10 Ways to Be a Twitter All-Star

Do you tweet for business? If not, you should!

If it’s actually possible that you don’t know, there’s this social media tool known as Twitter and the messages you post are known as “tweets.” They consist of 140-character posts to which you can attach photos using companion apps.

Twitter holds its own next to social media giant, Facebook, capturing the rapt attention of over 5.5 million active users, according to recent statistics. In addition, statisticians anticipate Twitter will generate nearly $400 million in ad revenue in 2013, about $150 million MORE than in 2012. Followers who tweet on Twitter range from school-age kids to business professionals to celebrities, and people from numerous walks of life in between.

Getting the most out of Twitter for your business should be the goal of every tech-savvy business professional, knowing the reach Twitter has and the diverse captive audience it attracts.

10 Ways to Be a Twitter All-Star

Here are ten proven strategies for using Twitter to maximize your business exposure and impact. 

1. Inform potential and existing customers about your mission, purpose, and goals.

You don’t want random people visiting your business website or showing up at your brick-and-mortar establishment if they have no idea who you are, why your business exists, and what you have to offer, both now and in the future. Use Twitter to communicate your mission, purpose, and goals. Interact with followers, answer questions, keep people informed, tweet consistently, and update frequently to keep your business front and center in people’s minds.

2. Choose the right employees to post tweets.

Make sure you not only have tech-savvy employees assigned to tweet information about your business, but also those who can write well–as in, they have a solid grasp on basic grammar, correct spelling, and coherent sentence structure. You only have 140 characters to make a good impression, so make sure it’s an intelligent one! You also need employees you trust, who have sound knowledge about the business, and who have the capacity to virtually “listen” and respond to people who interact with tweets, retweets of your posts, or who send private messages inquiring about your business.

3. Be real.

Really. Let people know you are a real business, with real people employed. Use your business name as your Twitter “handle,” include profile photos and names of those employees responsible for tweeting in a strategically designed background image, and direct your tweeting employees to identify themselves when they post tweets by using this symbol, ^ , followed by their initials.

4. Attract and pursue good company.

Uphold a solid business reputation by maintaining your list of followers. Report, block, and delete people who are less than reputable or who spam your Twitter account. Keep active followers who also provide input, feedback, and mutual interest in your business. Use Twitter’s “Search” function to find other individuals and businesses that are compatible with your own, and follow them.

5. Engage your audience.

Make sure your tweets attract attention and engage your audience, and are not simply boring blocks of text among millions of text messages that people scroll through to find something more interesting. Allow your assigned tweeters to use their own voices, mix in some humor, but remain factual, professional, and appropriate for your business. Post pictures or videos that represent your business to give followers further insight into what your business is and does.

6. Respond with genuine interest.

Don’t ignore tweets or messages of inquiry. Can the canned responses. Instead, respond with genuine interest and interact with those who express interest in your business.

7. Contribute to the Twitter community.

Don’t just expect people to follow you and express interest in your business if you are not following anybody or interacting with others on your own. As mentioned in tip #4, find other individuals and businesses of interest to you and your business, follow them, interact with them, and share interesting tidbits of information.

8. Build relationships.

Yes, contributing to and interacting with the Twitter community means you strive to build relationships with those who matter to you and your business.

9. Tweet your business blog posts.

What’s that? You don’t have a business blog? Yes, you should also have an active business blog, and then use Twitter to tweet your blog posts, to attract even more prospective customers or clients to your business.

10. Buy advertising.

Twitter offers businesses the option of advertising on its prime virtual real estate. You can pay to promote your account, promote your tweets, and access analytics that let you know how your advertising efforts are working for you.