Twitter 101 for Business
- 936 Views Digital Marketing
- MacRAES
You may be asking yourself, What is Twitter anyway and what can it do for me?
Twitter is an information network that brings people closer to what’s important to them.
Each and every day, Twitter is used to connect people to their interests and share information. Everyone shares messages (otherwise known as Tweets) of up to 140 characters. These tweets are available to anyone who is interested in reading them. Tweets are mini conversations that relate to almost any topic imaginable.
Shouldn’t your business/brand be one of those topics, or at least part of the conversation??? Twitter allows you to broadcast content and promotions, drive sales and connect with customers. Your business can also listen to market intelligence and insights on your business, competitors and the industry as a whole. Oh and did I mention it’s FREE!!
You may have noticed that social media seems to have a lingo all of it’s own! This in itself can be a deterrent in getting started. Well take a deep breath and read on, this definitely clears things up.
Twitter users have developed short-form syntax to make the most of 140 characters. Here are the fundamentals.
- Mention
Once you’ve signed up and chosen a Twitter username, you and others can mention an account in your Tweets by preceding it with the @ symbol, eg: “Glad your shipment arrived @janesmith!”
- Retweet
When you see a Tweet by another user that you want to share, click Retweet below it to forward it to your followers instantly.
- Message
If you want to privately Tweet to a particular user who’s already following you, start your Tweet with DM or D to direct-message them, eg: “DM @joesmith234 what is your order number?”
- Hashtag
Users often prepend # to words in their Tweets to categorize them for others eg: “Check out our new products for the Fallhttp://t.co/link2 #fallsale” Think of hashtags as the theme of your Tweet. Users can then click on a hashtag to see other similarly-themed tweets and find yours in search
Many businesses are finding success with Twitter, learn more about how your business can too! Download “The Twitter Guide to Small Business” here.
If you are ready to sign up now, all you need is an email address and 15-30 minutes of time (we know this is the hard part).
How to sign up/create an account:
- Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box, or go directly to https://twitter.com/signup.
- Enter your full name, email address, and a password.
- Click Sign up for Twitter.
- On the next page, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter) — type your own or choose one we’ve suggested. We’ll tell you if the username you want is available.
- Double-check your name, email address, password, and username.
- Click Create my account.You may be asked to complete a Captcha to let us know that you’re human.
- Twitter will send a confirmation email to the address you entered on sign up, click the link in that email to confirm your email address and account.
And if you do decide to add Twitter to your social media mix, don’t forget to follow MacRAE’s Blue Book or Canadian Trade Index and we could be one of your first followers.
Share on social media: