The market has obviously moved from offline to online. For business owners, this means the best course of action would be to move the business or service online too. Why? Because the potential customers and clients are all online. Twitter is one of the best platforms to use for this. But still, like every important step in business, if you do not get it right, having a twitter account for your business might not have any impact.
This article is aimed at giving you tips on how to put your business on twitter, how to use twitter for business marketing, gather followers and make them into loyal customers and clients. It’s a how to use twitter for business; a beginner’s guide.
Put your business on Twitter # Step One: Set up the Twitter account.
- Set up a twitter account: If you don’t have an already existing account for the business then this is the first thing to do. Go on to twitter and set up an account for the business. You could use a company or personal account, but a company account is better suited for a business.
- Pick a twitter name: Preferably the company name. The name should be easy to remember. You don’t want potential clients choosing to go with your competitors instead because they could not remember what your twitter handle is. Also, do not inject numbers or uncommon abbreviations into the name, those kind of characters make the name unique but also makes it too hard to remember.
- Upload a picture: You can upload a cover picture and a profile picture. It is advisable to make the cover picture your logo. The profile picture should be your product or a picture of the kind of service you provide. If you already have active accounts on other social media platforms, then put up the very same pictures on this twitter account. This is so because it gives consistency to your online brand identity.
- Put a link: If you have a website then you should put up the link in your twitter profile. This way, when people click on it, they can go on to read more about what you offer. They can also buy from your website if you had already made arrangements for that.
- Put up your Bio: This should not be too long. You have a maximum of 160 characters for the bio. Make it interesting, catchy and straight to the point. People should be able to tell what your brand is about from reading the bio.
Put your Business on Twitter # Step Two: Get Followers
This depends on whether or not you are able to catch and hold people’s attention long enough for them to want to follow you. If you have already gained popularity and credibility offline then getting followers would not be a problem. If not, follow the next steps.
Put your Business on Twitter # Step Three: Stay active
Don’t leave it at just setting up the account. Tweet as often as you can. You can make it a twice a day affair. The frequency of your tweets or posts can gradually decline after you must have garnered a significant following. You can also look up some twitter content ideas to help fine tune your tweets.
Put your Business on Twitter # Stay relevant
This is a follow up to step three above. Don’t just tweet about anything or follow just about any trends. Keep in mind that the account represents your business and as such you should tune your posts to reflect what you want people to see your business as. Aside posting about your services and clients satisfaction, you can also put up other tips that would help people live better. People pay attention to things that would add value to their lives, make sure your tweets fits the description.
Put your Business on Twitter # Be responsive
This means when people contact you or mention you, try to respond. Spread warmth, make them feel like you know them and notice them. This would make them even more trusting of your brand and loyal to it. This is one of the twitter best practices for business.
Put your Business on Twitter # Give out rewards or gift packages
The two things that are bound to catch the attention of Nigerians is money and gossip. Seeing as you cannot indulge in gossip because that would negatively stain your brand identity, try to indulge in giving out gifts. You can occasionally give out a reward or package to the most consistent and loyal follower or client.
Put your Business on Twitter # Host Competitions
These competitions should be designed to reward faithful followers and also to generate awareness for the account. Participants should be required to re-tweet as much as they can and mention as much people as they can so that other people’s attention would be caught too.
Put your Business on Twitter # Keep it Professional
A brand should have an identity separate from that of whomever is handling the account. This means that personal tweets should be avoided. Terms like “I” or “My” should be avoided and replaced with terms like “Our” or “We”. This way, people will see the account as a brand and not a single person.
Putting your business on twitter is a huge and maybe even risky step, one wrong tweet and the reputation you have built will come crashing down. Develop a twitter strategy for business and stick to it.
