A step-by-step guide to promoting your business using Twitter
Want to join them? Then take these five steps:
1. Learn the lingo
Twitter has a language of its own:
Read More- Tweet – a public message
- DM (direct message) – a private message between two people
- Follow – when you ‘subscribe’ to another user’s messages
- Unfollow – when you unsubscribe from another user’s messages
- Handle – your username on Twitter
- Hashtag (#) – how keywords are identified
- Lists – a way you can compile a collection of handles
- RT (retweet) – when you forward someone’s tweet to your own followers
- Search – how you find hashtags and handles
- Timeline – a list of tweets from people you follow
2. Create your Twitter profile
First, choose the right Twitter handle, which is your username. You can use your own name, the name of your business (like @Hunterandscribe) or, if your name is taken, you could be creative and combine it, for example, @Annebuyeragent (Anne buyer’s agent).
Read MoreNext, create a bio that best describes your business. This is the short description that will appear at the top of your page. It should fully describe your business as concisely as possible. (Yes, this sounds like a contradiction, but talk to us at Hunter & Scribe; we can help you with that.)
For example, if you’re a real estate agent you could write: “Real estate agent specialising in high-end luxury units in Sydney, Australia.” (Why include Australia? Because Twitter is not region-locked, and there are seven places in the world named Sydney.)
Upload an image that will appear at the top of the page. This could be a group photo, your logo or an image of the services you offer. For example, if you’re a financial adviser, you could show an image of the stock market.
3. Look for followers and follow people
Once your profile is created, you can introduce yourself by sending your first tweet. But unless you have followers, nobody will read it.
So write a few helpful tweets, then let your clients know you’re now on Twitter and ask them to follow you. A quick way of doing that is to follow them first. Another way is to announce it in your newsletter.
Read MoreNeed helpful tweets? Hunter & Scribe can fit meaningful information into Twitter’s 280-character limit.
Many people will also automatically follow you back as a courtesy if you follow them first. (But they might not read your tweets.)
You should avoid buying followers, because having 4,000 fake followers can destroy your credibility faster than having only four real followers.
You should also publish your Twitter handle on your website and other social media pages.
4. Start tweeting
Twitter’s 280-character limit, which includes spaces, requires you to be concise. When you tweet something, remember that your clients are more likely to share tweets that solve problems, answer questions or deliver inspiration.
You can also use Twitter to tease content that’s on your website. For example:
- An accountant could tweet: “I’ve just updated my blog with five new tax tips. Read it here.”
- A real estate agent could tweet: “Your dream home is now for sale. Click here for more information.” (The agent could also include an image of the home.)
You can also use Twitter to increase your brand awareness:
- A lender could tweet about the latest cash rate increase and include a link to a blog explaining how the cash rate affects mortgage rates
- A buyer’s agent could retweet a real estate agent’s latest listing or comment on the post A mortgage broker could retweet a financial magazine’s tweet and comment on the post
You could also differentiate yourself by posting a positive or inspirational message every morning to entice more people to follow you and interact with your posts. You can outsource writing tweets to Hunter & Scribe. We can write and schedule posts for you. We can also write the blogs and articles you need for your website.