If you are a startup entrepreneur, you would probably be wondering on how you can optimize Twitter to generate the most publicity you can for your startup business. This post has tips on how social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have helped many startups to bootstrap their advertising and marketing costs, either to a bare minimum or to zero.
And Twitter has really leveled the playing field for entrepreneurs and startup budgets of all sizes because of the ease with which people can network and grow. Business today requires a solid game plan on a platform like Twitter. So this post is a huge list of Twitter tips for business.
Twitter tips for Startup
Share remarkable content consistently – Find and share content that is useful, funny, practical, interesting and profitable for their followers. This includes links, RTs, videos, photos and podcasts. Do this consistently and you will find a growth in your follower numbers
Use hash tags – This is a great way to find new followers because when you use hash tags, people see what you are interested in. And also you will show up in the tag searches as it is the easiest way to search on Twitter.
Buffer – If you tend to do all your tweeting all in one go and not in a rhythmic pattern, you are probably losing traffic. Use Buffer and you’ll have a more balanced tweeting schedule throughout the day. Here is where you can connect with the founder of Buffer: Joel Gascoigne
Ask questions – It is an old tip but its the best way to generate some activity with your followers.
Twilerts – A must have to optimize Twitter for your startup. Receive emails when you, your product, brand or business is mentioned on Twitter. Sign up and stay ahead in you reputation management game.
Invite off-Twitter people – Don’t forget to invite people or old customers from off-Twitter to follow you on Twitter.
Twitsprout – This is a Twitter analytics tool. It gives you the relevant competitive intelligence. You can enroll 3 Twitter accounts or less for free. A must-have for a startup.
Get your Twitter users everywhere – Invite Twitter followers to your other social platforms, like LinkedIn or Facebook
Share quotes – Everyone love witty quotes and they do get retweeted a lot. Make sure the quotes are aligned with your organizational goals and theme. As it will add a better lasting impact for your brand image.
Add links – People retweet links more often. Proof: In Dan Zarella’s The Science of the Retweets he pointed out that nearly 19% of all tweets contained a link. What’s interesting is that nearly 57% of retweets contained a link. So you can probably include a lot of links to your startup website or blog where you can convert visitors.
Tweet the same content more than once – If you are running a startup, creating content is not probably your priority. So in that case, tweeting the same content more than once is definitely okay.
Know your followers – Know what sort of content and tweets your followers expect for you on Twitter. Avoid sharing content that your followers will not find interesting. Give them what they want and they will keep coming back for more.
Tweet conferences and events flamboyantly – Especially if its related to your startup.
“When you attend a conference, break your tweeting regular tweeting schedule and tweet like a madman.” – Neil Patel.
Share pictures – Using either yfrog, Instagram or Twitpic. They are all reliable and free Twitter picture services. You can post interesting pictures on Twitter that you take throughout the day to engage and amuse users visually.
Share videos – Similar to pictures, also share videos.
Guest post – You can pick up many followers by guest posting at popular blogs. That is how bloggers who start from scratch pick followers. You should do the same too.
Flesh out your bio – Write a descriptive bio where you have everything important about the company included. Add a link as well.
Register a good Twitter handle – For a startup to make good use of Twitter, make sure you have a Twitter handle with your company name. If its taken, make sure the Twitter username is easy to use and remember.
Humanize – Humanize your profile, don’t make your Twitter page look like an automated link bed. Make sure you reply, retweet and engage your users.
Promote your Twitter account – Promote the Twitter account of your startup by attaching it to email signatures (of you and your employees), embedding an icon on your blog etc.
Klout – Klout is another social media tool that measures your influence.
Find people who need you – Rather than blasting away your company into space, find people who need you – use Twitter to this.
See how your links perform – If you use a service like bit.ly. You can see how your links are performing when you tweet them. URL shortening services like Bit.ly let you see stats. Use them.
Leave 20 characters – If you are a pro-tweeter, you will know the importance. The 20 character space can improve your retweeting.
If you use Mobile app – Use a mobile app that you are comfortable with, not the one’s that Social sites and Gadget blogs suggest. Feel free to try them out though. But, you know best.
