How to get the most from Twitter Building a rewarding business & personal network Steve Phillip Director Linked2Success Linked2Success Limited
Contents Page Why Twitter 3 Where do you start? 4 Planning your strategy 5 Target your market 6 Personal or business profile? 7 Twitter glossary 8 Creating your Twitter profile 9 Twitter s Home page 10 The @Connect page - who s interacting with you? 11 The #Discover page find people & tweets 12 Your Twitter strategy 13 Early Twitter actions 14 Building your followers 15 How to tweet 16 Using Twitter lists to build relationships 17 How to shorten website URL links 18 Using Advanced search to useful people & tweets 19 Managing your social media time 20 Actions for networking & relationship building 21 Summary & other Linked2Success services 22 2
Why Twitter? At the time of writing, over 500 million tweets are sent from Twitter by 200 million active users worldwide - the UK alone has almost 24 million users. Possibly the most misunderstood of all the social media sites, its uses stretch well beyond celebrity chit chat & people telling others what they ve had for lunch. In its simplest form Twitter allows you to; build business relationships; enter into conversation, on almost any topic around the world, network and have fun, all from one platform. Understanding how you get the most from Twitter, at a level that is relevant to you, is of course the challenge. Like any other social media, Twitter is simply a tool - it will produce results for your business but your best outcomes will be achieved when using this platform hand in hand with other online & offline marketing approaches. This e-reference guide is designed to support Linked2Success training programmes, where we share our combined expertise of more than 9 years, engaging with LinkedIn & social media as business users. To create a Twitter account visit http://www.twitter.com. You may receive an authentication message by email to confirm your account set up. 3
Where do you start? Ok, let s be clear; unless you re going to get serious about using Twitter as part of your business development strategy then don t expect it to do anything miraculous for your business. You re going to need a plan and you re going to need to apply some time more in the early stages to get results from Twitter. Your starting point has to be understanding of why you chose to sign up to Twitter in the first place; peer pressure, curiosity, you need to generate more new or repeat business? Once you know clearly why you signed up, don t attempt to plan your Twitter strategy until you ve spent some time finding your way around the site. The quickest way to understand Twitter is to look at what some of your colleagues, peers, competitors are doing; what do their profiles look like, what are they tweeting, are they commenting on other s tweets, sharing useful content, are you impressed with how they re marketing themselves or could you do significantly better? Do your research then move to the next step... set some goals. 4
Plan your strategy One of the most important considerations when using Social Media is measuring the results against your objectives. Before you can measure results, you need to know what your objectives are and with Twitter they could be numerous and varied. Here are some examples; 1. Generating new leads - your Twitter strategy will be focused on following targeted prospects that are also on Twitter and directing them, via your tweets, to another social media or website landing page, where you will have useful information waiting for them. Perhaps you have an offer which will pull contacts into your email lists, etc. This could include specifically targeted campaigns. 2. Your objective might be to improve customer service - to be able to communicate better with your customers, business partners, suppliers and interact with them regularly to build stronger relationships or share new product/service ideas. You could use Twitter to set up a listening strategy (more about this later) and respond to tweets about your services or your industry. 3. Perhaps you would like to position yourself as an expert - the go to person in your industry? To increase your profile or brand presence, you will want to ensure you have a professionally completed Twitter profile (maybe a personal & a business profile more about this later) showcasing your products & services. You will also want to share thought leadership in relevant forums and engage with your target audience. 4. You may simply want to network or engage with others on Twitter. 5
Target your market accurately Before using Twitter, for any of the reasons I just highlighted, it's important that you consider some key questions about the people you want to connect with: 1. What industry sector are they in? 2. Which specific companies do they work for? 3. What is the job title of the key decision makers? 4. Where are these contacts located geographically? So, with these considerations in mind, what are your top 3 objectives for using Twitter? List your 3 main objectives 1. 2. 3. How much time are you prepared to commit (realistically) to using Twitter? Hours per week 6
