We live in a busy world. Getting your business account to thrive on Twitter is a demanding task and there are more ‘best practice’ blogs for business on the internet than you can shake a stick at. Let’s get straight the point, with 10 top Twitter tips that you can immediately put into practice.
1. Make your Tweets 140 characters of enticing relevant content.
[Tweet "Treat your Tweets like a newspaper headline. Engaging, intriguing, and concise to squeeze into limited space."]
Imagine you’re in a newsroom designing a front page to entice readers into seeing your content. If you want people to read your paper, your front page headline needs to spot on. Your Tweets are the ‘front page’, which will draw people to your website, your blog, or the checkout basket of your online store. Treat your Tweets with the same care and attention you would a headline: short, focused, and typo-free. Build on this ‘headline’ with high quality images, informative infographics, and other visual content to help you go beyond 140 characters.
2. Give Twitter users a good reason to follow you.
[Tweet "Give Twitter users a reason to follow. Host competitions, offer discounts, post behind the scenes content."]
It’s not a build it and they will come situation. If you want to attract and keep Twitter followers, you need to give your Twitter account exclusivity that can’t be found anywhere else. Make your followers feel like VIPs by running competitions, offer insight into your business that can’t be found anywhere else, teasing products and promotions. Think outside the box too. If you’re a law firm and unable to share information about what you do on a daily basis, consider sharing photos of the team, charitable events you take part in, and other light-hearted content.
3. Establish your business as a source of industry info.
[Tweet "Check your facts, produce insightful content,stay up-to-date to be a reliable source of business information."]
One way of building a strong, trustworthy Twitter presence for your business is to ensure that the information you put out is of the highest quality, whether it’s in your own blogs or the content you share. Always check that your stats come from reliable sources and link back. Don’t rush to post about a trending topic until you’ve checked your facts. The better the quality, the bigger Twitter boost you’ll see in the long-term as people learn to come to you for information.
4. Share highlights from events and conferences.
[Tweet "Tweet images, highlights, and quotes for your online audience to engage with. Make them a part of the event!"]
Whether you prefer to do it during or after, sharing highlights from events and conferences your business attends is a generous way to spread industry insight. Not everyone is lucky enough to attend the important events, so a good live Tweeting session or content recapping the best moments in the form of a blog, Slideshare, Storify or even an infographic, will make people feel like they’re part of it all.
5. Make the most of Twitter Advertising!
[Tweet "Twitter Ads can generate leads at one-third the cost of other channels."]
If you’re serious about making social media a key component in your marketing strategy, Twitter Ads should be your first port of call. With a scope of 284 million active monthly users, advertising on Twitter can help increase your business reach and generate leads - providing you with measurable ROI. It also generates leads at one-third the cost of other social media channels and is more cost-efficient than Facebook advertising. Even better, now you can use Twitter lists to create tailored audiences for extremely targeted and effective campaigns. If you want to learn more about Twitter Ads, download a free copy of The Ultimate Handbook To Twitter Advertising!
6. Research prospects and keep an eye on the competition.
[Tweet "Become a private eye & use Twitter analytics to discover valuable information about prospects/competitors."]
Got a sales call looming with a client you’d like to know more about? Use Twitter to see what they’re interested in. A powerful Twitter analytics tool can provide you with a range of information about their audience, their engagement rates, even sentiment towards a prospect so you’re best equipped to assist them. Equally, use your powers to get the skinny on your competitors. Keeping an eye on your competitors using Twitter gives you insight into what’s working for them and more importantly what isn’t (learn from their mistakes). Use your analytics insights to determine how they’re performing and use it as an opportunity to better understand and target their audience too.
7. Connect your online networks.
[Tweet "Include your Twitter handle on all collateral, from business cards and emails to printed leaflets at events."]
One of the best ways of making sure people follow your Twitter is to make sure your customers know where to find you online. Include your Twitter handle on all collateral such as business cards, email newsletters, and so on. Also make sure you use Twitter to connect your other online channels, like your website and any other social networks you frequent. Bonus points if your business can have the same handle across social networks.
8. Understand your audience better with Twitter analytics.
[Tweet "Use powerful Twitter analytics tools to gain a deeper understand of your community’s interests."]
Good Twitter tools will help you gain insight into the small details that make a difference, like Tweeting at the right time for maximum engagement. Additionally, use a Twitter analytics platform that monitors your activities so you can see how many followers you retain over a period of time and highlight areas for improvement. Here are some of the best free Twitter marketing tools, that can help with the management of your marketing activities.
9. Use Twitter to spread your brand message.
[Tweet "Create stronger relationships and message association by engaging in real-time and joining in relevant conversations."]
Twitter can help build strong brand recognition and spread awareness, when used effectively. With the right procedures in place for sign-off and a clever social media manager, there’s an ocean of real-time possibilities for savvy brands looking to boost recognition. You don’t need to have thousands of followers to boost brand awareness, you just need to get social. After all it is a ‘social’ networking site. Engage in Twitter chats, respond to your followers, look up hashtags or keywords related to your industry and offer your thoughts on a relevant topic. Simple acts of engagement will spread your handle, avatar, and brand message far and wide.
10. Generate business leads and convert to customers.
[Tweet "Make every interaction meaningful and reach out to users that don’t follow you… yet."]
Last but not least… monetize your Twitter activity. What’s the point of engaging, building relationships and posting the right content if you don’t use the activity to convert Twitter users to customers? 67% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy from brands they follow, so use your feed to showcase the wonders of your products/service without being too salesy. Engage in conversations and use Twitter to provoke a positive association with your brand. Perhaps you could add them to a private Twitter list and create a tailored audience Twitter Ads campaign designed specifically to appeal to them? Twitter as a marketing channel gives you a rare opportunity to connect directly with potential customers and convert them, take advantage of it!
Hungry for more top Twitter tips? We’ve got a whole blog jam packed with advice, examples, and a few funny posts here and there. Check it out here. 
