Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media networks, and by the third quarter of 2016 it boasted an average of 317 million monthly active users, with that amount set to increase in 2017. This hive of activity, with billions of tweets, people following and people followed, creates a massive nexus of communication. And therein lies opportunity for you and your business.

Not just a platform that allows adoring teenage girls to reach out to their favourite pop stars, Twitter is a powerful marketing platform that many big businesses from a wide range of industries are utilising. And if you want to increase your online presence, using Twitter for business is definitely something you should consider.

This article aims to give an insight on how to use Twitter for business, and the benefits that it brings. 

Tweet regularly

Twitter is built for regular communication. And if you’re only tweeting once a week or once a month, you’re missing a trick. An active profile is a healthy profile, and regular tweeting ensures you won’t be easily forgotten.

Posting on a daily basis is recommended, but it’s important to ensure that you’re not posting for the sake of posting. Every tweet you create is an opportunity to promote your business, and should always contain useful or relevant content. We want our followers to read, retweet, favourite or click our tweets. Regular postings containing useful and relevant content are invaluable to a strong Twitter business strategy.

Interact with influencers

You can use Twitter to search for and interact with brands or advocates within your industry, and this can include bloggers, writers, journalists, potential customers or clients, and even the competition. This gives you a great reference point for what customers or clients want, what the industry leaders are saying, and gives you an insight into what the competition is doing.

Interact with customers

Twitter can also be used as a platform for interacting with your existing customers. Using your Twitter profile to answer questions from clients is a powerful way for you to show how you help and care for your existing customers. Furthermore, openly resolving complaints via Twitter allows you to show exactly how transparent your business is, and with that you can build credibility.

And don’t just make it a one way channel of communication. Twitter should be used as a way for you to reach out to your customers. Ask them what they want, how they feel and show you care about their experience with you and your business.

Use images & video

We wouldn’t ever describe Twitter as drawn out or in-depth, it’s definitely one of the snappier social media platforms. And the way you run online marketing for your business should reflect this. Twitter helps you out with its 140 character limit for posts, but we’d recommend the use of images and videos as much as possible.

It’s more likely that your message will get read if it’s accompanied by an image or video. In addition, clicks and shares are more likely to happen from images and video than plain old text links.

So get visual! But remember, as always, we still need to focus on relevancy and usefulness. Don’t just post a video or image for the sake of it. Take the time to find or create visuals that deliver rich content to your followers.

Track mentions

Tracking mentions allows you to find out what your customers, both existing and potential, are saying about you and your brand. If customers feel they haven’t had the best experience with your business, you can jump into the conversation and address the issue. Or perhaps you’ve found a customer who loved the experience of dealing with your business, and such a glowing review could and should be shared.

In addition, by monitoring the use of keywords related to your business, you can identify new opportunities to interact with customers. Discover who is talking about your industry and begin engaging with potentials; you could be exactly what they are looking for. 

Special deals and promotions

With Twitter, you have an audience that you can directly target with special deals and promotions. Better still, you can get them involved with incentives, such as discounts on your products or services, provided they promote you and your business.

It’s a hugely creative platform on which to incentivise your customers, and create buzz about your brand and business.

So there it is, a little taster of how to use Twitter for business. And there’s many more tips and tricks to help you grow your online presence with Twitter and the other heavy hitters in the world of social media. As one of Scotland’s fastest growing digital agencies, mtc can help you and your business realise your potential by using social media platforms to promote yourself online. Get in touch with us today and find out more about our online marketing services.