Despite the recent change in ownership, Twitter is still an excellent platform for businesses to connect with their customers and grow their brand reach.
People are driving what's happening on Twitter. They are real, straightforward, and unfiltered. They are passionate, plugged-in, brave, bold, and dynamic.
In order to succeed on Twitter, you need to have a strategy in place to regularly publish engaging and helpful content that your followers will appreciate.
With the right strategy in place, you can drive traffic to your website, capture user emails, drive sales, and even drive new leads by connecting with new customers.
The benefits of using Twitter for your business are numerous: it’s free, has a high user adoption rate, and offers users the option of viewing content without logging in.
With these benefits in mind, here are some tips for effectively marketing on Twitter as a business.
Build your brand’s presence on Twitter
To start marketing on Twitter, the first step is to create your brand’s presence on the platform. First impressions count so ensure every step of this stage is reflective of your brand and as persuasive as possible (without being sales'y!)
Start by uploading profile and banner images. Most brands choose their logo as their profile thumbnail, which you can also use for your banner. However, try and find an image of your hero product or service insitu with your logo visible for a more engaging header image. Other ideas for your hero banner image might be a new campaign visual, product launch or endorsement. Change it fairly regularly to keep it fresh.
Make sure your images are sized according to specifications to avoid any unfortunate cropping.
Next, select your display name and @ handle for your account.
Your @ account name is permanent, so it’s crucial that you select a name that accurately represents your brand. You have 15 characters to use so make it as close as possible to the actual name of your brand as possible. However, be prepared that your first choice may not be available, If this is the case it is common to add something like 'HQ' or 'US'.
Your display name is shown directly above your @ account name and can be changed at any time. However, it is best that this is the name of your brand again. You have 50 characters to play with here.
The next step is to create a profile summary in your bio. The summary is a great place to write a few lines about your business, what you do, what you value and why they should follow you. You have just 160 characters to explain what sets you apart from your competitors so think long and hard about what you want it to communicate. Use hashtags sparingly here. Emojis can also be used if appropriate for your brand.
Add a link to your website, a location and opening hours if applicable.
Lastly, you have the opportunity to pin a Tweet to the top of your feed so use this to highlight a hero campaign, product or announcement. Ensure you change this out periodically to maintain its relevance and currency.
To pin the Tweet click on the down arrow at the right corner of the Tweet and select 'Pin to your profile'.
Publishing content and ad strategies
Your Twitter feed is the home base for your marketing on Twitter. This is where you’ll publish regularly scheduled updates to keep your followers engaged and informed about the latest news in your industry. But you need to keep it concise - you have just 280 characters to use.
For your content, you can choose from a wide range of options. You can provide links to your latest blog posts and website articles, links to helpful resources such as podcasts or eBooks, and you can also host polls and quizzes to engage your followers.
When publishing content on Twitter, avoid the common pitfalls of clickbait and low-quality posts. Instead, look to create valuable, helpful content that your followers will appreciate and enjoy reading.
Twitter has some recommendations for your content:
Keep it focused on one key message
Have a clear call to action - tell people what you want them to do
Don't use all UPPERCASE
Use emojis to express emotions
Make images or videos clickable to your website
Don't use images with a heavy text ratio
Add imagery, especially GIFs, memes, videos (6-15 seconds, with subtitles and your logo) and anything humorous
Retweet (repost or share) content that mentions you especially if it is from a customer or someone influential
Respond positively to people that mention you - they will be stoked that you took notice of them!
Ask questions or run polls for audience engagement and to gauge public sentiment or feedback - beware though that this will not always be favourable. Don't ask a question you don't know the answer to!
Use hashtags using relevant keywords to expand your reach. However, don't overdo it - one or two is plenty. You can see what Tweets are trending in the 'Explore' tab to tap into the zeitgeist.
Launch something new or break news - the key here is 'new
Stuck for content ideas? Twitter suggests:
Answer a customer question
Give a pro tip
Shine a spotlight on an employee or client
Quote a quote
Retweet with a comment
Take your followers behind the scenes
Give a statistic
Retweet an older well-received Tweet
Share user-generated content - a fantastic way for giving social proof that people believe and trust
Use Twitter to listen to your customers
Using social media to listen to conversations about you is called 'social listening' and is a great way to discover feedback and public sentiment about your brand, products or services - good and bad. You should use Twitter not only to push out your messages but also to listen and engage with your customers. Doing so offers numerous benefits including:
Gaining insight into how customers feel about your products and services and make changes and improvements if needed.
Respond to customer questions. Many consumers today prefer to have their queries answered online. Responding quickly can increase the likelihood of conversion.
Handle customer complaints. Diffuse a complaint by picking it up and resolving it privately before it goes viral online.
Grow your online community and customer base by sharing wisdom, expertise, and product information by monitoring conversations related to your brand.
Guage the effectiveness of your customer service by seeing how quickly inquiries and issues are resolved. People will also usually be very vocal about the service they receive.
See how effective your campaigns are by responses, buzz and sharing.
