Twitter Tips

Top tips on growing your Twitter Followers

Top tip #1: Engage in conversation.

Engagement is a crucial part of growing your following. In order to achieve this, do not be afraid to respond to someone’s question on Twitter. Most users like to have engagement with new users as it is a great way too gain a possible new follower and even maybe to get some business out of it, if it is a business related response. Take the plunge and reach out to Twitter users who you have been meaning to connect with and also with users that you admire and want to say hello too.

Top tip #2: Posting only links!

Many users connect there social media platforms together, in particular Facebook to Twitter so that they cover both platforms. What they don’t see is that every time they post pictures on Facebook personal or businesses related it sends out a link saying ‘I posted a new photo on Facebook’ which is ok for a couple of images, but not fill up your Twitter feed with this information, It will turn followers to unfollow you as it will show no engagement on your account. Be aware of this on your Twitter feed and maybe consider deleting tweets after you have posted on Facebook. Follow me in Facebook 

Top tip #3: Following back

What is the etiquette of following users that follow you and how to respond to them. Well you don’t have to follow back every person that follows you, they have their reason to follow you and you have yours. If you want to engage with certain types of users, then that’s who you will follow and to continually engage with them. It is good to respond to users who follow you with a Thanks of some kind, is shows that you have appreciated their following and also it might be someone who you would want to follow.

Top tip #4: Twitter Networking

Twitter Networking has really taking off, people and businesses see the powers of using ‘Networking Hours’, so many of them on each day that you can’t help to either join in or consider running one yourself. The hours can connect you with businesses all over your area and beyond, if you want to make a connection further from your remit then consider using the hours as a way to connect with others this way, its very informal and can really help your business depending on how to engage with others. #Petworthhour @Petworthhr has been running for nearly a year and it is on every Tuesday at 8pm, more recently as other ‘hours’ have come on board around this time, it has boosted the engagement on #Petworthhour, we see numbers of nearly 20-30K accounts reached, which is amazing for the size of town Petworth is and also the types of users that interact on #Petworthhour.  

If you want more information about how to use Twitter or any other social media platforms, then please call 01798 342188 or 07595499122. We provide 1-2-1 or small group training with you or via FaceTime or Skype depending on your location.

Top tips for Twitter

Still unsure about Twitter? Let us change your mind or to help you move forward with how it can help you and your business.

Know your Audience.

Don’t fret about getting as many followers as possible but to focus on getting the right kind of followers.

If someone has a large following and they Re-tweet you, there is some value to that, or if someone has the right person following them but they don’t have a large following, that can also all help getting your tweet reached even further. It is about connecting with the right kind of person or business that will get your Tweet seen, it not always about the numbers.

Starting out.

Make lists of the right kind of people or businesses you want to follow and also folks you want to follow back. Get them to engage with you and start to care about you and your business, make that relationship work for you.

Keep is simple.

Don’t always use all the characters up in Twitter, allow for ‘Quote ‘ back in your conversation. Try not to cram everything in on that one composed tweet, give a snap shot of what you are trying to say to allow people to engage with what you are talking about, this way you will get people wanting to ask more about what you are saying as this creates engagement with your tweet.

Others will see your conversation and can join in if they choose too, allowing for further interaction with your tweet.

If you have many subjects you want to talk about then compose these on your next set of tweets.

The responses are valuable and could create a possible business connection, which is what you want to do when boosting your business.

Keeping business separate from pleasure.

Its always easy to start chatting about personal information about you if you choose too, though to much on your business account can divert people away from you, if you want to be personal on twitter then create a separate account for this. Your engagement ideally should be business based with a professional tone.

Online when you are.

About 10% of the people that you follow are online at that time, so the chance of you being ReTweeted then could be valuable to you, note when people are on, so you can try to engage with them at that time. It maybe people you want to engage with are not tweeting at your time so find suitable scheduling platforms to cover all your basis. This will allow you to engage with someone you want to connect with and plan on replying back to him or her as soon as possible to keep the tweet very active for you.

Using emoticons or special characters.

In a business tweet using these symbols is a reflection of your business, it is acceptable to use abbreviation and special characters, but make sure that they make you look like a professional. Keep in mind that not all mobile devices show up every symbol and could just look like a blank box character where the symbol was suppose to be, think to who you are composing your tweet too and how it will be seen on there mobile device. Try not to over use them as it could send out the wrong message to that person and you potential can lose their engagement with your tweet.

Providing links on your tweets.

To drive people and businesses to other social media platforms you use for your business it is vital to add those URL links into your composed tweet. It will take characters off the 140, but you can use Short links http://goo.gl to reduce the characters lost which will allow you to still get your message across.
Links to your website is crucial as it will help with SEO (Search Engine Optimizations). For example – If you have blogged about something and want to share it with everyone, then using Twitter will help drive people to your blog using your link, it is a great way for people and businesses to see what you have blogged about and a way of them noticing your website.
The same can apply to other social media platforms if you don’t have your website set up as yet.

With these tips, you can have a successful Twitter account for your business. If you need further advise or want training 1-2-1 then please contact me via the contact us tab.

Using Twitter used as an Aid.

Earlier in the year, the town of Petworth was held up due to bad weather conditions and because of poor phone signal in the town, many drivers used Social media to get them moving around the area and also to help find what would be the best routes to use in order to get home safely.

How this happened.

