Twitter has exploded in the past few years, and some businesses are building relationships with their customers by tweeting 140 characters or less. With that restriction, nobody can say he doesn’t have the time to tweet. 140 characters isn’t even enough to write two detailed sentences.
The Trick
The key to tweeting is to use pictures and link to other longer-in-length media such as a blog, Facebook, or Google+ posting.
Your Handle
When you set up your Twitter account, think about what you want your business handle to be. It does not have to be the name of your business; in fact, your business name might be too long as handle names are limited, too.
If you own a coffee shop called What’s In the Cup?, that would be too long for a twitter handle. Instead, it might be more beneficial for you to choose a catchy handle like @hotjava or @sexybeans. If you are your brand, you can use your name as your handle if it has not already been taken. @JohnSmith has most certainly be taken, so you might have to add your state or country or sector like @SCJohnSmith or @JohnSmithgolf or @JSmithgolf.
#Hashtags
What is a hashtag, you ask. Well, if you were born before 1985, you might recognize the hashtag as a number sign or the pound key on a phone. # is a hashtag, and it is placed before a tag to label it as a tag which makes it searchable. Before choosing the hashtags you want to use for your business, search some.
#Treasure Chest
When you search hashtags, you will start a domino effect. The top listing is usually that hashtag on twitter with links to other people who post about the same hashtag. This is a potential network for you because you will run out of things to say. You will also need to follow some people for a while to learn Twitter etiquette. Yes, it exists. Just Google it, and you will find tons of tips on how to tweet properly or how to use your tweets to accomplish a specific goal. Here is a great blog about How to Use Twitter for SEO: Link Building by @Daniel Lofaso
Following vs. Followers
Most of us were told not to be a follower, be a leader, right? Well, in this case it is okay to be a follower as long as you choose carefully those that you want to follow. Limit the number of people you follow because your Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ pages will very quickly fill with too much to keep up with. In other words, only follow the key players so that you have time to follow their lead. Every time you follow someone, you are linking to them, and each and every post of theirs will show up in your feed. This does not mean that people who follow you will see those whom you follow. Your public feed will only have what you post or repost or retweet.
The idea is not to win the most tweeted contest. In fact, this would probably work against you. Think quality not quantity in this arena. When you see a tweet that is so valuable to your audience, retweet it. You are saving them the trouble. However, don’t be a retweeter alone; that means you have no original thoughts of your own, and your followers will eventually drop you and start following those whom you retweet regularly.
See the Xizzee Blog for more details on how to use Twitter to market your business. While Twitter might not be for you, you might get some ideas that you can adapt to the social media platform of your choice. For more tips check out How to Use Twitter for SEO: Link Building by DANIEL LOFASO.