In 2022, social media is undoubtedly one of the most effective marketing methods available for businesses. From Facebook to TikTok, social media platforms can be fantastic for reaching out to your target audience, generating clicks to your website, and giving your sales numbers a healthy boost.
On the topic of social media, Twitter remains among the most popular platforms around. Even though it has existed for over 15 years at this point, Twitter isn’t going to travel down the same path as Myspace just yet. In fact, user numbers only continue to grow – and research suggests Twitter will have over 340 million active users by 2024.
Back to the present day, you’re on this page for one reason: you want to build a successful Twitter account for your business. To assist with that objective, here are seven tips to get started, build your follower numbers, and ensure Twitter becomes a fruitful component of your marketing strategy.
Tip #1: Create an effective profile
Before getting too far ahead of yourself, the first step is to produce an effective profile that represents your business. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
- Select a username that is accurate for your business. If you cannot get a username that exactly mirrors your brand name, there are creative ways to get around this – whether it’s adding a hyphen, underscore, or dash.
- Pick a profile picture that fits the Twitter dimensions. While the recommended dimensions from Twitter are 400×400 pixels, keep in mind that profile images take a circle shape – and this cuts off the edges of your picture.
- Add a header image. With the header being 1500×500 pixels, this opens the door to creative designs that make an impact. Try to include your business logo and slogan onto the banner.
- Craft a witty, professional description. You only have a limited number of characters to play with, but this doesn’t mean you cannot produce a unique, clever description that creates a positive reaction. Just remember to avoid any typos and grammar mistakes!
Tip #2: Follow relevant industry accounts
No, you’re not necessarily giving the competition a little boost by following their accounts. What you are doing, however, is following Twitter profiles that are relevant to your industry. Why? Because this creates initial connections with leading figures in your industry. If they follow you back in response, this could lay the groundwork behind potentially rewarding partnerships.
Of course, it isn’t only about building up those valuable connections. By following as many individuals and brands as possible in your industry, your business will naturally build its presence within said industry. The result: you build a relevant following that is interested in the content you’re sharing.
Tip #3: Produce original content
Not every tip on this list is easy to achieve. Well, this is perhaps the most difficult one of them all. Producing generic content for Twitter is easy. Producing original, creative, and high-quality content is difficult.
However, there are a few points to keep in mind when producing your Tweets. Firstly, make sure you keep up to date with the latest trends. If you can seamlessly incorporate your content into a trending topic, it’s possible for your Tweet to spread like wildfire. Another point to remember is the importance of being visual. Whether it’s an image or video, visual content is said to be processed 60,000 times faster than text-based content.
Another point to remember is to avoid automation when possible. For instance, you could have it set up that a new Tweet is automatically created after uploading a blog post on your website. Even though this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, sharing the blog on Twitter with an original post – including a select quote from the article – helps make the Tweet stand out.
Tip #4: Avoid going for the hard sell
The ultimate goal of your Twitter account is to generate leads and sales for your business. However, you need to play it cool when Tweeting about your products and services. If you do this all the time, it will quickly turn people off from following your account.
It’s important to remember that Twitter isn’t built as a selling platform. You can advertise your products/services and acquire leads, sure, but these types of Tweets should be used sporadically in between those that are primarily designed to engage and attract potential customers.
Tip #5: Engage with your audience
Twitter is a place where engagement shines. It’s excellent for not just posting your Tweets, but also to share and comment on others. Doing this is also highly recommended. The more you engage with other accounts, the quicker you’ll forge long-lasting connections with customers.
If someone leaves a comment under one of your Tweets for instance, a quick yet thoughtful response can go a long way in leaving a positive impression on them – the type that will ensure they stick around.
Tip #6: Analyze the data
How do you find out if your Twitter account is hitting the mark? You analyze the data you have available. By doing this, you gain a greater insight into how specific Tweets are performing, the type of audience you’re attracting, and the number of clicks your content is generating.
In 2022, one of the newest – and most effective – data points to follow is social media sentiment analysis. By doing this, you can gain the full picture about how your audience perceives your brand – good or bad. If you’re unsure where to start with this, Sprout Social has an informative guide on how to analyze sentiment.
Tip #7: Keep up a regular schedule
A Twitter account is of little help to your business if it only makes the odd post here and there. It’s imperative you stick with a regular schedule. A new original Tweet each day is a strong starting point, particularly if you’re also interacting with other accounts when enquiries and comments come your way.
To help with maintaining this posting volume, you can use specialist software to schedule Tweets in advance.
