow’ an account, and learn not to do that. Don’t clog up people’s newsfeeds with spam, or unlimited links from other pages. There is nothing worse than seeing a newsfeed clogged up with links that are irrelevant or unexplained.
Don’t get into arguments or debates on Twitter. If you have an unhappy client or customer who contacts you through Twitter, respond and apologise online but take the conversation offline. But don’t think that negative feedback is always negative – how you respond to it can also be extremely positive for your business. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/146630/
Don’t get upset if you aren’t followed back, or if you get unfollowed. It may be that your content isn’t relevant at that time. Concentrate on the people who *are* following you and give them what they want to hear!
And try to remember correct spelling and grammar. Take a second to read through the tweet before sending to make sure.
And the question we get asked all the time…
How often should you tweet?
There really is no definite answer to this, but you should be tweeting daily, even if it is just once. Make sure the content you are tweeting about is good quality and relevant. It is good to try tweeting at different times of the day to get a good variety of response.
And that’s it! Hopefully you now have the confidence to go out there and do it yourself. Just remember when you are starting out – everyone else was in exactly the same position as you once. Don’t be shy; log on, sign up and Tweet. Come follow us @Cosmic_UK and let us know we’ve helped you conquer your fear!