Personal profile, business profile or both? When we first started using Twitter, we encountered a problem. At the time there were 2 of us posting content from our main business profile @linked2success and some tweets were business related, others more personal. When it came to the personal Twitter account, none of our followers knew which one of us personally was tweeting which would create confusion. Then we decided to create 2 types of profiles, one predominantly for business @linked2success & individual accounts such as @linked2steve etc, where we could be ourselves. This strategy will be explained in more depth later. Now, let s take a look at how you create a professional Twitter profile First go to the top right hand corner of your profile and using the drop down menu next to the cog, select Edit profile Top tips: The search bar at the top right of this page allows you to enter key words or hashtag words to follow people of interest or relevant topics or news. The quill icon in the top right corner is one of two places you can create a tweet from; the other is from the Home page. 7
Your Twitter Glossary When joining Twitter for the first time, just grasping the language can be somewhat of a challenge. However, once you understand some of the basic terms, you ll soon be hash tagging with the best of them. The following is a list of the more common terms used by users on Twitter and the ones you will want to become familiar with. NB: As of October 2013, you can now alter your own settings to allow anyone to Direct Message you, even if you have not chosen to follow them. We will take a closer look at some of these terms in more depth later in this book. 8
Creating your Twitter profile A Twitter profile is pretty simple. Firstly, you can add 2 photos: Your Photo is your smaller profile photo this will appear as an inset in your main header image and will also be what others see at the beginning of every tweet you post. The Header photo is the larger image now seen on all new Twitter profiles (Follow Twitter s guidelines for images sizes). Top tips: Use images that represent your brand well Include your real business or personal name, website & location so you are found easily in Twitter searches. You are limited to 160 characters for your Biog - make sue you include key words to increase visibility when others are searching for your services on Twitter. Also clearly explain how you can be of help to your target audience and try and get across some personality if at all possible Remember Twitter is much more social than LinkedIn when it comes to building relationships. You could consider using the Design tab to create a bespoke background for your Twitter page if you prefer, although this is not crucial you can select from Twitter s own templates or add an image of your own. NB: Make sure you save any changes before leaving the page. 9
Twitter s home page The home page is your default landing page, you can access your profile page by clicking your name at the top left of this page. Under your name you can see how many tweets you ve sent, how many people you re following & who s following you just click on them to see a list of each. From this page you can also compose a tweet (choose to add a photo or your location when you click in the compose box ). You can also type/paste a web link http://... into your tweet, which becomes clickable when others view it but will add to the total number of characters used. Top tip: You have just 140 characters per tweet adding photos and web links will reduce the number of available characters so try to get your message across as concisely as possible. All tweets on this page are from people you are following Twitter suggests people you might like to follow based on your Twitter activity, such as who you choose to follow. Trends are the most popular discussions currently on Twitter. You can select the Change link to provide a list of trending tweets more relevant to you. 10
The @connect page who you re interacting with This page provides a record of any interactions you ve had with other Twitter users, such as who s mentioned you, who you ve had conversations with and who s followed you. Top tips The Interactions menu shows any interaction with other users. The Mentions menu shows where your specific @username has been included in someone else s tweet. This page provides a useful reflection of how much engagement your own Twitter activity is creating and whether it s working or if you need to revisit the type of content you re posting. Suggestions as to who to follow and current tweet trends are shown on the left side of this page. 11
Using the #Discover page to find people and useful tweets The #Discover page, as the name suggests, allows you discover/find people and content on Twitter that could be useful to you. On this page, Twitter also provides you with news Tweets tailored to you. News is determined by your activity on Twitter, such as key words you use and people you follow or interact with. You can also use this page to search for people you know who are on Twitter as well as browsing different categories of content which you might find useful or is aligned to your interests. Top tips: Use the Find friends tab to search for people by entering their full name or @username Use the Who to follow tab to see a list of suggestions from Twitter based on other people you are following & more Twitter trends are also accessible from this page. 12