Use Tweetdeck or Hootsuite - They are Twitter management application dashboards. It can help you see more and manage better.
Follow anyone who follows you
Disclaim – If you are putting an affiliate link to a client or users, tell them. Its good karma.
Identify spam – Check for junk accounts/spammers and unfollow them.
Build list – Use this Twitter feature. Startups can optimize lists to follow selective people more closely.
Avoid automated welcome – Avoid using the automated “hello” or welcome message that you send to people when they follow your account. If you really want to engage a user personally.
Mention high-profile Twitter users – It first of all might get your account to the attention of the big-shot and secondly, you get to have an universal appeal as your other users might be recognizing the person.
Use simple words – Everyone on Twitter is not English-speaking. Some are managing somehow, including some of your clients. Use simple words to reflect simplicity and communication in your startup.
Share opinion – Being opinionated helps. Even if you are an organization. The startups view on certain developments and incidents can help create a brand image in from of users.
Online ordering feature – Utilize Twitter as a way of taking orders for products and services. The direct messaging feature on Twitter can be used for this.
Corporate social responsibility – You can use your Twitter page as a way of fundraising for a designated charity and highlighting your CSR activities. You can mention the username of the organizations you work with in the tweet.
Embed a Twitter feed – On your event site, company website or blog, embed a Twitter widget.
Use WeFollow - This tool will help you find followers.
Use Trendistic - It will help see trends and decide topics to tweet on. You can catch up on the buzz.
Scan competition – Use Twitter to scan your competition and analyze industry.
1/10 rule – Promote your startup only once for every 10 tweets you post on your Twitter profile.
Catch and release – Search for a topic on Twitter that is relevant to what you do, and then following 100 people who’ve interacted with that topic.
Hangout - Attend local tweetups. You’ll meet people at these events and if you bond, you’ve likely got a new follower (s).
Schedule Twitter time – Schedule time for your social media profiles like Twitter and Facebook. Mind you, the best ideas come offline.
Use Google Reader – It is a great way to get streamed headlines on keywords that you want to follow. Consequently, you can use it to share great links and news with your readers.
Brand your Twitter page – Have a background page with your company logo and brand colors. It will help you create brand recognition.
Post less – Don’t post a hundred tweets in a day. Most people will unfollow you or nobody would be reading what you posted. Share premium tweets and converse with your users more, rather than just tweeting away.
Use Google Analytics - After implementing everything, you want to measure the traffic directed from Twitter to your blog or website. So use GA for the same.
Involve employees – For a startup, it is encourage to get your employees to join Twitter and become part of the conversation. This is a twitter tip that is extremely powerful and under-utilized.
Sync Twitter with LinkedIn - Syncing your LinkedIn account with your Twitter account can make your Twitter activities much more relevant to business.
Be helpful – Helping your followers with their problems related to the industry you are in without any motives of sales or advertising can prove to be a great long-term investment.
Appreciate RTs – If a user has retweeted or mentioned about your business. Make sure you let them know how appreciated it is.
Use keywords in your tweets – This is a bit of back-to-basic tip, but it is very important not to forget it so that you can be found in relevant searches when someone does it.
Make them feel important - Use @ to send users an interesting article related to their interests, “Saw this interesting story about you/your company in the news.” or “This might be something you find interesting.”
Optimize your Avatar – You definitely have to lose the preset egg. Then if you want to use your face or the company logo will be the startup owners choice to make.
Use Twitter Directories – Use sites such as Connect.me or Listorious to discover and get discovered. Plus, as a reputation management tool.
Add your Twitter URL to your business cards.
Follow power users – Follow awesome power users like Kevin Rose @kevinrose, Pete Cashmore @mashable and Guy Kawaski @GuyKawaski
You can follow me @vivekkrishnan
Tip #60
Enjoy Twitter! It is meant as a platform for you to share, converse and enjoy with other people. So enjoy your time at Twitter. All work and no play, makes Twitter a dull place for you as well as your users. These tips are useful for startup and businesses.
Let me know your views in the comments section below.
