Once you have your Facebook Page set up, the next social media platform you should tackle is Twitter. The platform is great for instant feedback and quick pieces of information. The problem with Twitter is that you are attempting to get your voice heard among millions of other people.
Just like Facebook, do not buy followers. They are useless (mainly bots) and serve only to inflate numbers. Rather than having tons of spam accounts follow you, it’s better to curate your followers and those you follow within your specific industry.
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Since Twitter has been around for so long, there are many communities within Twitter that are passionate about every subject. You should locate them and introduce yourself and the company. This group of users could be your beta testers who are knowledgeable and can offer valualbe feedback.
Setup Your Twitter Profile
Ideally your username will be identical to your company. If you can’t get the exact name, adding a sub word can still give your account an unique presence. It’s best to focus on the product name rather than the company name, though there’s nothing stopping you from making both a company Twitter and product Twitter account.
Profile info should be short. Focus on your product and its single most important feature. Don’t feel like you need to explain everything in the small profile bio space because you have a maximum of 160 characters. Be sure to add your location and website URL.
Your Profile photo should be the same as your Facebook account. Making a single profile photo with the different recommended sizes is the way to go. The Profile photo is 400×400 pixels and the Header photo is 1500×500 pixels. Again, like Facebook make sure the header image is focused on the product. But don’t use identical cover and header images for both social networks. This is where you can show off different angles of your product.
Share Your Content
Twitter’s 140 character limit has relaxed over time. Now photos, videos, GIFs, polls, and quoted Tweets don’t count towards your limit. This gives you a lot more freedom for what you can share.
Say more about what’s happening! Rolling out now: photos, videos, GIFs, polls, and Quote Tweets no longer count toward your 140 characters. pic.twitter.com/I9pUC0NdZC
— Twitter (@twitter) September 19, 2016
Since you’ve established your social media voice already, it’s now time to decide how to communicate on Twitter. You should be posting Tweets of company blog content at the very least. If you’re looking to track clicks, it’s easy to use a URL shortener like Bit.ly or through one of the paid social media services like Sprout Social. You can share the short link and see where clicks are coming from.
This is more important for big campaign updates, but you will also be able to see traffic growth over time.
Other content you can share are relevant photos, either product updates or team photos to give a look at the company. External content is good filler for your timeline. Articles from interesting news sites, product reviews, or fun throwaway content is great to share as you build your followers.
You shouldn’t only stick to promoting your own content and use @mentions to attract other users and Retweets or Quoting Tweets that your audience will find compelling. As you follow more accounts, the content in the main feed will start scrolling like a waterfall and it will become more difficult to follow every conversation.
Create lists of your favorite users to keep up with their specific Tweets. This will help filter out the noise from information that you want to know.
Watch Your Followers
As you work on building your account, you should watch who follows you. There’s no big reason to worry about your followers because they won’t show up in your feed unless you follow them back. But you should always try to ensure that your followers aren’t spam accounts. It looks a lot more professional if all of your followers are real rather than spambots without a profile or cover image and follow over one hundred thousand people with no Tweets.
Build Influence in Your Industry
Since you’ll be using Twitter daily, start opening a dialogue with your followers by posting interesting content and engaging with the general Twittersphere. Soon, your follower count will rise organically.
When your audience is sufficiently big, you’ll need to start converting them from passive readers to becoming a strong community. These early adopters can be a great promotional voice even before your campaign starts.
But your influence will all depend on how engaged you are with your audience. If you simply speak at and not engnage your followers, they will move on. Many of them will probably unfollow you. If you think that sending one Tweet a day is enough, then you’re already behind.
Be Human
You’re inevitably going to receive a lot of spam on your Twitter account. This is an issue that continues to plague Twitter, but the important thing is to focus on your audience and community. Communication is key to Twitter success. Feel free to report accounts that spam you, mute and block them if they become overbearing, and know that your success will be measured by the followers that engage with you.
When your campaign begins, you’re going to be able to start selling your product to your followers. With the time you’ve put into developing your Twitter account, your followers should help you promote your product because you have established trust and created a strong brand. But if you’ve only started your profile a month or so ahead of launch, Twitter won’t help you. You’re going to end up spamming random people in the small hope that they click a link to check out your campaign. Adequate time for preparation is paramount to your success on Twitter.
Checklist: Setting up your Twitter Profile
- Pick a relevant username
- Use appropriate profile and header photos
- Share your content
- Share other content that’s relevant to your community
- Keep an eye on who follows you
- Become an influencer in your industry
- Create an engaged community that will help promote your campaign
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