1 October 2018 - Richard Shire
We recently won the Theo Paphitis #SBS (Small Business Sunday) competition on Twitter which as you can imagine, we were extremely excited about. Theo Paphitis has more than 490,000 followers and every week he selects just 6 entries to retweet, giving each of those businesses much appreciated exposure and potentially growing their audience significantly. This experience reminded us of the power of Twitter but we know that so many of our clients find it overwhelming. Twitter is a melting pot; yes it is packed with D list celebrities and it certainly has its fair share of trolls but it is also a platform that allows you to connect with pretty much anyone. You can use Twitter as an extension of your brand, sharing your message and building personal relationships
In this post we would like to share with you 5 practical steps so that you can use Twitter to grow your audience too.
Once you are set up the first thing we recommend you do is find other users. Just like a website, you can’t expect them to just find you, you have to put in the effort. Consider your industry and look for other leaders and influencers in your niche, follow both them and their followers. Most of the time people follow back those who have followed them so this is a good way to build your profile without taking the cringing step of asking people to follow you.
Your Twitter posts can be very eclectic, you are only allowed 280 characters so you don’t have to write an essay (although when people want to rant about something they write Tweet after Tweet creating a Thread. You don’t need to do this)! Aim to Tweet between 1 – 5 times a day and consider topics such as your day, your happy clients, give tips and advice that your ideal clients will find useful. You might even share a motivational post or comment on a popular TV show. Of course you can post promotional Tweets as well with links to your products but don’t overwhelm your account with them, people will get bored. Remember people come onto Twitter to be social not to be sold to.
One great tip when considering content is to look at what the influencers and leaders in your field are sharing and how their followers are engaging. If you desire to have the same audience then this is valuable research.
Part of your Tweeting process should also be retweets. This is when you share someone else’s Tweet. This is a fabulous easy way to get more engagement as you haven’t actually got to think about what to say!
Just make sure every single Tweet and retweet is on message and in line with your business. Be respectful of others and be aware that everything you put on the internet is there forever. You are always representing your businesses reputation and one thoughtless Tweet can cause a lot of problems.
The humble # is king on Twitter. By placing it before keywords, your posts and your business becomes more visible. People use hashtags to search for content on Twitter so using the right ones for your industry will bring the right people to your account. Once again look at the influencers and what they are using, you can also do a simple Google search for the hashtags to use in your industry. You only need between 1 – 3 in each post, the character limit on Twitter restricts many more.
What makes Twitter so exciting is you can start a conversation with these people very easily and it’s nothing like cold calling. All you have to do is search Twitter for conversations and you can look at what other people are saying. As website designers, we will often look for conversations about web design and then simply join in. Offering valuable information and advice. We never sell in these conversations or push our services, we just demonstrate our knowledge and open the dialogue.
The Theo Paphitis SBS (Small Business Sunday) competition is a perfect example of this. There are many other events on Twitter that actively give small businesses a platform on which to reach more people and network. Once again you can Google search your industry for specific hashtags but also look in your area. Most counties have an evening dedicated to local businesses, for example #Midlandshour is on a Wednesday at 8pm or #Bradfordhour is on a Thursday at the same time. Keep your eye out for other hashtags such as #bizhour #b2bhour #connectfriday as well. Find what is relevant for you and show up consistently willing to make conversation, add value and build relationships.
Once your ideal client has found you on Twitter they might want to find out more by visiting your website. When this happens you want to be prepared, you want to make sure that your site is representing you well and engaging your visitors. Otherwise the hard work you have put into social media will be wasted. Connect with us here at Aspire Shire and let us talk you through a free quote and show you how we can increase your conversions on your website.