Have you ever found yourself staring at your Twitter feed, mind buzzing with questions like "What should my business tweet next?" or "How often should I post?" and the classic "How on earth do I measure Twitter success?"
If you can relate, you're not the only one.
With its real-time engagement and massive global audience, Twitter presents a bounty of business opportunities.
However, unlocking its full potential can seem as complex as cracking a secret code. Your curiosity brought you here—and guess what? You've come to the right place!
In this blog, we will walk you through everything you need to know to master Twitter in 2024. It's designed to turn those question marks into eloquent tweets that connect, engage, and grow your business.
Let's get started.
Why Should Businesses Use Twitter?
Twitter is a powerful tool for businesses. It allows you to connect with your audience in real-time, share news and updates about your company, and build relationships with influencers who can help spread the word about your brand. Creating a professional Twitter account over a personal one will provide you with advanced customization options, analytics and promotional tools, among others.
But what makes Twitter so unique? Here are a few reasons why businesses should use it:
1. An Abundance of Active Users
Twitter boasts a staggering number of 353.9 million monthly active users. The size of this user base presents businesses with an unmatched opportunity to capture the attention of a wide-ranging local, national, and global audience, all at their fingertips.
Imagine getting in front of your audience without spending on ads and getting the desired results.
2. Access to Key Demographics
Developing a successful marketing strategy involves understanding where your target demographic is most active online. Twitter, with 58.3% of its users globally being in the age range of 18 to 35 years, can be a pivotal asset for businesses looking to make a mark among this demographic.
3. Emphasis on Male Users
Targeting a predominantly male audience? Twitter might just be the platform for you. With male users making up an impressive 61.2% of Twitter's user base, focusing on Twitter could yield a high return on investment (ROI) for businesses aligning their products or services towards male consumers.
4. Opportunities Abound
Twitter is a platform that offers businesses a wide range of opportunities to connect with their target audience. From promoting products and services to engaging in conversations about trending topics, Twitter can be an effective tool for businesses looking to leverage their B2B marketing strategies, build brand awareness and increase sales.
5. A Direct Communication Channel
Twitter allows for swift, direct, and sizable interaction between businesses and customers. The platform's user-friendly layout encourages users to follow multiple businesses, with the average Twitter user following five or more businesses. This level of active and direct engagement provides businesses numerous opportunities to connect and engage with consumers.
6. Potent Advertising Platform
Twitter's advertising capacity is a force to be reckoned with. Further underlining Twitter's strength as an advertising platform, it amassed $1.17 billion in advertising revenue, registering a year-on-year increase of 37%.
To sum up, Twitter is more than just a social media platform - it's a powerhouse of opportunities that positively influences business growth, even more with the benefits of Twitter ad revenue sharing. These compelling statistics demonstrate Twitter's undeniable impact, marking it as a must-have tool in a strategic, growth-oriented business plan.
How to Set Up a Business Twitter Account?
Setting up a Twitter account for your business is the first step towards leveraging this powerful social media tool. Here's a comprehensive step-by-step guide to streamline the process:
1. Create an Account
Start by navigating to the Twitter website or downloading the Twitter app on your smartphone. Click on 'Sign up' or 'Create account'. You'll need to enter your name, phone number (or click 'Use email instead' to use an email account), and date of birth.
2. Choose a Username
Your username, or Twitter handle, is your business's identity on Twitter. It should be directly related to your business name for easy recognition. Remember, your Twitter handle must be under 15 characters. Consider an abbreviation or an easily recognizable variant if your business name is too long. If you change your mind, it's quite easy to edit your Twitter handle at any moment.
3. Add a Profile Picture
The next step is to add a profile picture, which will be visible to all Twitter users. As this forms the first visual impression, the image most often used is a business logo. The recommended dimensions for your profile picture are 400x400 pixels.
4. Write Your Bio
Your bio represents an opportunity to share a concise, engaging business overview. You're limited to 160 characters, so make every word count. Include your location and operating hours if applicable. Providing a link to your business's website is also a good idea to drive traffic there.
You can also use the free Bio Generator from Highperformr. It's specifically designed for Twitter. All you have to do is to enter some keywords.
Once you are done with that, you can choose from a list of suggested bios. You can also customize it by adding your own text.
