As a social platform that is popular among brands, Twitter is the perfect place to build your account and amass a strong following. Almost 50% of internet users check social profiles before making a purchase, and almost 70% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from brands they follow on the platform.
This is great news for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs who need to reach their customers, but implementing a good marketing strategy for Twitter can be tricky. Social content creation will need to be consistent and impactful if it is to attract the right audience.
Here are some of the things you can do to target the right users and expand your brand reach.
Set up a Twitter account
Make sure that your Twitter account is complete and fully optimized before you start posting content. Creating a Twitter profile is relatively simple so set up an account and pick a username – preferably one that is the same or similar to your business name.
Choose a photo for your profile and add a banner image. Banners can be easily created using tools like Canva to create attractive graphics. Don’t overlook the design of the banner, many business users miss the opportunity to use this important piece of digital real estate. Make your banner eye-catching and use it to share your services and highlight key points.
Also, make sure that you set up your Twitter account as a ‘professional’ profile. This will allow you to boost posts and pay for Twitter advertising as well and provide you with important analytics for reach and engagement.
Target and follow your ideal customer
Think about your existing client lists or user base, what traits or problems do they have in common? Build a persona of your ideal customer and use it to find other users. Connect with potential customers on Twitter and engage with them. This direct connection can be extremely powerful, remember, consumers, buy from brands on Twitter that they like.
As you connect with people there is no guarantee that they will follow you back, but some of them will. This means that your account will also be displayed to their followers and similar people as a suggested account to follow, which can be very helpful in spurring growth.
Don’t follow a bunch of people who are not relevant to your business, it will only clutter up your feed and prevent you from seeing posts from users who you need to interact with,
Connect Twitter to website and email
If you are using Twitter for business then you will want to let you existing clients know that you have an account. Display Twitter icons that link to your profile on your website and email communications. This allows customers to click through to and connect with your account.
If you have other social sites, or even a physical location like a bricks and motor store or showroom you can display signs to let users know where they can find you on social media.
Start Tweeting
Now you have your Twitter account set up and optimized, you will want to start Tweeting content. Having a varied content strategy can be helpful and keep your feed interesting, but it also gives you the opportunity to see what works. Twitter post can contain text only, text and images, extended threads, polls, gifs, and video.
Experimenting with different content types will help you to understand what works best and the kind of things your audience resonates with. Industry articles and brand updates can be shared and photos that show the things going on behind the scenes in your company can make for clickworthy posts.
Showcasing products, finished goods, or before and after photos are helpful to demonstrate the services your business offers. Showcasing your process for performing different tasks and sharing how-to information is also useful.
If you have a business blog that you write articles for, these can also be posted and linked back to your site to drive traffic. Also, remember to inject a bit of lighthearted humor here and there. People like to laugh so sharing content or images that are funny can be a good way to attract followers.
Make sure whatever you post aligns with your brand images and remains professional.
Hashtags – yes or no?
The use of hashtags has seen a decline in recent years with the Twitter community rejecting the use of them. Some users are even irritated by their presence and hashtags have simply become more of a way to self-identify in a particular group. That said, they still have the power to position your content into the feeds of potential connections.
Hashtags can be helpful, but if you are using them try and keep it to just a few hashtags per post.
Twitter account growth
Strengthening your brand by posting quality content is great, but how do you actively grow your Twitter account? If you are lucky you will post a viral Tweet that gains thousands of followers, more commonly your account will build over time. There are some best practices to use to promote fast growth and the most common of these is engagement.
Offer help, connect with other Twitter users and engage frequently. Use retweets, quote retweets, and comments to attract attention and try to give more than you take. Build a reputation as an expert in your field or an authority in a given area.
Stay away from buying followers. There are dozens of services online that you can pay to boost your numbers quickly, but the reality is that these are usually low-quality accounts that will not bring anything of value. In fact, having them may even damage your growth potential as the Twitter algorithm recognizes a high follower count with zero engagement.
Use Twitter lists
Twitter as a social media platform includes many handy tools and features. While using their List feature isn’t a growth marketing tool as such, it is useful for separating your followers into different groups. For example, you may have lists for ‘suppliers’ and ‘current customers’.
Separating followers into clear groups can help you track what is being Tweeted or talked about and allows you to quickly filter conversations. This is helpful for maintaining visibility and prevents you from missing important information.
Analyze and improve your strategy
For any type of marketing to be effective, you will need to consistently review and analyze progress. Twitter includes some helpful metrics on their platform which allows you to review follower activity. Single Tweets can be checked and monitored for performance and Twitter analytics will show you exactly how many people have followed your account, liked or retweeted from that one post.
Comparing content across your account allows you to build a picture of the content types that are working and those that are not. You may find that posts with images gain more likes, or that Twitter threads attract more followers or retweets.
Whatever the results, reviewing the data means that you can tailor your content strategy to the posts that drive the best results.
Should I write my own Twitter posts?
Many business users who spend their days operating their business are faced with the question ‘Should I write my own Twitter posts?’
While some users prefer to create their own content, there is nothing to stop you from offloading the task onto a social media management company. There are some clear benefits to outsourcing. For a relatively low cost, you can hand over the creation of graphics and text posts to an external company, saving you time.
Also, when it comes to design and graphics, many professional companies are capable of creating better quality content than the average person. This can be attractive to users who are drawn to your account by the visual content.
How can I find a good social media management company?
There are a lot of online organizations that will charge you fees for monthly social media management. But finding one that turns out good quality work is a bit harder. Check any potential providers for example social media posts to get an idea of their work. If they have had a client in a similar industry then review those samples to see how suitable the content is for your own business.
Make sure to verify their hours of operation and customer support capabilities. Can you contact them 24 hours, and can you expect a fast response to any question? Checking online reviews can reveal a lot about a business and the quality of work they supply. Make sure to look at things like Google My Business reviews and customer testimonials.
Once you have found the right company, check their social media management fees and packages for any small print that could hide extra costs or charges. When you are satisfied that you have found the right partner to manage your social media presence, you can sit back and let them manage your accounts for you in a hands-off, time-saving process.
Visit Smarcomms today and get affordable social media management services in just a few minutes.