Collect demographic data about your target market by analysing their characteristics.
Learn your customer's frequently asked questions and formulate a response that then can be added to your website and other social media.
Gain intelligence on your competitors by listening to what their customers say they are doing well and not so well.
Meet your biggest fans. Twitter can put you in touch with your most loyal fans who will gladly help spread the word about your brand.
Tools such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck make listening online easy. as they can aggregate mentions in one place You can set up searches for your brand name, product and service names, keywords people use to search for your products, and your competitors.
How to get more followers organically
Twitter has the following tips to build up your audience and grow a community of engaged and valuable followers.
Tap into trending topics by finding keywords and hashtags then use them in your own Tweets in a natural way.
Create valuable content - aim to inform,. educate or entertain.
Tweet consistently so an audience knows it can count on you.
Engage with experts and share their content to build connections.
Promote your Twitter handle on all marketing collateral.
Tap into your existing customer base by uploading their emails and let them know you are ready to have a conversation with them on Twitter.
Twitter advertising
Twitter currently has eight different methods of advertising. Note that not all of these can be done by 'self-serve advertiisers.' You are advised to check with Twitter.
1. Promoted Ads
Available as text, image, video or carousel format, these are easy straightforward ads served in a user's feed.
They can be used to drive people to your website, app or just engagement.
Also in this category are Moment Ads which are a collection of Tweets used to tell a story. Twitter Audience Platform serves your ad to Twitter and thousands of other apps.
2. Standard Features
Conversation Buttons
Can be added to Promoted Ads to prompt action with buttons and customisable hashtags. Once clicked the button creates a pre-populated Tweet that users can customise or Tweet out as is thereby sharing a brand's message.
Polls
Add interactive polls to a Tweet to prompt engagement and provide insights from users.
3. Follower Ads
Simple ads in a feed prompting users to follow your brand. Designed to increase visibility and grow followers. Also displayed as a Promoted Account in the Who to Follow section and Search Results.
4. Twitter Amplify
Amplify Pre Roll and Amplify Sponsorships are options if you want to advertise using video content that is partnered with brand-safe, premium content your customers are already watching including highlights and top clips.
5. Twitter Live
Much like Facebook and YouTube Live, TwitterLive is a live video stream that users can interact and engage with in real time and encourages conversation. Recommended for launches, conferences, thought leadership and parties.
6. Twitter Takeover
Timeline Takeover
Your ad is presented to the user as the first of the day at the top of the users feed.
Trend Takeover & Trend Takeover +
The ad placed alongside what’s trending.
Trend Takeover puts your ad alongside what’s trending. Trend Takeover+ adds immersive creative to your message. Displayed alongside what’s trending, Trend Takeover puts your message where the conversations starts—the Explore tab.
7. Branded Features
Branded Hashtag
Here an emoji of your choosing (as long as it hasn't been used more than 250 times in the last 30 days unless related to brand conversation) is added to a post whenever a specific hashtag is used by a Twitter user.
Branded Notifications (only available in US & Canada)
Branded Notifications enable advertisers to have 1-1 conversations with customers at scale, delivering time-triggered, automated @mention Tweets directly to opted-in users at the moments that matter the most.
8. Dynamic Product Ads (DPA)
After installing a Twitter pixel or Conversion API on your website you will be able to serve ads to targeted consumers who have previously visited your website and products they engaged with using DPA Retargeting. With DPA Prospecting you can serve potential customers with product ads that are most relevant to them thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Twitter etiquette
Don't spam. If a potential follower checks out your Twitter feed and finds only preprogrammed links, they will turn around and leave. You will never have a decent discussion if you post sales or traffic driving links all day, or if you speak about yourself exclusively. It is important to balance your promotional tweets with conversational ones.
Be positive. There are times and places for negativity, and Twitter usually isn’t one of them. Rants, profanity, and depressing woe-is-me type topics should be avoided. If you’re lowering the mood of the community, they won’t feel the love anymore and will unfollow.
Don't use ALL CAPS
Don't use profanity unless you are absolutely, 100% positive your community will be OK with it
If you are joining a Twitter chat as your brand let your community know. Prior to beginning a chat, let everyone know that you will be tweeting more than usual for the next hour or so.
Don't feel like you need to follow everyone that follows you and don't be unafraid to unfollow someone who doesn't fit well with brand.
Give credit where it is due. If you are resharing someone else's content be sure to acknowledge and tag the source.
Don't take over someone else's hashtag to promote your brand.
Don't respond to a Tweet with a sales push. When someone is seeking help from the community, don’t provide a promotional link. It would make you appear insincere. Instead, provide genuine, beneficial information.
Avoid private jokes. If you can't share with everyone don't share at all.
Conclusion
Twitter is an excellent marketing channel, and by following these tips you can make the most of this platform.
To make sure your Twitter marketing campaign is successful, be sure to create a strong brand presence, regularly publish content, and integrate ads.
With a solid strategy in place, you can use Twitter to drive traffic to your website, drive sales, and even drive new leads by connecting with new customers.
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