Your Twitter strategy Remind yourself what is your reason for being on Twitter? Answering this question will determine your strategy. There are 2 strategies: 1) a broadcast to many approach; 2) an individual relationship & networking strategy. Broadcasting tips Use a business focused profile to share useful content, news about your business, clients, events but go easy on too much self promotion Relationship building tips This is about following relevant people on Twitter, leaving positive & authentic comments about their tweets or retweeting their content Twitter is a social tool, in the main and personal users will often use this platform to reflect their own personalities, adding humour where appropriate, sharing their views on issues & topics, just as if they were socialising in a bar in a town s business district. However, it is difficult to do this if you purely have a business profile a logo is not quite so good at networking compared to a person. If more than one team member is using Twitter then you may want to consider having a business profile for broadcasting and individual, branded accounts for personal networking. 13
Early Twitter actions Remember, as soon as you open an account, it is visible to the world. So, before you start to build relationships, your profile needs to be complete. There s no point following your next big potential client on Twitter & them seeing a profile that represents your brand poorly. Here s a list of profile edit actions you need to complete next 1. Add your profile & header photos 2. Add your real name i.e. Linked2Success Limited 3. Add your full http:// website address 4. Include your location so you can be found in searches 5. Create a keyword rich biog about how you help your clients 6. Will you use the Design template to create a background? 7. Become familiar with the Home, @Connect, #Discover pages Twitter profiles do not require much work to create. However, a poor photograph or badly worded biog will soon put a potential client off your business or you personally. 14
Building your followers Is it important that you have many followers? Well, consider an advertising billboard positioned in Trafalgar Square or one on a quiet backstreet - which would receive the most viewers? The average life of a tweet is approximately 30 seconds. For your tweet to be seen by just a handful of followers they would need to be checking their Twitter feeds, just as you had tweeted. The more of the right followers you have the more chance your message will be seen by your target audience. How to build followers: Follow others - often they'll follow you back. Use the Find Friends option (see page 12) to search via your email accounts such as Yahoo or send a direct email invitation if you know the person s email address. Follow your competitors - see who's following them their followers could be useful to you. Simply scroll down the list and follow (simply click the large blue Follow button) any users you feel are relevant. Follow your clients - they will usually follow you back, as well as retweet your messages & engage with you more than unknown contacts. Check out your LinkedIn connection s Contact info & follow connections if they have a Twitter account present. NB: To follow more than 2000 contacts, you must have at least 1,819 followers or Twitter will not let you follow any more people. If you reach this limit you could consider unfollowing anyone who isn't following you back by using a site such as tweepie.com. 15
Let s start tweeting Before you tweet, you need to be clear about the outcome you want to achieve; is this a broadcasting message, if so have you included a link to useful content you d like your followers to click on? Do you want to capture the attention of another Twitter user if so have you included their @username? Is a #hashtag appropriate perhaps if you want to engage with others on a particular topic? Top tips Use the @username to direct a public conversation to that user Retweet or RT other users content - considered good Twitter etiquette & it will encourage them to respond to you positively Use a hashtag # or click on other s hashtags to engage in conversations relating to specific topics Direct message or DM other users (they must be following you, unless they have changed their settings to enable anyone to DM them) if you prefer to engage with them privately Include a call to action or call out in your tweet i.e. ask a question or suggest visiting your website or other social media site and provide the necessary link. Remember you have just 140 characters to get across your message, including links or images, so make it count. Be concise and ensure you include a response call out. 16
Use Twitter lists to build individual relationships Twitter lists are a vital part of your relationship building strategy. Being able to view only tweets posted by those you specifically want to engage with means you can easily and quickly respond and engage with your target contacts. From the Me menu option, select Lists from the left side of the page. Now click create a list. Top tips Make sure you choose Private if you don t want your list to be seen by others (users you place in a public list are notified as such) Don t put too many people in each list this will ensure you won t miss a tweet from an important user. Max number of members is 500. Who can be placed in a list? Anyone you follow or that is following you. Contacts can be placed in multiple lists - you can have a maximum of 20 lists at any one time. A public list can be subscribed to by any other Twitter user, who can also view members in that list Retweet or comment on tweets from those you would like a response from. Although you cannot tweet to a list of contacts, managing your list effectively will allow you select what you would like to listen out for on Twitter and respond to other s tweets and raise your brand profile with those contacts it s important to do so with. 17
