If you choose to participate on Twitter, don’t be a tweeter everyone dodges. It’s not good for business. Instead, focus on listening, adding valuable content to discussions, and building reciprocal relationships.
Knowing the right strategies to successfully tweet will lead to an increase in your website traffic, a boost in online exposure, and position you as an expert in your industry.
Familiarize yourself with the top five twitter don’ts:
1. Don’t be negative: Avoid complaining and being viewed as a Debbie Downer. No one wants to read tweets that have negative connotations—it doesn’t add anything constructive to the conversation and discourages followers from following you. This doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with someone. As long as you are polite and still add value to the conversation, you are more than welcome to disagree.
2. Don’t blatantly market and promote your business on Twitter: People don’t use Twitter to be bombarded with advertisements; therefore, don’t use Twitter as an advertising platform for your company. If you want to build a solid Twitter network with working relationships, you must first listen and actively participate in conversations relevant to your interests or industry. Once you have built a solid network and reciprocal connections, you can begin posting links to a few articles, blogs, or informative pieces about your company that you believe would provide value to your followers. However, be careful not to abuse your newly acquired position on Twitter. If you start to only tweet for business purposes once you feel comfortable with your network, you’ll immediately be back to square one. But this time, people will know not to follow you.
3. Don’t do all the talking: Twitter is very much like a cocktail or dinner party— traditional social etiquette applies. For example, no one wants to listen to a chatterbox go off on a tangent about himself for an hour. The same idea goes for Twitter—no one wants to be tweeted at. Rather, Twitter is used for those who want to have intellectual discussions that provide every party in the conversation with valuable information. In the end, successful and solid relationships are built, and a network is created. By building relationships online, you can increase your exposure to potential clients and others in your industry.
4. Don’t neglect your Twitter account: Many people think that by setting up a Twitter account, they’ll automatically get followers and people interested in what they have to say. Some businesses even use autotweets—something that is frowned upon by the Twitter community. If you want Twitter followers, you need to work for them. You won’t build solid relationships if you’re not constantly present on Twitter. But how often should you tweet? Several times a day, throughout the day. Don’t pile all your tweets in during the morning. Space your tweets out in order to reach those who go on Twitter in the afternoon as opposed to the morning. Since fresh tweets always rise to the top of Twitter homepages, yours will most certainly be missed by those who go on several hours after you tweet. Keep fresh and valuable information constantly streaming through your Twitter account.
5. Don’t get discouraged when people you follow don’t follow you: Twitter is a great place to find fresh and useful information, which is why it’s much more beneficial for you to focus on finding people you are interested in following. If you provide valuable information, they may consider following you. Also, it’s not about the quantity of followers you have—it’s about the quality. Having just a few followers who provide you with valuable feedback and information and who are excellent connections for you to have are much more beneficial than having thousands of followers who don’t provide you with anything useful.
Two Twitter lessons to remember:
1. Proper social etiquette is essential on Twitter.
2. The Twittersphere can be a harsh place, which is why it’s important to always keep your Twitter dos and donts in mind.
Not familiar with the Twitter dos yet? Visit our recent S?mèr post, Top Five Twitter Dos.
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