@TWITTER: #BESTPRACTICES

Twitter has quickly become a staple communication channel for businesses and brands, and as a result there is no shortage of literature on how to use it successfully. Twitter itself has even compiled a best practices list for businesses.  Like snowflakes, no two best practices lists are ever the same.

The most important thing to remember is that the most successful people on Twitter are having a conversation. If you are looking to simply push a message, this probably isn’t the medium for you.

The best realtime conversations on Twitter happen when you are listening and also asking the right questions. It’s important to be genuine and respectful of people’s time.

In this post we look at five ways to put your best foot, or rather tweet, forward on Twitter.

  1. Fish where the fish are: The first step in getting involved on Twitter is making sure your intended audience is also on Twitter. If you are trying to reach specific media or customers, be sure they also have a Twitter account. It could be email or another form of social media is a better time investment for you and your company.

  3. Get smart about your audience: Once you determine the audience you are trying to reach is on Twitter, get to know them by following them. We’ve found the easiest way to find someone’s Twitter handle is simply to Google their name ‘and’ Twitter. Typically this is a bit faster than the search option on Twitter as the system is often at capacity and can run slowly at times.  It also allows you to add in qualifiers such as the person’s professional affiliation, i.e. : The Wall Street Journal or a particular analyst firm.

  5. Build lists: Building lists is the easiest way to stay organized with those you are following on Twitter. For example, we have compiled a top-tier outlet list, a reporter list, and a client list consisting of handles that fall into those respective categories. Although we would suggest making your own lists consisting of those people you already are following, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. There is no shortage of public lists that have been created by others and can be followed by anybody. Effectively organizing who you are following will ultimately make it easier to keep up with what is happening in specific circles and keep you informed on the discussion.

  7. Be visible by being active in the conversation: Sparking interesting conversation and contributing valued insights is key to establishing a large following. Using @mentions, #tags, and re-tweets effectively is a great way to engage larger audiences in conversations. Inclusion of your posts in popular threads monitored by your audience will dramatically increase your following and influence.  It is important to know what trends are relevant to your target audience.  As always, make sure you do your research.

The more creative you can get to engage your followers the better. People like to feel involved, in the loop, and on the inside track.   Twitter is an excellent way to do so.   Some suggestions include: 

  • Posting news items that will only be shared on Twitter
  • Asking questions for your followers to respond to
  • Experimenting with video and photos
  • Implementing Twitter-only contests
  • Host tweet-ups
  1. Stay consistent: There is no set rule on how often to tweet, but you should try to stay consistent and authentic. For companies or teams with limited resources and times it’s wise to grant multiple people access to the account so they can all contribute and take the pressure off one individual.  In addition, tools like Tweet Deck and Hootsuite allow you to schedule tweets in advance. Scheduling tweets and re-tweets for the day will allow you to maintain a consistent stream and ultimately help your following and influence as you aren’t hitting them with a deluge of information. It can be dispersed and digested over time.

In addition to our list here you can also check out these resources:

***Follow Point-Bl_nk on Twitter @PointblankPR

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