How's your tweet-appeal? These days, a company's Twitter account needs to pack a punch.
Twitter is a powerful marketing tool. I have been using my personal account for about 8 months now. I do use it mainly to post bitesize snippets about my day (if anyone is interested!) but I have also used its magic networking properties to search for jobs and internships online. I have, on occasion been successful, in that Twitter has provided me with a link or a 'heads up' which ordinarily would have fallen under my radar. Whether you're using your personal account or your company's, taking time to consider the people you want to follow will really optimise your Twitter network.
There are a few specific pointers to consider when tweeting for a company or a business. The basics are a good place to begin:
1. Do your employees all understand the essence of Twitter?
2. Do they understand the benefits of Tweeting for the company?
3. Do employees have their own personal Twitter handle?
4. Do they understand the significance of 'Re-tweet' or 'RTs', what it does and how it works?
When tweeting for a business, it can be useful to download one of the various free programs which help users navigate multiple Twitter feeds. Tweetdeck and Hootsuite are two of the most comprehensive. They display multiple Twitter feeds, Direct Messages and Mentions in easy-to-interpret columns, all on one page.
Remember, your tweets and public and your retweets are very public. There is no telling how far an RT will travel across cyber space. Always consider the content you're going to post.
Hashtags are a wonderful thing, when used properly. They give you access to an on-going online converstaion about the subject you're tweeting about. If you need a question answering or perhaps your company is looking for a new recruit, applying an appropriate hashtag automatically generates a specific audience for your tweet. The hashtag function creates a mini link and when selected, the Twitter user is then transported to a list of tweets which other users have tagged in the same way.
One last tip which will hopefully help you maxmise on useful followers is a little hashtag called Follow Friday, or #ff as it commonly appears. This is basically a little tweet which shows the people you have recently followed. Use the @ sign to link in the names and finish the tweet with #ff. In doing this, the person you follow will be notified twice (via 'followers' list and via 'mentions') that you're watching their tweets. The benefit of this is that a company or a person often follow you back, if their interested in what you have to say.
So, there we go, a brief little guide for maxing your tweet-potential. Go forth and tweet from the twee-tops.