10 quick Twitter tips

Twitter can be a really useful source of information, news, entertainment and business leads and contacts. However, with over 345 million tweets sent every day, it can be difficult to make yourself heard – and easy to let it take over your life! Here are some quick Twitter tips to help you make the most of the fastest moving social media network.

1. Use a photo, not a logo
Twitter is about people engaging with people. Even if you use Twitter to promote your business, make sure you use a decent photo of you rather than your business logo, so other users know who they’re talking to.

2. Create a custom background
Twitter offers various background wallpapers but it’s actually quite easy to personalise your Twitter page and show your brand identity. Keep text and images to the top left of the page so they are not lost underneath the tweet stream. Make your wallpaper 1600x1200px to fill the screen, and make sure the file size is less than 800kb or it won’t be accepted.

3. Use your profile to its full extent
You get 160 characters for your bio so make sure you use as many of them as you can! Let people know who you are and what you do, and use relevant keywords so people can find you easily. Include a web link too.

4. Use #hashtags
Hashtags are really useful to attract relevant followers to your account. Include relevant hashtags such as #webdesign or #recruitment or #sales so people looking for those topics can find your tweets.

5. Search for relevant followers
Use the search feature to find people in your area. You can also search for keywords to find people in specific businesses, for example.

6. Tweet regularly
With so many tweets out there every day, posting an update once a week is never going to work. Post several times a day, and keep doing it every day. Use smartphone apps to tweet on the move, or schedule some tweets in advance …

7. Use scheduling with care
… but be careful to keep an eye on your profile if you do use scheduling. No point making it look as if you’re online if you don’t respond for days!

8. Sort people into lists
It’s easy to follow lots of people on Twitter. It’s not so easy to keep up with them all. Sort the people you follow into lists so you can see at a glance tweets from clients, friends or favourite people, for example.

9. Inform, educate and entertain
No one cares that you’ve just had a cup of tea – make sure everything you tweet is funny or informative or useful.

10. Engage, don’t ignore
If people respond to your tweets, or retweet your updates, thank them and get involved in the conversation. Think of Twitter as a form of online networking – you wouldn’t ignore someone who spoke to you at a networking event, so don’t ignore them on Twitter! Likewise, while promoting your business is fine, do it in moderation – don’t be all sales and nothing else.

If you’d like to start using social media but don’t know where to start, have a look at our Social Media Services, including training and social media management. Give us a call on 01793 608777 for a chat – we’re always happy to help!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net