How to make your 140 characters count
It’s hard to believe that Twitter has only been around since 2006 but it’s true. It’s one of the most popular social networks there is and if used properly, it can be hugely effective for your business. Below are some top tips for getting the most out of your 140 characters.
Simplicity & Brevity
How can you get across your brand message or latest promotion across in 140 characters? The answer is, simply. Twitter brought back a real trend for simplicity and with over 500 million users, it’s a breeding ground for potential clients. With a little bit of time and effort, those 140 characters soon become more than enough.
Profile Perfection
Making your profile stand out can really make a big difference. A good quality photo as your profile picture is a good start. It personalises the business and allows people to begin to recognise you in their stream. It is also useful to personalise your background image and header, in line with your brand.
It’s also useful to use hashtags in your profile text as well as your tweets, things such as #digitalmarketing and #blogger will attract attention and makes your bio searchable.
Language Matters
However tempting it may be, use proper English when you tweet. You may see misspellings on other company accounts but it looks unprofessional and it’s worth avoiding ‘U’ or ‘4’ if you possibly can. The same applies to running words together to squeeze them into the space. If your sentences aren’t simple and straightforward and in plain English, you will see a decrease in engagement.
Use relevant hashtags to help boost a tweet’s likely audience.
URL Shorteners
There are a wide range of URL shorteners out there which allow you to cut down the length of your URLs, therefore freeing up more space for other text. They’re great if you’re trying to show off your latest piece of content or a special offer and need as many characters as possible. The most popular URL shorteners include Bit.ly, Goo.gl and Zi.ma. Twitter usually shortens links to take up 20 characters regardless of the length of the URL.
Follow and Engage
Most tweets should not be directly focussed on sales. Remember, Twitter is a social network, albeit a social network which can increase engagement with your brand.
You can build a following of potential customers, influencers and other likeminded individuals. Building your followers should be about more than numbers and engaging with them as often as you can is essential. Retweet relevant messages, welcome new followers and be gracious and thank those who retweet your content. Respond to criticism – politely – look at is as an opportunity to provide excellent customer service! It’s a cyclical process that once you start, you’ll soon get into the swing of.
Schedule and Plan
There are a wide range of different Twitter tools on the market which are designed to streamline the process for businesses. It can be very easy to get sucked into hours of Twitter but this is counterproductive for your business. Instead, check in intermittently, use a scheduling tool such as Hootsuite or Buffer for your key messages and occasionally audit your followings to ensure you’re keeping it relevant to business.
@CrushAgency
Twitter can provide a valuable stream of business and anyone looking to expand and grow their business should make sure they’re using it appropriately. For more information about Crush’s Twitter service, read more about our social media marketing service.
You can also follow Crush Digital on Twitter. We are @crushagency.
