5 Ways to Boost your Business Twitter Account

In the modern world of social networking there are more and more ‘voices’ shouting to be heard, with an ever increasing number of platforms to shout from. Twitter, however, remains the stalwart amongst the noise and continues to be one of the best ways to build your brand’s presence online; to talk to and engage with your consumers (and more specifically your targeted market); to grow your customer base; and to give your brand a voice.

So, how best to use twitter as a powerful and relevant tool for your business? The acronym to remember is CETCH. Not too catchy, granted (or should that be ‘cetchy’?) however these 5 tips from Easy Offices are sure-fire ways to make sure your business succeeds on Twitter.

• CONTENT

It may seem an obvious point but content truly is key; not just the ‘what’ but also the ‘when’ and to ‘who’ that all need to be considered. We’ll start with ‘when’. The frequency of your posts needs to adhere to the idea of ‘enough, but not too much’. If you have something to say, then do say it, but don’t just post for the sake of posting as the relevancy of your content is crucial. In the back of the mind the question that should always remain is, “Is this appealing to my target market and will more people follow me as a result of it?” For example, whilst you personally may find your friend Dave’s picture of a dog with some fruit on its head hilarious (Melon-collie – oh the brilliance of such a witty pictorial pun!) is the retweeting of this to your business followers going to be of real relevance? This isn't to say that a little fun in the social online sphere isn't a good thing, but for businesses, Twitter is a chance for you to show authority and leadership and to build a brand that is respected, not just followed for a little L-O-L every now and then. The best way to include humor is to be self-aware of this and highlight it as separate to your usual tweets – for example, to brighten up a blue Monday, a little fun on a Friday, using trending hash-tags etc. – which takes us nicely onto the next point.

• ENGAGEMENT

Engagement and interaction are undoubtedly the best way to boost your business account on Twitter. Building relationships and taking part in conversations are integral to gaining more followers and making your mark as an authoritative, go-to account. Retweet others who are experts in a related field, or embed their tweets in your own with a question or your own additional comment and research popular hashtags in your area to join in industry wide conversations. A further point to note is that Twitter can be a great tool for customer service too. Make sure you engage openly with feedback; retweet the positives; acknowledge the negative and then send a direct, personal message offering further assistance. Note also who follows your competitors – their followers are likely to also be interested in your brand and you should follow them to get noticed.

• COMPETITOR MONITORING

Fairly self-explanatory, but very important; what are your competitors posting on the Twitter-sphere? Make a note of it, and then be better than them! See which of their posts are receiving the most retweets and comments – how have they engaged their own followers? It’s vital to make sure you don’t copy too – originality again gives your account greater authority.

• TOOLS

A really great way to boost your account is to use some simple tools that make life that little bit easier and also help with monitoring engagement. Tools like Hoot suite or Tweet later allow you to schedule your tweets in advance so that you maintain a consistent flow of content and ensure you are present as a business on Twitter at times that aren't often convenient to be ‘live’ tweeting. Schedule in tweets for peak hours of interaction – lunchtime is a key period for Twitter activity so if you want to enjoy your lunch break, make sure you've planned ahead for posts to go live at this time. Tweet later also sends email digests of keyword activity which allows you to know the conversations to join or track topics and trends.

• HELP

Finally, help is always just a single tweet away! With accounts such as @TwitterSmallBiz @TwitterUKI_SME and @NYTSmallBiz on hand to help out, be sure to follow and be the first to learn of new Twitter technology updates and how you and your business can be the first to master any new developments as the Twitter sphere continues to grow.