Community Management on Twitter is all about the people we are following, those following us, and the people who are talking about us and our business with whom we are not yet connected.
First Impressions Count!
1. Twitter avatar/picture: Invest in a professional photo of yourself or your team. Then combine your logo with the picture. Unprofessional photos can do your online brand a lot of damage. People are also less likely to trust, follow or engage with logos.
2. Make good use of your Twitter bio. Avoid repeating your name or website twice; use a combination of your name and business name. Use specific keywords in your bio so people can find you when carrying out a search.
3. Brand your Twitter background. Add your contact details and relevant information so people don't have to go looking for your details. Avoid making your background too noisy, chose a plain colour and add images and test the page.
4. Your website address. If you are in a business of many, make sure you create a special landing page that gives your followers very clear instructions on who to contact if they have any questions.
5. Your location: I always start small Brighton, Sussex, London, UK
6. Remember your online credibility, stop following people from every location on the planet. People are becoming more savvy with Twitter and will be checking to see who you are building your community with! If you are following everyone it's going to look as if you don't really know what you are doing and maybe less likely to engage with you.
Your business voice on Twitter
7. Be consistent. Add into your Twitter policy/strategy that you will respond to all Tweets no later than 24 hours or the same day.
8. Make your Tweets Clear. Don't stuff your Tweets with #Hashtags. Depending on the platform people are using they can break the Tweet up which makes them much harder to read.
9. Sharing your Links. Make sure your links have been shortened and are placed in the middle of the Tweet followed by the #Hashtags
10. Avoid putting people into groups. People can get upset when other people are constantly mentioned and they feel left out. Send a DM {Direct Message}, pick up the phone or send an individual Tweet. I always think it is best to deal with one person at a time. They will feel much more valued.
11. Use plain English. Avoid using jargon unless you are looking to attract a particular market.
12. Identify your own unique #Hashtag. When I consider a Tweet to be of importance for my followers I use the #Hashtag #Twitter4Biz at the end of the Tweet.
13. Avoid overly mixing personal and business Tweets. I always say everything in context to your business.
14. Different voices: If you have a number of people managing your Twitter account think about adding the people's names in the Bio and ask your staff to use initials when Tweeting so it is clear. Also add this onto your Twitter website landing page.
15. Show respect with your Tweets. Use positive language, avoid judgments, don't argue or offend, if someone has a complaint respond and ask if you can call them.
Be very clear about your Market! Who are you looking to attract and reach on Twitter?
16. When people follow you don't send them an auto DM (Direct Message) marketing yourself. Sorry but coaches are the worst. If you do this you run the risk of sending a marketing message that does not sit in line with who you are trying to market to. Take the time to look at their Twitter account and website and find something meaningful to say openly.
17. Avoid chasing numbers. Connect with the people who are relevant to your business. Don't get dragged into I need 1500 followers by 5pm. You will only end up following people who have no interest in what you have to say and you will look desperate.
18. Actively look for new people to follow every week. Carry out a Twitter search using keywords and #Hashtags for example; location, business keywords look for Tweets and people who have keywords in their bios. Look on websites and check out LinkedIn. Do this slowly rather than in a hurry if people see you are on a mission just to collect numbers then it will take you longer to build any trust and credibility.
19. Join Twitter Chats that are relevant to your business. Go and join the conversation. Or start your own Twitter chat about your subject this is also a great way to attract consumers. Or be a guest Chat Tweeter on your subject. Start following some of the key people and engage with them.
20. Get your followers involved. Ask your followers questions, do polls run competitions, share photos and slides,be proactive not reactive.
Be very clear how you want to use each social media platform Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook
21. I love Twitter. I've taken the time to follow you on Twitter, please don't send me a DM asking me to connect with you on Facebook or LinkedIn. All three platforms work very differently from one another when managing communities. In my experience, moving people between platforms is a bit of a waste of time and also gives me the message that you may not take your Twitter community seriously enough.
22. Stop sending one message to all three social media platforms. Sorry folks, as above, each social media community works differently! They have different needs each platform needs to be thought about slightly differently when posting and interacting. If you have an active Twitter account and the messages are being jointly posted they will have none or very little context to Facebook or LinkedIn. So you run the risk of people miss understanding what it is you are trying to say, you run the risk of people no longer taking any notice of what you are saying and may stop following you altogether.
Listening and Talking
Twitter is not just about posting a Call to action, your marketing messages or sharing Content your relevant articles. A lot of the time it is about listening to what is happening for the people you are following and any conversations that are relevant to your business and industry.
23. Identify your keywords and monitor to see who is talking about your business. Setup tweetdeck.com and add keywords that are relevant to your business. Join in the conversation when it is relevant and make sure you are aware when people are talking about you so you can respond.
24. Monitor your blog posts to see who is sharing your content on Twitter and say thank you. This is the perfect time to connect with new people who love what you are saying and are interested in your business.
25. Say thank you for ReTweets. Twitter is a community, if we don't take the time to say thanks to the people taking the time to ReTweet our important marketing messages. Then we run the risk of them not doing it again. Mix up your thank yous: 1. ReTweet one of their Tweets 2. send a DM saying thank you 3. pick up the phone and call them.
26. Create some Twitter Karma and be generous with your ReTweets. Build into your Twitter Marketing Strategy that you will look for two people Tweets to ReTweet every other day. These ReTweets may not have any relevance to your business they may be Tweets of people who are looking for help or recommendations in your area.
27. Answer Questions. If you see people asking questions that you can answer send them a Tweet answering them. I remember once someone asked on Twitter what bus do I get from bla bla. I looked it up online, went to their website then called them!
28. Pick up the phone. Make every effort to really understand the people you are following. Build into your Twitter Strategy that you will call 20 businesses a month to really develop your online relationship.
29. Find a new way to say thank you. Pick up the phone, send a card with a personal message, write a blog post or send an email.
30. Make sure if someone mentions you by name that you send a Tweet back. Avoid ignoring them it can be classed as bad manners.
Happy Tweeting.