So you don’t really ‘get’ twitter….???
How many times do I hear this? Clients saying that they have a twitter account but they don’t really ‘get it’. Many times! I also hear new businesses saying the same. They have been boggled by the intense full on twitter marketing instructions that their web designer has given them. Full on, in your face marketing via twitter.
I love twitter…. It has brought me great connections and new friends. Admittedly when a friend suggested I use it, I too was confused and thought it was all about celebrities posting selfies and people saying what that had for lunch or how long the supermarket queue was. Yes, people do that. It depends who you follow and why you want to use it. My thoughts on twitter have changed a great deal and now I wouldn’t be without it. I really find it useful and have met some amazing people, have receive a huge amount of help through it especially with the publishing of my book, and I find the ability to connect people to businesses very fast and rewarding.
Ask yourself why you are using it? Purely for business? To be social? I have a friend who has been practically house bound for a few years and twitter was a life line for her, keeping her connected to the news and friends together with like minded people, and those with a similar illness to her. She could pick and choose who to follow and talk to. I have another friend who uses it to chat. Like a modern chat room but you get to choose who you let in. It can help connect you with people all over the world and you can learn so much!
Some people are just ‘watchers’. Not stalkers! They like to follow people and see what interests them, but they don’t say much themselves. With twitter you can use it as you like. I find it useful to connect with local businesses and trades, as well as spreading the word about what I do. I try to balance my tweets by being very ‘real’. After all, if people don’t like the way I tweet, they won’t like the way I treat!
Twitter Tips from me – Not an expert in SEO but a real person!
In order to gain followers as a business, I suggest you look at your profile. Have a good profile shot and choose your words well. If you don’t upload a profile shot twitter will give you an ‘egg’ shape….and people tend not to follow eggs – eggs used to be spammers! If you have a website or blog, add that too. f you’re just you, and not a business, don’t be afraid to say a little about yourself. When people follow me, I look at their profile and their recent tweets to see if I would like to follow them back. You don’t have to follow everyone that follows you!
Then go and follow some people! Most businesses tweet….restaurants, shops etc. Follow people that interest you. Follow some celebs if you like, you can always unfollow them. You will get to notice who do their own tweets and those who have generic ones.
The more people you follow the more interesting your ‘timeline’ will be, but remember if you only tweet once a day, people who follow you that have lots of other people to follow, may miss your tweet as it zooms past. I tweet a lot, so if you follow me and not many others, I may clog up your timeline!
If you want someone to notice what you have said, tweet ‘to them’ by putting their name in your tweet e.g @waysidehealer Twitter will alert them that they have been mentioned and that particular tweet will show in the ‘notification’ section.
The main problem thing that puts people off twitter is understanding what a hash tag does. That lovely little # in front of a word is such a useful tool or in some cases a quirkiness. Basically, it acts like a search engine. If you look at the discover button on your twitter page you will see the subjects that are currently ‘trending’ with a #tag. So when there is current news, such as a death or celeb wedding…. or a TV programme such as #scd (Strictly Come Dancing) or something happening like a lunar eclipse, you can click on ‘all tweets’ and see what people are saying without actually following them. As a business, when I would like to make a tweet more powerful I may put a #tag before words like #Massage or #Seaweed – when potential new followers are looking they may put #facial or #Taunton into the search bar and all recent tweets with those words in will come up. A good tool.
Hash Tags can also be used in a quirky way – I often use #BobTheDog and #JuicingRocks. You will also see people using things like #JustSaying and #HappyDays…. That’s twitter!
There are more little things to be aware of if you are new…. you can block people and you can lock your account if you would like only those who you ‘accept’ to follow you. You can see if people have locked accounts by a little padlock on their profile. Businesses won’t generally do that but some private people choose to.
My personal tips are: Be generous with your tweets. For instance I tend to tweet when I am going to a particular restaurant or shop to spread the love a bit. Imagine the old days when you used to go out on a Saturday night and say ‘look what I bought… you really should go to this shop/pub/restaurant’ You tell a few people, but with twitter you can tell many many more. You can also find out first hand anything you would like to know from ‘real’ people by asking twitter! If the person who sees your question can’t answer it, often it will be re-tweeted. Fast! Also, thank people who follow you and answer people if they directly mention you. Be polite. ‘They’ say you should tweet about 5 tweets of your own per day and re-tweet about the same.
When I first started on twitter, I was confused…..and my friend just said, ‘The help button is very useful’. It was! Now if I need help I just ask twitter….. but I have followers to ask!
Go tweet! It’s faster than Face Book and such a useful tool!