Hearing via twitter that many drivers are stuck on major and minor routes between Guildford to Chichester, caused many tweeters to ask local radio stations about updates. Reports of updates were coming out but because of the extreme volume of requests it was hard to respond to each request.

Scrolling through twitter and seeing people asking for help kicked started off virtual help to drivers, whether they were stranded and told were they could go too that was safe or to give road updates to drivers to find the best route to get them home.

Residents in Petworth came out with hot teas and toast to keep people motivated and warm and giving updated information that was coming through via twitter.

Twitter certainly proved to be the best possible social media tool to help people out in a crisis situation. Many new twitter relationships were made and plenty of thanks to all who took it upon themselves to bring drivers home safely.  A minute-by-minute tweet really did help.

I reckon that if this sort of weather impacts our town and area again, twitter as a aid will be the first mode of communication between people. More users are on it and see it for all the great functions Twitter has. Beyond using it for Business it can help assist in crisis situations.

If you want to learn more about Twitter and how it can be used for your business then please contact me and I can give you 1-2-1 lessons at great rates to get you started. 

Twitter for Garden Centre customers.

Engaging with Customers.

In the past couple of years I had been working and aiding a well know garden Centre chain near Chichester about how to use social media to enhance their business needs.

Selecting Twitter as the chosen social media tool, the mission was to get the customers of the Garden Centre to engage with Twitter, using QR codes around the shop and outside area helped people to connect with the Garden Centre website, beyond this though the Centre wanted to attract various levels of cliental to use their services.

Twitter Broadcasting.

Targeting parent groups, landscapers, and Charity organisers, events people allowed us to showcase the Garden Centre as a place to be at anytime of the day.

Having parents groups meeting up using the café, as a place to dine and chat with others became a central hub for many parents.

For Landscapers it allowed them to see what is on offer at the moment, or about new product lines. Turf became a popular twitter feed for people as many were wanting it, but found it was sold out when they got to a place, this way the Centre was able to hold turf rolls for customers based on their request via twitter.

When having events in-store or after hours again allowed the Centre to broadcast the event along with an image to a greater audience, rather than not using social media.

The in-house talks have always proved to be popular because of the speaker or the content of the talk, though with a little extra push using Twitter the Centre was able to gain more customers to the talk.

As each season comes and goes, social media plays an active role when trying to gain customers through the door of the Centre.

Twitter Content for Customers.

In the winter informing customers about the need of Bird Food, Hedging and Rock Salt is important, as these are items people rely on beyond what they can do in the garden.

Spring is when the garden blooms, offers on all the containers plants, compost and how it all works together is great information for customers.

Summer is when you can work on cleaning up your hard landscaped surfaces, support systems for climbers, water butts and possibly treat your family to new garden furniture and enjoy BBQ season with the various types of grills on offer.

Autumn is when you can plant your fruit trees, hedging, autumn/winter containers. This allows the customer to enjoy the last few months of the garden before the winter and offers would certainly draw people in.

All of this information can be put out in 140 characters with or without an image and bring customers to your Centre.

Social media training can be applied to any type of business, knowing what you do best and then using Social Media can only enhance it even further.

For training in small groups or 1-2-1 please contact me. Info@socialmedia-adviser.co.uk.

Social Media taking over Petworth

Petworth businesses embracing Social Media.

In a recent local newspaper article, the headline said “Petworth is taking social media and Twitter by storm”. article in the Midhurst Petworth Observer 17th Aug 2013. 

Many businesses in the town were interviewed including myself on how they are using Social Media for their business and also how #Petworthhour is working for them.

#Petworthhour is Virtual Networking.

As the founder of Petworthhour I see it as a way too virtual network with people in and around the area and that you might not necessarily know about or probably might not even meet because of the nature of work you are in. Petworthhour is certainly changing this format of communication between everyone.

Each week as it grows its virtual network I am seeing plenty of craft and creative businesses that want to showcase what they do to the Petworthhour audience. During 8-9pm on Tuesday I not only see what people share on Petworthhour but also on other ‘hours’ that are coming in to play, with Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and even Chickenhour running around 8-9pm it is capturing a wide networking reach.

This is allowing people to connect with whomever they feel they can do business with or might need their services and then set up their own meeting offline.

Networking.

Is virtual networking taking over – Some might say yes and that the physical meeting is dying out. I believe its an even split, virtual networking only works so far, as it can only capture your audience in 140 character that Twitter allows. Even if you send out multiple messages to target your audience and hope you can make a deal at the end of it the physical meeting is much nicer if you enjoy these sorts of events. It allows you to sell your business beyond 140 characters and also meet people in the flesh.

Having built a relationship up via twitter or any kind of social media will ultimately draw you to wanting to meet the person behind the business. The ice has been broken so the nervous first meeting should not be there.

The momentum of Petworthhour is growing now into its 4 month, I encourage and invite anyone near or far to take part and share what they do, offer and provide. We are one of only a few towns that have set up a ‘town based hour’ so if we can be in line with Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire that would be really fantastic and the only way to achieve this is through more business joining in each Tuesday night at 8pm.

Embracing Social media for your business is a positive aspect, without it you will not be able to make your connections go further, email and word of mouth only go so far, though at some point social media will be needed, so get on it sooner rather than later.

If you need help with setting up a Twitter account so that you can join in then please contact me and I can help you with this. Follow me on @HRDSocialMedia