At Sydcam Marketing Communications, we believe that social media should be an important part of the communications mix for many small and medium-sized businesses. And the reason why is simple – it provides a cost-effective strategy to grow your business and build your brand. Twitter is one of the more popular social media tools for doing just this.
To help your business utilize this resource effectively, we’ve provided you with 8 tips we believe are critical to successfully using it.
Rule #1 – Have a communications strategy: know what you want to say, how you want to say it and to whom (i.e. your target market). Avoid straying from this approach wherever possible.
Rule #2 – Remember, it’s all about them: Twitter, much like every other social media service, is about adding value to your client’s experiences, of giving back in a tangible way without expecting anything in return! Do things differently and you’ll damage your brand.
Rule #3 - Never, ever tweet more that 5 times a day: This may seem counterintuitive for some of you that think you need to be on Twitter 24/7. Remember, you’re a business, not a frat member or a groupie for a band. If you send out too many tweets, especially low value ones, you’ll irritate your audience as you’ll push everyone else's tweets down the list. Their action will be swift and permanent – they’ll unfollow you! It’s all about quality over quantity.
Rule #4 – Make your tweets interesting: Somewhat related to #3 above, if you’re a business and you’re trying to promote your brand and add value to your followers, don’t waste your time and theirs telling them you’re at the bus stop waiting for the 11:30 express to pick you up. They don’t care!
Rule #5 – Multi-tweet posts should be avoided at all cost: These are hard to follow and end up annoying people more than helping them. If you have more of a story to say, write it up in a blog post and link to it via a tweet.
Rule #6 – Twitter is in the public domain: Everything you say and write is available to anyone and everyone – so watch your Ps and Qs! Anyone from your mother to your chief competitors could be watching and/or following you on Twitter so be careful what you say.
Rule #7 – Make sure your tweets are informative: As was mentioned earlier, Twitter like most if not all social media is all about adding value. Make sure your content is what your followers would be expecting from you. If you’re a chef, give out cooking tips, great recipes, etc., but not what your dog Waldo is having for dinner tonight!
Rule #8 - Never underestimate the impact of your statements: One of the dangers with social media, especially in the business space, is that many people come there to learn and to be informed. Treating this audience in a flippant and indifferent manner can do you and your business permanent and irreparable damage. Stay focused and on message at all times!
If you would like to follow Sydcam Marketing Communications’ tweets on Twitter, our user name @sydcam_marcom.
