The C-Suite Digital Handbook

Ten Best Business Practices for Twitter

Tweet

 

Many businesses like to tout that they have a Twitter account. However, if a business isn't adhering to the best business practices for Twitter, it will not reap significant benefits.

Based on professional experience working with clients seeking to optimize Twitter and other social media channels, I have come to discover ten best business practices for Twitter.

1.  Optimize your Twitter profile

 Your Twitter profile should reflect your brand and should effectively convey what your Twitter account is about.  In fact, according to Hubspot, Twitter accounts with a description of their account have eight times more followers.

2.  Share information on a regular basis

Consistent tweeting delivers better results than random tweeting. It is recommended that businesses look to tweet interesting information at least 4 to 5 times a day, typically between 9 AM EST and 3 PM EST.

3.  Listen and respond to conversations about your company

Twitter is a public square where customers are quick to criticize companies.  It has also become a place where customers go to to ask questions or get information.  Companies [even those not on Twitter] need to monitor and listen to those conversations. Social media monitoring platforms like Radian6 and Sysomos can help companies in this regard.  There are also free services like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, and Seesmic that are very helpful to begin monitoring use of your company's name in the Twitter-sphere.  And when there are comments, be sure to respond constructively.

4.  Keep tweets under 120 characters, not 140 characters

Twitter allows you to use up to 140 characters in writing a tweet. However, if you are a business, you want to see your tweets spread through retweets.  When someone retweets your message, it automatically includes your business's Twitter handle which adds more characters.  URL shorteners, e.g. bit.ly, can also help shorten tweets when sharing links.  

5.  Use language that is likely to generate Retweets

There is a science to the language you use on Twitter.  Dan Zarella, a social media scientist, has put together the Science of Retweets Report, including data that shows the words most likely to be retweeted and those that are less likely to be retweeted. 

6.  Don't be a broadcaster

It is not enough to just broadcast tweets about your business.  It is best to think about your twitter communication as if you were at a business cocktail party.  Yes, you will talk about your business. Yet you will also talk about people in your industry and provide interesting insights about your industry. You will also compliment people on accomplishments or new endeavors. Your twitter feed will be much more interesting if you behave in this way in composing your tweets.  It will also help in building a twitter following.

7.  Ask questions

Twitter is a useful forum for asking questions of your followers as well as those tracking keywords used in your questions.   Question ideas include:

• Crowd-sourcing product ideas
• Soliciting feedback on products and services
• Getting reactions to news and/or information germane to your industry
• Having fun by asking trivia questions

8. Reward followers

A number of companies have built significant Twitter followings by rewarding followers.  Rewards can include price discounts or prizes. Jet Blue has had great success with a separate Twitter channel that they launched - @JetBlueCheeps - where they announce last minute deals on cheap flights every Tuesday.  

9.  Support stakeholders and key constituencies

Companies can create good will on Twitter by spotlighting their followers, promoting their clients or integrating the tweet handles of related entities.  For example, @amazonmp3 typically includes the Twitter handle of the artists they are promoting.

10.  Integrate your Twitter profile into your company website and other communication channels for your company

Add a Twitter Badge to your company website to make it easy for existing and potential clients to automatically start following you on Twitter.  In addition, if your company maintains a blog, include the ability for readers to tweet your blog posts.  Another idea is to include an RSS of your company's tweet stream on the company blog.  Integrating your Twitter feed into other communication channels is also helpful.  For example, employees should include your corporate Twitter handle in their email signatures.   If your company maintains a Facebook page, a separate tab can be set up for integrating your company's Twitter feed.  Finally, integrating your twitter handle into traditional advertising vehicles is also a good idea.

Over the next two weeks, I will be providing more in-depth information on how to follow these best practices.  In the meantime, what are your thoughts on other best Twitter business practices?  I look forward to your feedback.