Twitter is a social media platform many business owners don’t understand. More often than not, they have inactive accounts and have gotten frustrated with the amount of information and sheer noise. They are unclear on if it is worth their time and energy to use Twitter and see it as a nuisance rather than a benefit. Social media, whether Twitter or other platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, are not for every business in every industry. Marketing, PR, social media, blogging and freelance professionals are among the biggest users of Twitter. They are creating and sharing great amounts of content and expertise. This doesn’t mean Twitter isn’t beneficial for your business. It means learning HOW to best utilize it to get you and your business noticed as an expert.

Here are five ways to succeed on Twitter:

 

  1. Talking to other Twitter users is one of the best ways to meet people including industry experts, celebrities, politicians, business leaders and more. Twitter is one of the few social media platforms that remains an open network. Take advantage of the ability to share, ask questions and comment on tweets by anyone on Twitter.
  2. Using event #hashtags is a great way to meet likeminded professionals. @TheStaceyHarris attended WordCamp Phoenix (#WCPHX) in January. She tweeted that she was trying to match Twitter profile pictures with people in her workshop and added the event hashtag #WCPHX. To her pleasant surprise, the tweet resulted in meeting bloggers, web designers and content creators at the event. She continues to interact, online and in person, with the friends she made from using a simple event hashtag.
  3. The Retweet is the best referral you can give to a fellow Twitter user. A retweet is when you share a tweet with your followers establishing the person who originally tweeted as someone whose message you admire in some way. @freemcauley wrote a blog post called “Time Management isn’t about Managing Time.” She tweeted the post to her following and was retweeted by Social Media Expert @MariSmith. That’s HUGE applause from an industry expert.
  4. Completing your profile with a bio and professional photo is the first step to establishing yourself as a legitimate Twitter user. There are a lot of junk accounts and you don’t want yours included in that group. Include a blog or website link to further legitimize your presence.
  5. Follow others in your field or area of interest to reduce the amount of noise on your Twitter feed. All too often users randomly follow and then are surprised their feed has a lot of useless information. If you’re in marketing, for example, search #marketing to find other professionals in that space.

Taking time to follow the right people on Twitter, using hashtags and re-tweeting are great ways to create success on this social media platform!