Since its inception in 2006, Twitter has seen phenomenal growth in the past 9 years. It is the largest microblogging site in the world, with its 255 million users tweeting 140 characters at a time.  Twitters online reach and user base, taken from an AdWeek infographic made in February 2015, speak for themselves (AdWeek.com, 2015). Laura Lake (2015) states that: ‘Think of Twitter as a means to get instant public messages out to your audience, whether it is an audience of colleagues or potential customers‘

(AdWeek.com, 2015)

So what would be the best way to leverage the incredible power of directly tweeting into your followers pockets? It is not just a question of creating an account for your brand and expecting your tweets to instantly reach the maximum target audience. Below are ten tips on how to maximize your company’s presence on Twitter.

1. Optimize your Company Bio

The Twitter Bio is the landing page any user lands on if he clicks on your company account. It is therefore the first thing people will see. It is therefore vital that your company bio reflects your actual company identity as well as a unified brand front and that it is consistent with who you are and what it is you are trying to achieve. Make sure you link your company website to the homepage. (Schiff, 2015)

 

2. Initial Follower Build-up

The next step after creating a unified twitter account is to begin building up your followers. The first, and by far easiest step to take is to request your colleagues/employees to “follow” your twitter account. The next step is to reach out to family and friends and kindly ask for their help.

 

3. Identifying & interacting with influencers 

Twitter Advanced Search is a highly precise internal search engine that allows its users to fine tune what type of field, geographic location, subject, industry field, similar projects, people or company they would like to follow. By combining and refining ones search terms it can allow your company to identify influencers (Support.twitter.com, 2015). The next step is to interact with them on a regular basis.

Another tip would be to identify the 100 most influential people in your field and begin to correspond with them on a regular basis, brokering a sustainable and valued relationship. Shanelle Mullin, director of Marketing at Onboardly, a provider of PR and content marketing for startups says to remember that influencers can be found in a wide variety of fields and industries such as: journalists, thought leaders, potential clients/customers, big-name bloggers and writers, potential partners, celebrities etc. (Schiff, 2015)

 

4. Content: Quality over Quantity

Almost all Twitter analysts and experts agree on the following. Creating quality content almost unanimously trumps quantity of tweets in building followers and especially in retaining followers. The use of keywords in a tweet is vital as it directly links into Twitter’s SEO. A study recently conducted by Rutgers University found that users that were considered informers (amounting to 20% of active twitter users) had on average double the amount of followers to meformers. What exactly is the difference between a meformer and an informer? (Naaman, Boase and Lai, 2010)

• Meformer – Users who post social media updates mostly relating to themselves
• Informer – Users who post social media updates related to information sharing

Make sure your tweets are well crafted and Aim to boost your information sharing on social media so that you more closely align with the informer cluster rather than the meformer cluster (Lay, 2014)

 

5. Tweet regularly

Although this seems a given it is vital to tweet on a regular basis… which, in order to get the most out of twitter should be daily or every 2 days. Longer than that and your company may not be able to keep up with the latest trends.

Make sure to however not send out the same tweet multiple times during the day. Users will quickly catch on and will resent the lack of effort on your part.

 

6. Responding/Replying

Twitter always you, through Twitter analytics, to track mentions and therefore responding when appropriate: If a user mentions your company in a tweet, find the right moment to jump in to their conversation. This hands-on approach will in most cases benefit your company image greatly. Make sure to reply in a tone thats suits the conversation. For example, using humor can have a significant impact on how much your reply could be retweeted. Below the Smart car company came up with a novel way to capitalize on a joke made at their expense.

7. Retweeting 

Sharing interesting content found on Twitter is vital in growing ones follower base. It also directly contributes to the brand image your company is attempting to display online as well as show your company’s thought process within an industry. (Hall, 2011)

 

8. Be Visual

The final tip I will give you is to craft your tweets to be as visually stimulating as possible through the effective usage of images and videos, although keep in mind that not all tweets should follow this rule. Some variety is key. Crafting a media rich message generates, on average, higher engagement with your followers.

 

References

Adweek.com, (2014). Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat – Social Media Stats 2014 [INFOGRAPHIC]. [online] Available at: http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/social-media-statistics-2014/499230 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2015].

Hall, S. (2011). Five Ways to Use Twitter for Marketing That You Might Not Know About. [online] Entrepreneur. Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219701 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2015].

Lake, L. (2015). Twitter: A Valuable Marketing Tool?. [online] About.com Money. Available at: http://marketing.about.com/od/viralmarketing/a/twitter.htm [Accessed 12 Apr. 2015].

Lay, K. (2014). 6 Research-Backed Ways to Get More Followers on Twitter and Facebook. [online] Social. Available at: https://blog.bufferapp.com/get-more-followers-twitter-facebook-research [Accessed 12 Apr. 2015].

Naaman, M., Boase, J. and Lai, C. (2010). Is it really about me?. Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work – CSCW ’10.

Schiff, J. (2015). 14 Ways to Use Twitter to Market Your Business. [online] CIO. Available at: http://www.cio.com/article/2380667/twitter/14-ways-to-use-twitter-to-market-your-business.html [Accessed 12 Apr. 2015].

Support.twitter.com, (2015). Twitter Help Center | Using advanced search. [online] Available at: https://support.twitter.com/articles/71577-using-advanced-search [Accessed 12 Apr. 2015].