Followers feel more connected with a small business after following them.
Photo credit: Andrea
Twitter can be a very powerful platform for any brand or business. The fact that it has limited posts- upto 240 characters, indicates that you need to be precise and proficient at the same time because Twitter followers don’t have all the time in the world.
Nevertheless, according to Small-bizsense, 85% of followers feel more connected with a small business after following them. Here are some tips that can help you have a formidable Twitter strategy.
1. Scheduling
A winning Twitter strategy can only be assured by consistency. Planning your tweets ahead of time is a better way to ensure that your followers have content regularly. Scheduling also helps you tweet at an optimal time when many people are actively viewing.
The only challenge is that with Twitter as a platform, you can’t schedule. What you need to do is leverage on tools like Twitter-owned Tweetdeck which is free or Hootsuite.
2. Relevant hashtags
As much as we like trending with the trending topics, you need to think long-term. Every social media manager in charge of Twitter should identify the key players in their particular industry. Follow those hashtags and include them in your posts so that your brand will be noticed by the right clients and prospective partners.
3. Personal consistent hashtag
Always have a hashtag that uniquely identifies you. For example Safaricom uses #Twaweza. It helps you become visible. The more consistent you become at maintaining that unique hashtag it helps you even track your mentions.
4. Influencers
There is no denying that influencers have the power to bring more business to you owing to the massive following they have. However, branding expert Janet Machuka says that you need to be picky when choosing which influencers to work with.
First you need to choose influencers who are more related to your brand. For instance, if you are in the food industry you can choose a popular food blogger. Secondly, quality over quantity is key. Choose an influencer who can move his/her followers to convert and make purchases.
5. Feedback
The good thing with Twitter is instant feedback. It may be negative or positive. You need to have social media personnel who are on call ready to respond to customers’ queries and pain points. It irritates followers when they get an automated response. You come off as aloof to the needs of your customers. In the Twitter streets one jilted customer is all it takes to bring the house down.
Give honest, humanized feedback that feels empathetic and you will grow organically especially through referrals. Also pay close attention to mentions and respond promptly. You can use tools such as Hootsuite, Hubspot to monitor your mentions on Twitter.
