Ten steps to getting the most out of Twitter for your business

So, you’ve signed up to Twitter and to your disappointment no one is reading your tweets or responding to your brilliant insights. It’s a common complaint for many Twitter users: if you’re not already famous, no one is listening to anything you say.

So, to help you get a little more out of the platform here are some top tips to assist you with being heard.

1. Use your real name
   If you want to build a professional network and for people to take you seriously, you need to use your real name. People are much more likely to trust you and what you say if you put your real self behind everything you do.
2.  Include a bio
   Adding a short but comprehensive bio is going to help with credibility and give potential followers the information they need to confirm you are a person of interest.
   

   Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash

3. Follow the right people
   It’s fun to read tweets from John Cleese but if you’re using Twitter for business, chances are his insights aren’t going to be of much assistance. Following the right people in your industry is going to give you better access to information and sends a signal to others that your account is serious.
   Create lists of other users and make them public. Twitter Lists are a great resource for connecting with and organising industry experts. If you’ve done the work so others don’t have to, your account will be viewed as valuable to other users who will also be more likely to follow you.Find more about Twitter Lists here: https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists
   
   

   Photo by Comete El Coco on Unsplash

4. Use images and videos
   Adding a visual element to your tweets will help you stand out from the crowd. Using photos and videos, especially if it relates directly to your subject, has been shown to increase engagement by 36 per cent.
   Use your own photos where you can but, failing that, there are a large number of free stock image websites such as Unsplash, Stocksnap and Pexels. There are also some great websites out there for creating simple videos.
   
5. Use common language
   You might not know this but there are more than two billion search queries on Twitter every day, making it one of the world’s biggest search engines. Using common language that is native to your industry is going to help your tweets appear in those search results.
   

   Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash

6. Hashtags
   Hashtags are a useful way of finding content you want and getting your tweets into the conversation.
   As good as it would be to get a hashtag you made up trending across twitter, it’s a pretty unrealistic expectation. Use already established hashtags and if you really want to have your own, include it with more established ones.
   

   Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

7. Engage your audience
   It’s a two-way conversation – no point putting stuff out there if you aren’t going to engage with people who respond to your tweets.Talk to people, be polite and make friends. Thank people if they share something you’ve enjoyed or found useful. Tag people if you think an article is particularly relevant for them, and comment and respond to their posts.
   Twitter users with large and engaged followings tend to respond to individuals and enter into conversations.
8. Tweet, tweet and tweet again
   Don’t assume that one tweet is going to be seen by millions; it won’t. You need to tweet content at least three times during the day for it to reach a reasonable audience. The half-life of a tweet is 24 minutes, meaning half of all the people who will ever read it, will do so in the first half an hour.
   You can use a tool like Tweet Deck or Hootsuite to schedule your tweets which will cut down on the amount of time you spend doing this. It’s a good idea to change the text slightly so you don’t look like a robot.
   

   Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

9. Be nice!
   The basic rules of social engagement should also be applied to the online world. Be polite and respectful and set the tone for your conversations.
10. Make time
    People sometimes think just having a Twitter account is enough to build an audience. It isn’t. It takes effort, and it’s very difficult for someone who doesn’t already have a huge profile to get one without a significant investment of time.
    But don’t let that put you off. If you have something to say, or a position or opinion on areas of interest, there are fantastic opportunities to build relationships and eminence through using Twitter.

Dennis McDougall is Purple’s Social and Digital Media Co-Ordinator and has extensive experience managing real-world and digital campaigns at media outlets and in agency roles. Email Dennis

Also by Dennis McDougall:

• Nine social media platforms you may not have heard of