Twitter is the second most popular social media platform out there. The platform has an estimated 288 million active monthly visitors while 500 million tweets are sent daily, so it’s definitely worthwhile investing the time in setting up an account as part of your social media marketing strategy.
The Basics of Twitter
Twitter is a platform designed to encourage users to share news, thoughts, ideas and information in 140 characters or less. With Twitter, you can send and receive information to all corners of the globe instantaneously, while all profiles are accessible to the public unless you make your profile private.
There are some basic terms used across the Twitter site, including:
Retweet: To re-share or give credit to another person’s tweet
Handle: Your username
Hashtag: A hashtag (#) gives you the chance to refer to a specific topic discussion or conversation. By using a hashtag, people can click on the hashtag to be taken to other tweets that mention it from other Twitter users.
Mention: A mention is when you reference another person by his or her username in your tweet. That user will receive a notification when you mention them.
Setting up a Twitter Account
The first step in setting up a Twitter account is to create a handle! This will appear on your profile, along with your actual name, and is how people will see you. You should also add a profile picture and short bio of yourself to introduce yourself to others.
Following Others
The next step is to begin following others. Begin with following friends and people that you know. Expand your following by exploring the people that your friends are following. Over time, Twitter will give you good suggestions of people to follow. You can add and remove people that you follow as often as you like.
Join the Conversation
Finally, it’s time to join the conversation! Before writing your first tweet, begin by commenting on another person’s tweet, using the ‘@’ symbol before that person’s feature. From here, you can craft your first tweet which will hopefully get a conversation going!
Twitter also enables you to retweet another person’s tweet if this was something that you found particularly interesting or enjoyable. Simply hit the ‘retweet’ button or comment on the tweet before retweeting it.
Crafting your Twitter Voice
When using Twitter as part of your social media marketing strategy it’s essential that you maintain the same brand voice that you use across your blogs and other social media platforms, otherwise users will not perceive you as a genuine or trustworthy brand.
By being authentic and honest, you will quickly build up a large Twitter following which will enable you to gradually promote your business and improve you bottom line.
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