5. Optimize Your Profile With a Header Image
A visually striking header image can improve your profile's aesthetics and perform various functions - from reinforcing your brand to showcasing products or promotions. The recommended dimensions for your header image are 1500x500 pixels.
6. Make Your First Tweet
Kickstart your Twitter journey by crafting your first tweet. This could be a welcome message to your followers, a brief introduction to your business, or a teaser of what followers can expect from your Twitter presence.
You don't have to think a lot. Simply use a viral post generator from Highperformr for free and start posting it.
It's trained to create quality output, and it will adapt to your style, too.
How Can You Make Twitter Work For Your Business?
To make Twitter work for your business, it's essential to understand its best practices, tools, and functionalities. Here, we'll elaborate on strategies to use Twitter effectively for business.
1. Crafting Engaging Tweets
Creating engaging tweets is an art that involves a few key elements:
- Understanding the Character Limit: Use the 280-character limit wisely. A concise, clear, and captivating tweet is likelier to be liked, retweeted, or responded to.
- Using Hashtags Strategically: Hashtags can increase visibility and engagement. Incorporate relevant hashtags, but don't overdo it. Two or three per tweet should suffice.
- Incorporating Visuals for Higher Engagement: Visuals grab attention. High-quality images, videos, or saving GIFs significantly increase engagement rates.
You can also use free tools from Highperformr to get the most out of your content creation efforts. It eases the content creation process with the help of AI.
2. Building a Follower Base
Expanding your follower base is an ongoing process that requires a well-executed strategy and patience. Here are some actionable tips to help you build a solid follower base on Twitter:
A. Consistent and Valuable Content
Post high-quality, engaging, and relevant content that provides value to your audience. A regular posting schedule helps maintain consistency, making your business more visible and appealing to potential followers.
B. Engage with Your Audience
Engagement is crucial for both retaining current followers and acquiring new ones. Respond promptly to comments, questions, and feedback. Participate in discussions, acknowledging different viewpoints to foster a strong sense of community.
C. Network with Influencers
Identify and follow industry influencers to stay updated with their content and engage with them by liking, commenting, and sharing their tweets. Building relationships with influencers can lead to mutual exposure, collaboration, and increased followers.
D. Utilize Relevant Hashtags
Incorporate trending and relevant hashtags to extend your content's reach and attract interested users. Conduct hashtag research and use industry-specific ones to increase your chances of being discovered by your target audience.
3. Managing Customer Service on Twitter
Twitter's real-time nature and massive user base have transformed it into a popular customer service channel. Here are some strategies to help you provide exceptional customer service on Twitter:
A. Monitor and Respond Promptly
Customers expect timely responses to their queries on Twitter. Monitor mentions, direct messages, hashtags, and keywords related to your business. Allocate dedicated personnel, if needed, to ensure rapid response times.
B. Be Professional and Empathetic
While addressing customer concerns, maintain a professional and empathetic tone. Offer solutions and understanding to demonstrate that your business genuinely cares for its customers.
C. Create a Dedicated Customer Service Handle
If your business receives high volumes of customer service-related conversations, consider having a separate handle dedicated to addressing customer queries. This segregation will ensure focused operations and a streamlined workflow.
D. Use Personalization
Address customers by their first name, and sign off your response with your initials or first name to humanize your interactions. Personal touches help build stronger relationships and make customers feel valued.
4. Using Live Tweets
Live tweeting during events, product launches, or industry conferences can generate interest and visibility. Use a dedicated event hashtag to attract and track engagement.
For example, Apple's live tweets during their annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) provide timely updates on their latest product announcements, software updates, and features.
These tweets generate excitement and conversation among their audience, leading to increased online presence.
5. Hosting and Participating in Twitter Chats
Hosting or participating in Twitter chats can attract like-minded users, deepen relationships, and increase your brand’s engagement. Choose a unique hashtag for your chat and actively participate in the conversation.
HubSpot is an excellent example for this. HubSpot, a marketing and sales platform provider, frequently holds various Twitter chats, such as #HubSpotChat.
These chats explore topics like inbound marketing, sales tools, and customer service, providing valuable insights to participants.
You can also consider something similar to engage with your audience and reach more followers.
6. Leveraging Twitter Lists
Managing lists on Twitter allows you to categorize accounts of interest. A brand that effectively utilizes this feature is the American Red Cross (@RedCross). They have created separate lists for their regional accounts, partners, and employees. This allows them to monitor and engage with tweets from these diverse groups efficiently.