Using short URL links to get your message across One of the objectives of being on Twitter is to broadcast useful content to your followers. Often the best way to share your content is by directing followers to a URL link, perhaps your own website. A particularly long web page URL will obviously use up a lot of your 140 Twitter characters, such as the one on the image to the left. There are a number of ways to shorten URL links for Twitter use and one of the most popular is Bit.ly.com it s free and allows you to paste a much shorter link, ensuring there s space for you to include a more detailed description in your tweet message. Twitter does have its own link shortening option, which is available by using the tweet message composer (the quill inside a white box surround), accessed from the top right corner of your Twitter page. Unfortunately, using this option, you will not know how much shorter the link has become until the tweet has been posted. 18
Twitter s advanced search tool When using the search bar to find a particular user name, hashtag topic or key word you may not always find precisely what you're looking for. Fortunately, Twitter has its own advanced search facility to enable you input additional data. From any set of search results, select the drop down menu next to the cog button. This search facility allows you to look for tweets from or to specific Twitter user accounts, as well as searching for tweets by hash tag. You can even search for tweets that include specific key words & phrases and tweets from different geographic locations. For more precise key word results, Twitter also has its own search operators. For example if you want to search for tweets containing the exact phrase happy hour, then entering happy hour using double speech marks will provide you with a list of tweets containing this phrase. You can also search for tweets that contain a question and even tweets by their positive or negative comments. Twitter is often described as being simply full of noise and only relevant to celebrities who want to share their lives with their fans. However, if you re clear about your business objectives who you want to build relationships with and what information is important for you to keep abreast of then Twitter will be an incredibly useful tool. 19
Managing your social media time One of your biggest challenges will be finding time to build social media into your business development and marketing weekly activities. However, there are a number of tools available that will help you manage all your social media accounts from one single platform tools such as: http://www.tweetdeck.com http://www.sproutsocial.com http://www.postling.com http://www.hootsuite.com http://www.pagelever.com http://www.edgerankchecker.com http://www.socialbakers.com http://www.twitsprout.com http://www.postplanner.com At Linked2Success we use Hootsuite, particularly because in the early days it provided more functionality than its main rival, Twitter s own Tweetdeck. Times have moved on and although the various sites above offer similar options, they will have certain differences and it will be worth you spending time to review 2 or 3 such sites and see which suit your requirements. Benefits of these sites include the ability to set up information you need to see from each of your social media sites and view it all from one page without having to log in to each account. Another extremely useful time saving feature is the ability to schedule your tweets, LinkedIn status updates, Facebook posts and more for days, weeks, even months ahead. 20
Twitter networking & relationship building actions Once you ve created your personal Twitter profile(s), you are now you re ready to start building your network and engaging with your connections. Here s a list of actions you need to complete next 1. Start following search Twitter or use LinkedIn 2. Research see how similar businesses are using Twitter 3. Practise create some tweets, add hashtags etc 4. Lists create some lists, add contacts to these lists 5. Engage comment & retweet useful contacts tweets 6. Twitter search use search.twitter.com to find useful tweets 7. Review 3 rd party tools to manage your time social on media Clearly the more time you have available for business development the better. However, if you re limited to just an hour a week you can still achieve a lot using Twitter you ll simply have to determine which activity is most suitable, in line with your business objectives. 21
Summary This e-reference guide covers the basic requirements to start generating new business from Twitter and many of the suggestions can also be applied to using other forms of social media such as LinkedIn or Facebook. However, each social media site does differ in both its functionality and application so it may be that you would like help to master these also. For further information on the following services please click on the relevant link below: Social media strategy & policy Social media training for teams (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) Social media training for individuals (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) Post training coaching support to achieve business objectives Outsource your LinkedIn and social media activity to us Linked2Success can speak at your event or conference This document is intended for use by Linked2Success clients and selected contacts only and has not been designed for public distribution or resale. LINKED2SUCCESS Limited Registered address: Tattersall House, East Parade, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG1 5LT. http://www.linked2success.co.uk e:info@linked2success.co.uk t:01423223400 LinkedIn / Twitter / Facebook / YouTube 22