TDG Social Media

Here’s a quick overview and a checklist of everything your business needs to do to get a good start on Twitter.

About Twitter

Twitter is a short message communication tool that allows you to send out tweets (messages) up to 140 characters long to people who follow you.

Your tweets can include a link to any web content (blog post, website page, PDF document, etc.) or a photograph or video. Adding an image to a tweet greatly expands what you can share to beyond the 140-character limit for tweets.

People follow your Twitter account, and you follow other people. This allows you to read, reply to and easily share their tweets with your followers (retweet).

Twitter falls into the category of microblogging tools because of the short, disconnected messages it distributes.

Twitter shares some features with the most common social media tools Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube. However, the differences really define Twitter.

• A tweet is like a short Facebook status update. However, with Twitter, every tweet arrives at every follower’s feed, unlike the filter of Facebook’s EdgeRank.
• Twitter allows you to share photographs and provide commentary in your tweet. However, with Twitter, it’s much easier to have conversation around a shared image than with the comment feature on Pinterest.
• A tweet is like a short LinkedIn status update. While LinkedIn is based on trust relationships (and two-way agreements), Twitter allows you to follow anyone, including strangers. This is helpful when you target potential customers.
• A tweet is like a short Google+ status update. Twitter also allows you to organize people into lists that organize conversations similar to Google+ groups.
• A tweet can contain a link to a video. However, Twitter doesn’t allow you to create a channel or organize your videos for easy location and commentary like on YouTube.

Step #1: Present Your Brand

Your Twitter account and profile are the foundation of your Twitter experience. It’s your chance to tell your business story to the Twitter community.

It is important that your Twitter presence have the same look and feel as your other online tools. This helps people identify your business and builds trust. Choose an account name and images consistent with your other online presences and your brand.

Step #2: Build a Strong Foundation

It’s important that you complete your Twitter account profile completely. Each feature gives more details about your business that contribute to your business story.

Don’t miss these three important features under Profile in your account settings.

• Location. Tell people where they can find you.
• Website. You can share a web address with your community.
• Bio. You only get 160 characters to tell people who you are and what you do.  Skip the mission statement and talk about the benefits you deliver. Add in a little personality to bring your profile to life.

 Step #3: Start Following People

When you follow another Twitter user, you subscribe to read what they share, so be selective about whom you follow.

One simple way to follow new people is to locate their profile and click the Follow button.

Your Twitter experience is defined by whom you follow, not by who follows you. Pay attention to your follow choices to give yourself a great Twitter experience.

In general, start following people in these categories:

• Your customers
• Your business partners, suppliers, contractors and vendors
• Your competitors or peers
• Trade organizations or professional organizations for      your industry
• Businesses in your neighborhood
• Businesses run by people you know (your professional network)

Twitter can help you find people you know by scanning your email address book.

While you are out following people, you may notice that people are starting to follow you. Don’t worry if you don’t know these people. Stay focused on whom you follow for now.

Step #4: Start Talking

Talking on Twitter is different from every other social media site. It’s a fast-paced mix of ideas and sentence fragments. It’s hectic, but it’s also fun.

In general, there are five types of Twitter messages:

1. Tweet: a message you send out to everyone who follows you. This is the heart of Twitter communication.
2. @Reply: a message you send out as a reply to a message you received. The @reply is a public message that mentions the Twitter username of the person. It shows up in the tweet stream of everyone who follows both of you, and on the @connect (mentions) page of the Twitter user.
3. Mention: a message you send out that mentions another Twitter username.
4. Direct message (DM): a message you send privately to another Twitter user.  You can only send a DM to someone who follows you.
5. Retweet (RT): a message created and sent by someone      else that you share with the people who follow you. Twitter makes it easy to share tweets.

Now, what should you talk about on Twitter?

For every business, the answer is different. In general, you want to find the balance between what your target audience wants to hear and things that promote your business. For many businesses, the answer is to focus on how your products and services benefit your customers.

Give people useful information and answer their questions, and they will consider you a valuable member of their community. That’s an important first step to winning a new customer.

Step #5: Drive Traffic to Your Website and Blog & Connect Your Online Presence

Twitter is a great tool for driving traffic to your website and blog. To do this, you create a tweet around a link, writing a message that compels people to click to learn more.

Because space is at a premium in a tweet, there isn’t room to post the entire web address. That’s why all of the Twitter tools allow you to shorten your web addresses using a URL shortener.

Integrate Twitter it into your overall online business presence.

There are three ways to do this:

1. Add your Twitter account information to the social media account information on your website and blog.
2. Add a timeline of your Twitter messages to your website and blog.
3. Make it easy for people to share your website and blog content on Twitter. There are several ways you can add a Tweet This button to your blog posts and website pages, including a tweet button from Twitter.

Step #6: Get Mobile With Twitter

Nearly every cell phone can connect you with your Twitter audience.

• Smartphones (iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry) allow you to use the Twitter app and Twitter mobile website to easily send and receive tweets.
• Non-smartphones with texting service (SMS) allow you to use Twitter using text messages.

Twitter allows you to set up push notifications to your smartphone so you know when selected activities happen on Twitter:

• People mention you
• Someone retweets or favorites a tweet you sent
• You get a new follower
• Someone sends you a direct message

With Twitter, a speedy response is best, and push notifications make it easy for you to know when things are happening for you on Twitter.

Step #7: Organize Your Followers With Conversation Lists

As you follow more people, it can be challenging to focus on the information coming from specific people and groups. That’s where Twitter lists come in.

A Twitter list allows you to separate the Twitter accounts you follow into groups. You might create separate lists for:

• Customers
• Potential customers
• Neighborhood or community businesses
• Trade or professional organizations
• People who inspire you
• People you talk with the most

A list allows you to see the tweets from the list members as a separate Twitter timeline. This distinguishes them from the crowd so you can pay attention to what these people say. You can also share tweets from a list on your website using a widget (explained in this article).

You can add any person to your lists, even if you don’t follow him or her.

Step #8: Expand Your Audience With Hashtags

Most people’s Twitter experience is limited to the people they follow. It’s always a good idea to keep looking for new, fresh voices to follow to keep expanding your online conversations.

There are two great ways to expand your Twitter audience beyond your circle.

Hashtags appear in tweets to identify a common topic or theme. They use the pound (or hash) sign followed by a unique identifier.

Scroll through your timeline to spot tweets with a hashtag.

When you see a tweet with a hashtag, click on the hashtag to see a list of all tweets that include the same hashtag. You will see tweets from people you do not follow.

You can create a hashtag unique for your business and use it in your marketing to help people find your company and the conversations around it.

Step #9: Find Potential Local Customers

People often think that social media allows you to connect with people outside of your local geography. And while that is true, one of the great strengths of Twitter is the ability to focus on people in your local area.

Most businesses need local customers. You can use Twitter to help you find potential customers who live and work near your business. Use Twitter Advanced Search to find people near your location.

Use the Advanced Search feature to find people by city and zip code.

Use this tweet timeline to find people who may be potential customers. You can follow them or add them to a potential local customer list. It’s the first step to engaging them in conversation.