Getting it right on social media platforms such as Twitter is important for business success. Not only does it give you the chance to sell your products and services to a wider audience, it enables you to engage on a much deeper and more personal level than ever before.
Get it wrong, however, and it can also damage your brand. Here are our top 10 Twitter errors you might like to avoid.
- Not Using Twitter
It’s the one of the most popular social media platforms with over 330 million users worldwide, so why wouldn’t you use twitter? The truth is that many entrepreneurs sign up for a twitter account and then don’t leverage its potential. If you haven’t posted for a while, it’s time you reviewed what can be achieved and started engaging more.
- Timing is Everything
This isn’t just about Pru Leith tweeting the GBBO winner 12 hours before the programme when out on Channel 4. The timing of your tweets is important. People often have a lot going on with their timelines and you need to catch them at just the right moment. Learn to measure responses and understand when the best time is to schedule your messages.
- Paying for Followers
It’s not the worst thing that you can do but it is certainly the most pointless. There are plenty of low cost offers out there to get you hundreds and thousands of followers. This is basically a scam and most people know it deep in their bones. What you’ll get is a lot of bots following you which will do nothing for your business.
Grow your following organically. It takes longer but is far more effective.
- Not Following Back
That brings us to whether you should follow someone who follows you. First of all, if you’re not someone like Kanye West, the answer is yes. Twitter, as with all social media platforms, is about engagement. You’re trying to create your own mini-community and you want to see what your followers are saying and doing.
- Talking, Not Listening
You spend far too much time sending shout outs for your latest product or trying to push your services. This is a conversation platform, not an advertising one. Once in a while is just about okay but your Twitter account is really for engagement and a two way conversation.
- Being Too Controversial
You should try to avoid being too controversial. It’s not a personal platform for you to unload all your angst about the world. Leave that up to other people and if you really want to rail against the machine, get a personal account that is separate from your business.
- Too Many Hashtags
Hashtags are useful. Too many in a post, however, can look like you’re desperate, trying to sell stuff or reach too many people. Find out what the best hashtags are for your business and use a maximum of two or three in each post.
- Auto-Tweeting DMs
Auto-DMs look false and the message is all too often about trying to get someone to follow you on other social media like Facebook. Settle for real engagement rather than trying to cut corners – your business will get more out of it. If you do want to contact someone via a DM, make it personal.
- Not Having Links on Brochures, Business Cards and Websites
You want to give potential customers the chance to make contact on social media. Including links to your Twitter, Facebook and other feeds is important. One big mistake many businesses make is not including it on their brochures, other promotional literature including business cards, and their website. Want your blog posts to be shared better? Install a widget that allows readers to post on social media.
- Not Utilising Images and Videos
Finally, we all know that a picture paints a thousand words. If you’re Twitter posts are purely text, you’re missing a trick. Including images and videos not only gets you notice, it means your post is also more likely to be retweeted.