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Twitosphere Quick Start | Twitter For Business

 In Social Media, Twitter

Twitter Quick StartTwitter’s popularity among today’s consumers has made it one of the top online marketing solutions for small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) looking to reach those consumers.

With its low cost of operation and minimal barrier for entry, it is no wonder that research conducted by Nielsen found that 83% of business users said that they would recommend Twitter to other SMEs. To help catch your company up with the competition and begin embracing the power of Twitter, we have created the following tweetorial to walk you through the setup process for your Twitter profile. 

WHY BUSINESSES USE TWITTER 

Businesses everywhere are using Twitter to connect, listen, share, promote and drive bird-of-mouth communication. Twitter enables companies to keep a close eye on their competitors and influence conversations. It offers a real-time connection to target audiences. Moreover, it allows creative ways to raise brand awareness and become an authoritative voice online.

Twitter Business

Founded in 2006, Twitter started out as a text message service that allowed users to communicate quickly with a small group. Since then, they have evolved into a global public forum of 271 million active users in nearly every country in the world. With an average of 500 million Tweets sent every day, Twitter has quickly become a social media necessity for business.

Twitter and Market Probe International fielded a study of 500 adults who follow small and medium-sized businesses on Twitter. Here’s what they discovered:

As a user, you will be accessing Twitter through a cloud-based interface using your desktop computer, laptop or mobile device. Communication will be done in real-time using less than 140-characters, in messages called Tweets:

Tweet (n.) A Tweet may contain photos, videos, links and up to 140 characters of text.
Tweet (v.) The act of sending a Tweet. Tweets get shown in Twitter timelines or are embedded in websites and blogs.

YOUR BUSINESS ACCOUNT/PROFILE

Establishing your company’s Twitter account is easy, but there are a few terms to know, details to iron out and items to gather in order to get set up for success on Twitter.

For the sake of this article, we will assume that you will be setting up a business Twitter account.

Your Twitter account and profile will serve as an entry point to your audience. Every element of your profile — your username, profile photo, header photo, profile bio and tweets should reflect your brand identity and help bring your best content front and center.

Twitter Business Account- Your account represents your company as a whole, so it should be branded accordingly. Use a company logo as your profile photo, company information for the profile bio and company name for Username /Twitter handle.

Twitter signup

Profile- Within your account is your Twitter profile. Your profile (along with your @username) is your company’s identify on Twitter. The information that you provide speaks for your company as a whole, so it is really important to get it right. Your profile includes username, company name, bio, location, website, profile photo, header photo, theme color and all of your tweets.

ANATOMY OF THE BUSINESS PROFILE

 

ANATOMY OF THE TWITTER  BUSINESS PROFILE

Header Photo- Recommended header photo size is 1500 x 500 pixels. Image is automatically resized to ?t those dimensions. Note that the header photo is cropped to a 2:1 aspect ratio on mobile.

Profile Photo- This is the icon that will appear on your Twitter profile as well as next to all of your Tweets. Choose a profile photo that visually represents your brand, most likely this will be your company logo. Maximum size is 400 x 400 pixels. Twitter will resize to ?t as needed. Keep your branding consistent across all your social channels by using your Twitter profile photo also on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+…

TWITTER USERNAME ATMARKUsername- Usernames must be fewer than 15 characters in length. This name will form the URL of your Twitter profile page. It is the name that Tweeps will use when sending you @replies, mentions, and direct messages. When choosing your username, it is very likely that the exact name that you want is already taken, so try to think of some alternatives beforehand.  Otherwise, Twitter will offer some suggestions that can be used instead. You can recognize a username by the @ symbol immediately in front of the name. For instance, OpenMoves is @openmoves.

Profile Bio- Up to 160 characters. Your bio describes your company and mission. It is displayed on your pro?le header under your name and username. Choose these words carefully and make it key-word rich. Potential customers and/or followers will decide if they like you or not based on this description, so add some personality too.

Finally as you near the end of your profile setup, Twitter will ask you to choose several Twitter accounts that you would like to “follow”.

