Most businesses understand that they need to be on Twitter for the purpose of brand recognition, but sometimes have difficulty understanding how to manage their Twitter accounts once they are up and running. Below are some helpful guidelines all business owners should follow.
1. If someone tweets a positive comment about your company, retweet it.
Retweeting a positive comment about your company is like getting free advertising and/or a free testimonial. In addition, it makes the person who originally tweeted it happy to see that they were acknowledged. This type of acknowledgement and validation leads to the follower liking your company/brand even more.
2. If someone asks you a question or writes a comment about your company, follow them.
If someone takes the time to comment on your brand when there are millions of brands out there to talk about, you should feel honored and take advantage of this rare occasion. Follow the person back. If their comment towards your company was negative, then you want to follow that person to keep an eye on what they will say next. If the comment about your company was positive, you want to create a rapport with that potential customer by following them.
3. Don’t constantly tweet about your products/services.
Customer experience is key on Twitter. No one wants to be constantly bombarded with advertising. Most of the time customers want to hear from their peers if a product is worth buying (Guideline #1). Customers want to hear from the company when there is a sale, special, or discount they can use.
4. When tweeting discounts, make sure they are exclusive to your Twitter account.
When you advertise on your website that you offer exclusive social media discounts but then send the same discount you put on Twitter in your email marketing messages, it sends consumers mixed messages. Your customers will quickly realize that they don’t need to actually follow you on Twitter to learn about exclusive discounts because they will just get them in the next email newsletter. While an email newsletter is a powerful marketing tool, it does not always create customer engagement like Twitter can. Twitter is a place for conversations while most email newsletters say “do not reply” in their return addresses.
5. Create brand fluidity.
Make sure that your Twitter account background and colors match your website or logo’s colors. This doesn’t mean that you have to create a customized Twitter background, although it helps, it just means that you want your customers to feel like they are getting the same brand experience on every page the company owns including social media pages.
6. Don’t have a disproportionate number of followers and number of people your company is following.
If your potential followers see that you don’t follow many people back, then they won’t be as willing to follow you in the first place. Twitter users want to feel wanted. If you have 300 followers but only follow 34 people, then users will think that you won’t want them. A good rule of thumb is to follow about 100 people less than you have following you. Don’t follow back spammers, but usually everyone else it ok. The only time it is ok to have a disproportionate number of followers and the number of people you follow is when you are celebrity because then it is a more widely accepted practice.
7. Check your tweets for spelling/grammar errors.
Everyone understands that sometimes spelling mistakes happen, but if these mistakes happen frequently it just makes the company look unprofessional. Avoid stupid mistakes by copying and pasting tweets into Microsoft Word before posting them.
8. Don’t disappear.
Try to tweet as consistently as possible. This means at least once a day Monday through Friday. When potential followers see that you don’t tweet very often they are less likely to follow you because they know that if you aren’t tweeting, then you aren’t adding value to their lives.
9. Don’t repeat tweets.
Some people love Twitter so much that they will read 90 percent of your tweets and these people don’t want to read the same thing twice. It is OK to discuss the same event or promotion, just make sure you are rewording the tweets that go along with it.
10. Be funky, friendly, and fabulous.
This is my personal social media motto. Have your company’s Twitter voice be funky, fabulous, and consistent, while giving off a friendly, “we’re all just hanging out” vibe. Above all, make sure you are writing engaging tweets that add value to your readers’ lives.
Twitter can be a great asset for a business owner. It can be used as a customer service management tool, create brand awareness, and generate sales but only if used correctly. As a business owner, it is extremely important to learn these guidelines because otherwise Twitter can just become a waste of time and money.
{ 3 comments... read them below or add one }
Very informative post. I agree and personally recommend the Ten Guidelines to business owners and to people who own a business and are about to venture into twitter.
THNX A LOT
"10. Be funky, friendly, and fabulous.
This is my personal social media motto. Have your company’s Twitter voice be funky, fabulous, and consistent, while giving off a friendly, “we’re all just hanging out” vibe. Above all, make sure you are writing engaging tweets that add value to your readers’ lives." - This is my personal favorite in the list! I can't wait for the list to be expanded though ^_^
Post a Comment