Twitter is easy! Easy to setup, easy to understand, easy to tweet. Tweets also show up in the Google search results before web pages.
There is no commitment, no weekly blog posts, no comments to approve, no pre-existing social group to help you get started. Just set up an account and start tweeting. You can follow anyone you want without being mutual friends like Facebook. The kinds of things you tweet are probably the same things you would say at a cocktail party but in 140 characters. Use Twitter Search to search for keywords to find out what people are saying about any subject and find like-minded people to follow. Often they will follow back and you’re set. There are a few things that will help you get the most of your corporate twitter account.
- Have conversations! Sell your brand, not your product. So one likes being sold to and accounts that do nothing but sell often have trouble gaining followers.
- Re-tweet. RTs will promote the original tweeter to your followers. Promote your followers and they will promote you back.
- Search. Real time searches have been the most powerful feature of twitter since early in the company’s history. With search.twitter.com you can monitor keywords, your company name, your product or the latest news on anything.
- Monitor your brand. See what people are saying in real time and respond immediately. This is a great tool for customer service and online brand management.
- Limit your time. Twitter can easily become a time vampire if you don’t keep it in check. Have rules in place including time limits.
- Tweet daily. It’s only 140 characters, I’m sure you can think of something to say.
- Don’t obsess over the number of followers. Only the top 10% of twitter accounts have over 2000 followers.
- Announce blog posts on twitter to drive traffic. Don’t get discouraged if your site isn’t flooded with traffic. On average, one percent of your followers will click a link.
