Get the most out of Twitter

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few years, you will have heard of social networking site Twitter.

Created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets“.  Since its launch, Twitter has become one of the ten most visited websites on the Internet, and has been described as “the SMS of the Internet.”

Many companies use Twitter in order to promote their business in many different ways, using the site to inform “followers” about any new products or services, to quickly and directly answer any queries existing customers may have or perhaps to post links to their websites, etc.

There are many different ways in which companies can use Twitter to attract new customers and  to keep new customers up-to-date in just 140 characters:

Use Hashtags

Hash tags on Twitter is a feature that basically functions like Meta data for your tweets. These are tweets that start with the “#” symbol and can be included in front of words you want to organize and trend on twitter. For example, #DBWD #webdesign

Directly Target Specific People

Putting an “@” in front of another user’s Twitter name creates a mention of that user. Use mentions to share links and other information with targeted people, such as people who have tweeted about the services you may offer.

If a new user follows you, send them a mention/reply and say something like “@”TwitterName – thanks for following us, visit our website here! http://www-dannybarkercouk.skipdns.link. Using live mentions allows other Twitter accounts to recognise that you are a real person and not a robot!

Don’t Overdo It

Tweeting again and again, over and over will only annoy your followers, and will put new followers off your account. Leave a gap between tweets and don’t overload other people’s timelines.

Advertise your Twitter Account

Loads and loads of people have Twitter accounts- make sure that they know where to find yours. Create a link to your Twitter account on your website, your blog, or your other social networks in order to build a wider audience and get more followers.