Grow your Twitter network

Baffled by Twitter? We’re here to help. The sheer size and variety of Twitter may mean you struggle to know where to begin as a brand until you know how it works - and how it can work for you and your business.

Businesses who can tap into this constant flow of conversation that Twitter brings will find that their brand exposure can increase massively in a relatively short amount of time. But what are the dos and do not dos of using Twitter effectively?

1. Keep your Bio relevant and current

First things first, if you are using Twitter and your Bio isn’t up to scratch you’re not going to get anywhere. Keep the text short, to the point and make sure there are links to your website or anything else you wish to promote. In terms of the image, if you are still the simple shadow silhouette you are screaming out not to be followed! So always change the image to one which you feels represents your company at its best e.g. your logo.

2. Follow people in your field

Obviously Twitter at its heart is a communication tool, please use it to expand your network of business contacts. Following big names in your field or smaller, more local companies relevant to you is going to increase your brand awareness and make you more authoritative. This is especially true if you have interesting or insightful things to tweet of course!

3. Tweet wisely, young apprentice

Now to the tweets! In this regard variety is the key. Tweeting obvious sales pitches with a link on the end will not get you as far as if you include a mix of photos and videos as well as text. Remember you are not writing for robots, you are writing for people, so act like one yourself! Make yourself human by engaging with your followers and answering their queries, it is a great way to build an audience.

4. Use hashtags for their original use

Now you may be aware of ‘hashtags’ without actually knowing what they are intended for. Initially hashtags were introduced as a way to tag and link conversations that were going on beyond your network of Twitter followers. However, you will find a lot of people these days will tweet their own unique hashtag which serves no purpose apart from being a bit of a laugh. To use an example close to home, nobody is going to use the #davidenglishlovesit to search and indeed, nobody did. So, in your business, remember to put a hashtag relevant to your work on your tweet as a way to encourage conversation, perhaps from an unlikely source. You can discover relevant hashtags through tools such as RiteTag.

5. Cross promote with your website/blog

Make sure your Twitter profile is seen! On your site you should have links to your Twitter page which are clearly seen and easily accessible. You can also use the content within your site to gain attention from industry colleagues. If you have used a particular product or are reviewing them, send them a quick tweet with a link and this may get retweeted and again shared to a wider network.

Obviously these tips provide the basics in using Twitter effectively, although it is also true to say that there are a lot of brands out there that don’t know the basics. Getting your Twitter campaign off on a strong footing can give you a boost ahead of your competitors who aren’t aware or do not understand its potential. Then, once your Twitter following has grown enough, you can more closely engage with your followers to ask what they want and engage in the best form of market research.

Twitter’s sheer size and popularity can be a little intimidating to those businesses looking to get involved. However, these handy tips will give you a solid base for you to start your Twitter experience in the right fashion and begin building networks.

Make sure you as a business are as effective on Twitter as you possibly can be with this five point guide to starting an account.