5 Tips to Help You Use Twitter as a Valuable Marketing Tool

With over 320 million monthly active users, Twitter provides a great way to engage with customers and prospects in real time, anytime. Twitter reports there are currently 58 million Tweets sent per day and it thrives on this fast pace of hot topics. However, with a 140-character limit for each post as well as new content every second, it’s also one of the most challenging social media platforms to use effectively.

Here are 5 tips to help you use Twitter as a valuable marketing tool:

1. Showcase your brand. Make sure your Twitter profile compliments your brand representation on other social networks, and your handle is easily recognizable as belonging to your business or personal brand. Take full advantage of your account profile to present your elevator pitch.

2. Look & listen for existing conversations (see the list of trending #’s Twitter shows) to join instead of sending cold Tweets. Do a keyword search to see what’s trending about your product or industry and join the conversation. Use Twitter Analytics to see the top 10 followed accounts of your followers to discover what they are looking for. Then, share information about what you know best and establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

3. Be straightforward and honest. Your Tweets should be an extension of your brand’s voice. Be straightforward and honest – try to trick people and you’ll quickly lose your audience. Only include essential information in your Tweets as using fewer than 100 characters in your Tweets boosts engagement by 20%.

4. Be visual. Twitter has followed suit of other large social networks in placing greater importance on visual content. You can attach up to 4 images per Tweet and videos can be tweeted as well, including sharing Vine videos. Don’t overdo it though, remember, Twitter is for fast, short messages.

5. Keep track. Twitter offers analytics data for all accounts, which gives you more insight than an independent service might, and is the easiest way to track the ever-changing trending topics of your audience. Using this feature you can track follower increases, Tweet engagement and audience demographics such as gender and location.

It will take some time and experimentation to find the right engagement level for your brand on Twitter. Add visual content, be concise, and contribute your knowledge to trending conversations in your industry. Test your Tweets at different points in the day, and check your analytics regularly to track key data. Whatever your method, if you can engage on Twitter, do it. You’ll build stronger business relationships and ensure that more people notice your brand.