How to Use Twitter as an Effective Social Media Tool

Twitter is an invaluable social media tool for small businesses and blogs. One study by CMB Consumer Pulse suggests that 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend those brands since becoming a fan or follower and 67% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy the brands they follow or fan. Those are impressive numbers! However, I have seen many small business owners try to jump on to Twitter but not experience the gold mine effect everyone talks about. I am going to give a few tips on how to use Twitter to effectively promote your online business, blog, or website and to turn your frustration into a passionate love for this free advertising and networking tool!

1. Don’t Forget to Fill Out Your Profile Information

This is so basic, but I see so many people that leave it blank! You want to display your website URL so that people can check it out. Your bio is brief, but can play a huge roll in whether someone decides to follow you or not.

2. Don’t Wait for Others to Follow You

When you first sign up with Twitter, you have no followers. If you don’t follow anyone, it is unlikely anyone will find you to follow you. This means any tweeting you do will be largely to yourself. Get out there and follow people that might be a part of your niche. That is what networking is all about!

I suggest two ways to find people to follow…

1. If you go to the search bar on Twitter and type in a keyword from your niche, you will find other people with your interests. For example, I could type in “social media” and find the most recent tweets including those words. If a tweet is interesting, I can follow that person and so on down the list.
2. Another way is to click on people and put the keyword in that search bar. For example, if I am a mommy focused business, I could type “mom” to find people that have mom in their Twitter handle – they are presumably moms or are interested in mommy topics. There is a good chance that many of these people will follow you back if you are tweeting on topics that interest them.

3. Tweet at Different Times of the Day

Try to tweet several times a day and at different times to reach as many people as you can.

4. Repeat a Tweet, But Not Too Often

If you tweet the same message over and over, it will have a negative effect on your follower numbers. But if you have a valuable tweet, it is ok to tweet it again at a different time of day on the following day, for instance, to reach people you may have missed. Hopefully, you have tweeted other tidbits of interest in between.

5. Interact and Show Appreciation

Retweet if you see something great you want to share. Not only are you offering value to your followers, you are also likely to gain the appreciation of the person whose tweet you retweeted. They may return the favor.

You may want to return the favor when someone retweets your post if you can find one of interest. If not, you can always post, “Thanks for the retweet @thenameofyourretweeter.” (Click on “Retweets”, then “your tweets retweeted” to find out who is retweeting your messages.) Don’t forget to click on @yourtwitterhandle to see who is talking to you and/ or about you and then keep the conversation going.

6. Have a Twitter Button on Your Site

Twitter buttons make it easy to increase your followers. People love to have a way of staying in touch without getting bogged down in emails!

Twitter is hugely effective at driving traffic but you must be consistent at networking. It is worth the effort. I was unable to get online and do my social media networking for two days and I saw my traffic drop in half. Twitter offers you the chance to get your messages and links out to tons of people in a non-intrusive manner and all for free!

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guest posts, social media, social networking, twitter