7. Running Twitter Contests and Giveaways
Running Twitter contests and giveaways is a highly effective way to boost engagement and attract new followers. These activities involve asking your audience to perform specific tasks – such as liking, retweeting, commenting, or tagging friends on your contest tweet – in return for a chance to win a prize. This tactic not only empowers your audience to interact with your brand but also exposes your content to new potential followers.
8. Staying Informed with Twitter Trends
Utilizing Twitter trends is crucial for staying relevant and engaging on the platform. Twitter trends give you insights into what the Twitter community is currently talking about. Engaging with these trends lets your brand tap into the broader conversations happening in real-time.
When you share content aligning with these trends, you increase your chances of reaching a larger audience, as your tweets can appear in the feeds of users browsing the relevant trend. This practice can ramp up your visibility, brand awareness, and customer engagement.
9. Twitter Ads and Promoted Tweets
Twitter Ads and promoted tweets can be beneficial for amplifying your brand's visibility and reach on Twitter. With paid promotions, your tweets appear to users who do not follow you, significantly enhancing the exposure of your best content.
These promotions can be targeted based on various criteria, including location, interests, behaviors, and demographics, ensuring your content reaches the most relevant audience. This targeted approach helps to drive more engagement, website visits, conversions and leads.
10. Using Third-Party Twitter Tools
Third-party Twitter tools help streamline your Twitter marketing strategy by providing advanced functionalities and features. These tools facilitate various tasks, such as:
- Scheduling Posts: You can plan and schedule your posts in advance for optimal times, maintaining the consistency of content and maximizing engagement. You can use Highperformr to schedule your posts on Twitter and monitor their performance. This tool also provides analytics that helps you understand how your content is performing and what you can do to improve it.
- Tracking Analytics: These tools provide comprehensive analytics to evaluate your content’s performance and gain insights into audience engagement, reach, the best time to post, and more.
- Monitoring Mentions and Hashtags: Functions like real-time monitoring of mentions, keywords, and hashtags enable you to follow all conversations related to your brand, making it easier to respond promptly and engage actively.
- Handling Multiple Accounts: If you manage multiple Twitter accounts, these tools provide a unified dashboard to manage all your accounts efficiently.
- Automate manual tasks: With Highperformr, you can automate your content planning and posting, ensuring a consistent brand presentation on Twitter. Its detailed metric tracking can provide valuable insights into your content's performance and audience engagement.
Moreover, monitoring mentions and hashtags in real-time ensures you never miss out on any conversation related to your brand, allowing you to engage timely and maintain strong relationships with your audience.
Twitter Etiquette for Businesses
Maintaining proper Twitter etiquette is crucial for your business's reputation and success. Following these guidelines can help you create a positive impression and establish genuine connections with your audience:
1. Avoiding Excessive Self-promotion
While sharing updates and promoting products or services is essential, it is crucial not to overdo it. Strive for a balanced mix of promotional content and genuine engagement with your audience. Share industry news, valuable insights, or tips, and participate in conversations relevant to your niche. You build credibility and trust with your followers by providing value beyond self-promotion.
2. Interacting Respectfully With Followers
Ensure your interactions with followers are respectful, professional, and polite, regardless of their opinions or comments. Address concerns or feedback in a timely and understanding manner. A respectful approach helps build a robust and authentic relationship with followers and encourages a positive brand image.
3. Adhering to Twitter's Community Guidelines
Staying within Twitter's community guidelines is vital to avoid penalties, account restrictions, or suspension. These guidelines include not spamming, avoiding hateful conduct, and respecting copyright laws. Adhering to these rules showcases your brand as responsible and respectful, further strengthening your reputation.
Always prioritize genuine interaction, respect, and adherence to platform-specific guidelines, ultimately leaving a lasting positive impact on your audience.
Conclusion
Now equipped with a thorough understanding of Twitter's business tools and strategies, it's time to start creating and posting engaging content. Remember, consistency and innovation are key drivers on this platform.
Don't just depend on manual efforts; use tools like Highperformr to smartly automate tasks, streamline processes, and boost efficiency. Highperformr helps optimize your Twitter operations, ensuring you focus more on quality engagement rather than routine tasks.
