Guide to Using Twitter for Social Media Marketing

Is your business using Twitter for social media marketing? Larger social networking sites like Facebook tend to get all of the love from marketers, however, Twitter is a fantastic vehicle to spread the good news about your company! Many business owners don’t know where to begin once they set up a Twitter profile and the site frequently rolls out new features. Read on for the ultimate guide to using Twitter for social media marketing, in addition to some new changes the site has in store for 2016.

Guide to Using Twitter for Social Media Marketing: New Changes in 2016 and More

Twitter isn’t used nearly as widely as Facebook, but the fast-paced social network has a ton of users, nearly 19 percent of the entire adult population. It is most popular among people who hold a college degree and are under the age of 50. It’ also important to note Twitter houses more male users than female; 22 percent of men frequent the site, while only 15 percent of women are active users. Noting Twitter’s demographics can help you tailor targeted, successful social media marketing campaigns.

Why Use Twitter for Social Media Marketing?

If you aren’t currently taking advantage of this social network, there are several reasons to do so. Taking the extra time to form a meaningful presence online can not only boost your SEO, but allow you to reach a new audience that may not be on sites like Facebook. Instead of sending press releases each time you have exciting company news to share, you’ll be able to post live updates and get your team members involved with your social media presence.

Twitter also offers you a valuable resource for starting conversations: hashtags. Create new ones unique to your business or centered around events to monitor the conversations that occur. While hashtags are publically available, so you can’t necessarily define their meaning and anyone can use them (remember when the #BrusselsLockdown hashtag was taken over by pictures of cats?), be careful not to use a hashtag that a competitor within your industry has trademarked, or you may be violating copyright laws.

Twitter’s New Changes in 2016

Twitter can be a great tool for your business’ social media marketing efforts, but it’s also important to stay on top of recent changes that may affect your strategy. PR Daily recently shared a great article on the subject; here are some differences to expect in 2016.

• Longer Updates: This may be the year Twitter loses its brevity. Those frustrated with Twitter’s 140 character count limit will be happy to hear the social media site plans to increase this to 10,000 in 2016. This move is likely related to users frequently tweeting screenshots of longer text and a push toward LinkedIn’s long-form post-style of engaging with its users; marketers looking to spread longer messages about their products and services can rejoice. This move marks the opportunity for Twitter to turn into more of a “public blogging forum,” which could be great for those looking for other avenues to share industry insight other than a business blog (which you should still keep updated!)
• Camera Feature: Are you using a fringe social network like Snapchat for your company? While these less-trafficked sites provide excellent benefits for social media marketing, Twitter will be making a big change in 2016 so you can tweet pictures right on the site. This feature is currently only available to select celebrities like Miley Cyrus, but soon you’ll also be snapping your way to widespread brand recognition.
• Conversational, Tweetable Ads: A new way Twitter is looking to help marketers engage with their fans is through conversational, tweetable ads. Posed as a question or a poll, the ads allow consumers to respond with a tweet to their followers. This is great if you’re looking to increase fan engagement.
• Questions and Answers: Another fringe social network, Quora, uses questions and answers to spread knowledge. Marketers can take advantage of this by establishing their brand as an industry leader; luckily this feature is soon coming to Twitter! You’ll be able to answer questions to show your expertise and pose queries to show customers you are interested in their ideas.
• Twitter Polls: Social media marketing is all about engaging with your audience and calling them to take action, whether it is spreading your message, purchasing your product or picking up the phone for more information. Twitter’s new poll features are the perfect way to elicit engagement from your audience and get a feel for their responses. Although the feature debuted late last year with only two options for answers, longer polls with more sections for responses will soon be a reality.
• Twitter for Mac: Twitter is rolling out a new update that will make it easy for marketers to manage social campaigns in addition to supporting GIFs and videos on OSX.
• Anti-Harassment Campaigns: This year, Twitter is cracking down on bullying and harassment by revising its terms of service and adding employees to police unsavory behavior. This may decrease the instances of false or spam accounts, increasing the likelihood of genuine user engagement.

Getting on Twitter: How to Write a Great Business Bio

Once you get set up on Twitter, your business profile starts with one thing: a fantastic and memorable biography. You only have a small amount of space (160 characters) so include only the most relevant information. According to the Social Media Marketing Examiner, it’s important to start with a solid foundation, so make sure to fill out all portions of your business’ page.

To boost your page’s SEO, include keywords and phrases that would be easily searchable by fans and customers. Add your website, showcase your employees’ handles and feel free to add a bit of your unique flair and personality. For a few examples, see this list of great Twitter business bios.

4 Tips for Using Twitter for Social Media Marketing

Now that you know the benefits of using Twitter for social media marketing and having a great bio on the site, here are four tips and tricks so your business can succeed.

1. Pay Attention to Limits

While Twitter plans to increase its character count limit on tweets, there are several other limits to be aware of in order for your social media marketing efforts to soar.

• Follower Limits: Each account is allowed to follow 2,000 users, then after that, “a small percentage” more than the number of followers they have.
• Tweet Limits: Each account can only send 1,000 tweets per day (though we don’t recommend nearly that many!)
• API Limits: Each account can only perform 100 API calls per hour. Each click or view that requires you to communicate with the platform counts as one API call.
• Direct Message Limits: Accounts can send up to 250 outgoing messages each day.
• Direct Message Character Limits: Direct messages are limited to 10,000 characters.

2. Make it Personal

Personalize each message you share; if you re-tweet an update, be sure to hit reply and add your own thoughts. Fans want to see your brand as a friend; this can help you gain customer advocates.

According to Moz, “Advocacy is the nirvana of social media, and it is through advocacy that your efforts start to truly scale and grow. It shows that your brand is doing such an amazing job that your customers shout about your brand from rooftops, sharing their opinions and experiences with their networks.”

As you can see, your loyal following can do wonders for spreading your message, so make sure you’ve made personal connections and built a strong network of followers.

3. Provide Value to Your Customers

Twitter users aren’t likely to follow a company that isn’t providing a benefit to them, whether it’s entertainment, coupons, interesting news or contests. It’s important to always ask yourself, “What value am I providing to my audience?” each time you click publish, so you are sharing only interesting and beneficial updates. It’s a good idea to follow the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the updates you share should be non-self-promotional, while 20 percent of your content can be.

4. Reach Out

Part of successful social media engagement is reaching out often to your customers and fans through re-tweets and ‘likes,’ but you should also ask for feedback. Use Twitter’s new poll feature to ask meaningful questions and gain insight into your customers’ habits and frame of mind. A good best practice is to spend some time on your page each day re-tweeting and replying to other industry leaders.

Another way to reach out is through customer service. Twitter is a great tool for fielding customer service questions, comments and complaints. Take a lesson from Nike; their @NikeSupport handle does a great job of addressing customer interactions individually.

Knowing the limits of Twitter, personalizing your message, providing valuable advice and offers to customers, and reaching out for feedback can all help your business establish a solid presence.

If you’d like to learn more about how Twitter can aid your social media marketing efforts, you won’t want to miss these additional articles:

Twitter Followers: How to Lose Them in 10 Days

Twitter Symbols: Say Goodbye to @

A Corporate Event: How to Use Twitter During It

Twitter Following: Is Yours the Right Fit?

Make it Personal: 6 Ways to Put a Face Behind Twitter

As you may have gathered, Twitter offers many dynamic options and new features that will help social media marketers spread their message to a wider audience. If you’re looking for tips on getting the most out of this platform, or you’d like to get started, we would love to help! Contact our experienced team today for a free 30-minute consultation on getting the most out of social media marketing.

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