How to Use Twitter for Business

When it comes to using Twitter for business there is lots of information available online as to what you should and shouldn’t do. We’ve compiled our top 10 Twitter tips below which we hope you’ll find useful;

• Search for mentions of your company name

You can use the search function on Twitter to quickly and easily check for mentions of your company name and see what other people are saying about you. If you come across some negative feedback it is wise to address it by contacting the person who has the complaint.

• Involve more than one person from your company

If you’ve got a number of employees then it makes sense to spread the use of Twitter amongst 2 or 3 different staff members. They can either have their own individual accounts or you can take turns using one main Twitter account for your business. Having different people posting and joining in can help to keep your account fresh and interesting.

• Use a platform to manage your Twitter accounts

Using a Twitter platform such as TweetDeck can help you organise your multiple Twitter accounts much more quickly and easily than if you were checking everything manually.

• Describe any links you post

If you’re posting a link to content on your website or blog, it’s good practise to put a short description in front of it to let people know what it’s about and try to entice them to read it. If you use a URL shortener such as bit.ly you will have more characters available to write a good description.

• Create Twitter coupons

If you want to offer promotions via Twitter you can generate coupons quickly and easily using sites such as twtQpon which can also be branded with your company information to make them look more professional.

• Claim your company/brand name

Twitter names have become like domain names and it’s important that you claim your company or brand name on Twitter before someone else does. Even if you don’t really intend to use Twitter for business, it’s wise to secure the names you want in order to avoid people doing damage to your brand.

• Create Twitter surveys

Twitter is also a great way to get feedback from customers and suppliers. You can create Twitter surveys through platforms like http://twtsurvey.com/ which will give you access to people’s opinions quickly and easily.

• Engage in conversation

Remember that Twitter is a social media platform. So if someone asks you a direct question on Twitter or posts positive feedback on your company, it’s important that you respond accordingly, just like you would if someone had emailed or called you with the same information.

• Be yourself

Yes, we’re talking about using Twitter for business here, but as the old adage goes “people buy from people.” It’s important to just be yourself when using Twitter and not get caught up in only posting what you think people will expect you to. Be yourself and give your company some personality.

• Use Google Analytics to track Twitter traffic

Some people argue that you shouldn’t really bother about ROI when using social media sites such as Twitter, but it’s important to measure any returns on your time.

You can use Google Analytics to see how much traffic you’re getting through to your website or blog via Twitter and whether or not that’s resulted in any sales or enquiries for your business.

Even if you’re just using Twitter to help build brand awareness, it’s still a good idea to track how many people are visiting your site as a result of you being on Twitter.

If you liked this article you may also want to read my top 10 social media tips

This entry was posted on Monday, November 1st, 2010 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.