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While Twitter might appear to be dipping in popularity among casual social media users, its value for businesses is still undeniable.
But that’s not to say that Twitter is the same as it’s always been. Due to algorithm updates to evolved user tendencies, simply getting content into news feeds doesn’t work like it once did.
For your business to really leverage Twitter and make it a valuable investment for your brand, you’re going to want to emphasize a few of the following features:
Lead Generation
Well, of course! You don’t make many sales without cultivating leads, and Twitter is no exception. However, the platform comes with its own unique set of rules and tips that you’ll need to keep in mind if you want to effectively generate leads:
- Position your business as a solution to a problem (in the fewest characters possible)
- Keep your tweets short! Longer tweets often get scanned over.
- Limit hashtags to one or two per tweet. More than that, and it’ll start looking like spam.
- Research optimal Twitter posting times and trial them for your own business. Then create a posting schedule.
- Promote your tweets when possible (we’ll talk about this shortly).
- Make individual connections as often as you can. The “mass audience” method isn’t nearly as effective on Twitter.
List Building
With all of the noise on Twitter, your business is going to struggle to be effective if you don’t stay organized.
One of the best ways to stay organized is by using the “list” feature – Twitter’s secret weapon. By segmenting your audience into different lists, you’ll know exactly who your target audience is in each group; and this will maximize your time on the platform. Use lists to segment leads, and you’ll improve your lead nurturing on Twitter by leaps and bounds.
There are limitless possibilities when it comes to building lists. By filtering complaints or customer service issues into a list, you’re able to streamline the review process and expedite your responses. By filtering people who retweet your content regularly, you’re able to deploy an “army” of sorts – one who you know will help spread your message.
Ads and Promoted Posts
If your business is on any social media platform, it’s in your best interest to have a budget that you can spend on building ads or promoting your content. When it comes to Twitter – where both ads and post promotions can be purchased – you have two avenues by which you can supplement your content’s organic reach with paid reach.
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With an ad, specifically, you’re able to choose an objective before your post goes live. If you’re looking to drive more traffic to your website, you might select “website clicks or conversions.” If you’re looking to build up your list of followers on Twitter, you might select, “followers.” Of course, ads come with a plethora of features and options. If you’re brand new to Twitter advertising, there are some great tutorials where you can learn the ins and outs!
Ads might be a great way for your business to gain new followers and generate leads, but don’t neglect promoted posts either! Given how quickly content passes through Twitter feeds (and usually it’s a matter of seconds, not minutes or hours), your business’s tweets are only going to reach but a fraction of its potential audience, organically.
Tracking
When you publish an ad or promote a post, you’re taking a shot in the dark unless you make an effort to track its performance.
The first way in which you can track the basic progress of a post is through the “Tweet Activity” button, which appears at the bottom of every post you release into the Twitterverse. Click on Tweet Activity and get instant insights into your post’s impressions, engagements, profile clicks, hashtag clicks, link clicks, and plenty of other options.
And while this tool is fantastic for viewing real-time results, it’s hardly a good method for tracking your return on investment (ROI). If you put money into social media, you should expect to see increased conversions over time as a result. For better ROI tracking, you should make use of transaction values and key conversion tags. You can easily implement these when you use Twitter in tandem with your website or landing page.
Too many businesses merely exist on Twitter; but in capable hands, Twitter can actually be a powerful tool for your small business. Invest in a few of these important features, and you’ll see your business’s Twitter presence grow!