TWITTER FOLLOWFollow (v.)-  Subscribing to a Twitter account is called “following.” By following an account, you authorize their tweets to appear in your Twitter home stream. Start with the people closest to you such as employees, customers, suppliers, manufacturers and support. The charm of Twitter is that you can gather an audience to follow you, as well as gain valuable information from the people you follow. Make sure to include @OpenMoves on your list.

CREATE-TWITTER-ACCOUNTNow you are ready. Go ahead and create your Twitter account.

READY, SET, TWEEE…NOT SO FAST

Before you send that first tweet, there’s still some Twitter lingo you need to learn.

Twitter hashtagHashtag- With millions of Tweets flying back and forth each day how can anyone keep track? This is what a hashtag or (#) is for. Think of the “#” as a file cabinet. Using a hashtag (#) in your tweets, is a great way to extend the reach of your tweets and have it seen by people who  are not currently following you.

Mention (v., n.)- A mention is any Twitter update that contains “@username” anywhere in the body of the Tweet. Twitter collects these messages, as well as all @replies, in the Mentions tab on the notifications page. If you include more than one person’s name in your Tweet and you use the @username format, all of those people will see the Tweet in their Mentions tab.

Reply- A response to another user’s Tweet that begins with the @username of the person you’re replying to is known as a reply. Reply by clicking the “reply” button next to the Tweet you’d like to respond to.

RETWEETRetweet (n.), RT- A Tweet that you forward to your followers is known as a Retweet. Often used to pass along news or other valuable discoveries on Twitter, retweets always retain original attribution.

Retweet (v.)- The act of sharing another user’s Tweet to all of your followers by clicking on the retweet button.

Timeline- A timeline is a real-time stream of Tweets. Your Twitter home stream is where you see all the Tweets shared by your friends and other people you follow.

Direct Message- The Direct Message feature is a private exchange between two users that mutually follow each other. Direct messages are useful for continuing a conversation off the Twitter feed. They also adhere to the 140 character limit.

TWITTER ETIQUETTE

Twerminology

In order to build a community and following, you will want to have a plan. Make time in your day to see what others are talking about and see how you can get into the mix. Remember, this is a community building tool, so you have to be an active listener to make this communication work e?ectively.

Use existing information (other people’s Tweets) on Twitter to ?nd your voice and show others what you care about. Retweet messages you’ve found and love, or @reply with your reaction to a Tweet you ?nd interesting.

LESS IS MORE

anatomy of a tweet

Tweets are limited to 140 characters. This may seem like a generous number now, but when you have a lengthy message, you wish to convey you will be forced to edit your words. Don’t get frustrated. Sometimes less is more. Your crafty use of words along with a few seconds is often all you have to capture someone’s attention. Try only to use 120-125 characters for your message, in order to leave room for links, mentions, photo links and retweets. Conserve space in your message by removing non-essential words and using contractions like “&” “@” in place of “and” and “at”.

Space your tweets out so that you do not bombard your followers with an avalanche of messages all at the same time. Keep in mind that they are already following you so you do not need to continue to sell your product to them or introduce yourself. If the Internet is the information superhighway, then Twitter is the connection freeway. So be a courteous driver and obey the speed limits.

TWITTER LISTS

Lists are a useful way to organize what you view in the Twitter home stream. To view a list or create a list, go to the gear icon and click to select lists. Click on the Create a new list tab and create a list name and description. You can make your list public or private. You can search for members to add to your list, or while you are browsing your home stream you can add a user to your list by clicking on their pro?le, selecting the gear icon and choose add or remove from list.

For more Social Media resources visit:

Glossary Of Twerminology | Twitter For Business
Anatomy Of A Tweet | Twitter For Business
Social Marketing from the Inside Out
Don’t Use Social Media | FREE Email & Social Checklist
Listen Up! | FREE Social Media Listening Checklist
9-Step Social Media Plan For Marketers and Business Owners
10 Steps to Power-Up Your LinkedIn Profile
Social Media Survival Essentials for Your Company

And remember, our team is always available if you have any questions or need help getting started. Our support center is available 24/7.

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