Twitter ranks as the 5th most popular social media platform making it one of the best places to promote your brand and business. Twitter is more than just tweeting and hashtags, here are 12 tips to improve your Twitter usage and boost your brand visibility.
1. Pick the right handle, profile photo, and header image
You and your Twitter need to be easy to recognize and remember. Your Twitter handle should be short and related to your business; often having your business name as your Twitter handle is the best and easiest option. As for your profile photo and header, having the same image across multiple platforms will help viewers recognize your brand. It’s a good idea to create a logo for your brand and have that as your profile photo. Your banner can be anything related to your business, whether it be a photo of your employees, your products, or even a mascot.
2. Optimize your bio to showcase your brand’s personality
Your Twitter bio has a limit of 160-characters so you have to make it count. Use this space to explain who you are, what your brand is, what you do, and anyone you are associated with. Here are a few tips for your bio:
Aim for accuracy
Incorporate humor, don’t be afraid to show some personality
Bragging is recommended
Include relevant hashtags
Target your specific audience
3. Tweet during peak hours
Buffer has done the research. Tweets posted on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday have higher clickthrough rates (CTRs). The best times to post are between 12 PM and 6 PM, however, your posting time should depend on your specific audience and what works for you and them. You can use scheduler tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule your posts so you don’t miss peak posting time.
4. Keep hashtag use to a minimum and use the right ones
Tweets with hashtags have two times more engagement than tweets without, but tweets containing more than two hashtags drop 17% in engagement. So, use the right hashtags without going overboard. Use hashtags that add context and relate to your tweet. You can find your most popular hashtags by using Twitter analytics. Use hashtags that are trending and ones that increase your search engine optimization.
5. Curate your feeds with Lists
Lists are secondary feeds of handpicked Twitter accounts. Pick accounts that are leaders in your industry, your team members, and brand influencers. You can also subscribe to Lists created by other accounts.
Navigate to their profile page
Click the icon with the three dots above their bio, then select View Lists.
You can see the lists they’ve created, as well as lists that include their account, and lists that they subscribe to.
Click the list you want to follow.
Hit Subscribe.
To see all the lists you own, follow, and appear on, click Lists in the left-hand menu on your Twitter home page.
6. Run a Twitter poll
Twitter polls are a great way to increase engagement. You can ask questions to your audience and have up to four answers to choose from. People love to give their opinions and this is a great way to get their voices heard. To create a poll, click the same button you click to add a new tweet and then click the poll icon at the bottom of the screen. Remember to include calls to action and hashtags in your tweet.
7. Add visual aspects to increase retweets
Tweets with images have 89% more favorites than those without. If you want to increase your retweets, shares, and clicks, add an image. Make sure the image is relevant and high-quality. Some great images are charts or infographics, pictures of your employees, or product photos. Videos and GIFs are also a great way to increase interaction, just remember to optimize for mobile since 93% of users are on mobile devices.
8. Use creative calls to action (CTAs)
Just like using relevant hashtags and keywords, it is important to include CTAs in your posts to increase engagement and clicks. Use action words that prompt users to do something specific. Some great phrases are:
Follow us
Visit our site
Shop our sales
Download here
Learn more
9. Tune in with social listening
Social listening is paying attention to conversations that are happening around you on Twitter. Find out what people think of you and your brand as well as what influencers in your industry are focusing on. Look out for your business’s name, your competitor’s names, keywords, and trending topics. The best way to find these conversations is by using Twitter’s advanced search.
10. Run an ad campaign
Twitter ads can target specific audiences based on your followers and keywords. Ads can promote your account, your brand, and your products. Promoted tweets boost your posts onto your audience’s feeds. Make sure to add CTAs and visually appealing media to capture your audience’s attention. You should also consider including a link to your website to increase website views as well.
11. Reach out to influencers
Identify brand and industry influencers that you have already interacted with. Do a little research on them and their Twitter. What are they posting and does it align with your brand message? How many followers do they have? If they have a large following and their tweets seem to align with yours, reach out to them and see if they want to promote your company. Make sure to like their Tweet and retweet it to your own Twitter!
12. Measure your success
You should have goals set up that you want to reach like posting x number of tweets a week, gaining x number of followers, following x number of people a week, etc. Weekly or monthly you should check on these goals and celebrate your victories or reassess your goals. It’s okay to start with small goals, especially if you are a newer business. Your goals should be obtainable but also a little bit of a challenge. UTM parameters are short text codes that you can add to your links to keep an eye on your traffic and conversions. UTM parameters are extremely useful for understanding what works and what doesn’t on your Twitter.
Twitter is one of the most popular social platforms and if you don’t already have an account, go ahead and set one up. Use these 12 tips to increase your clicks and engagement. If you need guidance running your Twitter, reach out to The Profit Link, a small business support team based in Memphis, TN. We want to link your business to profit today!