Of all the new social media platforms around today, Twitter is still one of the most effective ways of reaching your audience and building a relationship with new customers. Conversely, it’s also one of the toughest platforms to figure out how to use effectively, especially if you’re new to the social media world.

Even if you’re an Instagram and Facebook wiz, Twitter can still leave you feeling a little lost. What do you post? What do you retweet? More importantly, how do you get others to retweet, tag and generally engage with you so you get some help building your brand?

There is no magic answer. The truth is that no one knows your business like you do and discovering your niche is different for every business, even different for each social media platform; so what may work for you on Instagram or Facebook may not work on Twitter. Here’s what makes Twitter different, and what you need to know before you tackle the Twittersphere to build your brand.

Straight From the Blue Bird’s Mouth

Take it from Twitter Business, every tweet was not created equal. Before you press send on a post, there are several things you need to keep in mind. The first is the character limit. Yes, tweets, unlike Instagram and Facebook posts, are limited to just 140 characters. That includes emojis, spaces between words and punctuation. While this may feel limiting at first, it’s best to think of it as liberating. You don’t have to write a novel. In fact, you don’t even want to give away the whole story. Use tweets about your business to spark an interest in your followers and prospective followers. Include a link to your website so they can learn or read more about a product or a blog post. This is how you convert tweets to sales, by driving that traffic to your website.

Another tip from Twitter Business is a no-brainer: Use pictures, video and GIFs to grab the attention of scrolling potential customers. If you don’t have any media attached to your tweet, then the verbiage needs to be extremely compelling to get liked or retweeted.

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Join the Conversation

When tweeting about a trending topic, it goes without saying to include the trending hashtag in your tweet. But what many tweeters fail to realize is that in order to join the conversation, you must do more than just throw your two cents into the ring. Once you post your tweet, click on the hashtag you used. Now you’re taken to a feed of all the people who have posted using this hashtag as well. Go through and like numerous tweets that you identify with, reply to tweets that you find specifically relevant and repost one or two that you think your followers would appreciate. This is how you drum up new followers, favorites and retweets. And it’s not just a technique to use for trending hashtags, although that’s when it’s most effective. It’s important to stay on top of relevant hashtags daily by interacting with people who use them.

Bring Something to the Table

Twitter is a great way to share your business with the world, but it’s also a platform in which you can bring value to your customers and potential customers in unexpected ways. Orkin Pest Control has got this concept down to a science. They use artistic photography, blog posts and humor to deliver value to their followers. If your entire feed is just talking about your business, you’re not going to gain many followers. Remember that no one is as interested in your business as you are, and that people buy things based off of emotion, not logic. They are also on social media to be entertained, and shopping is (hopefully) a byproduct. Scroll through the Orkin twitter page, you’ll find a Charlotte’s Web GIF as well as a blog post about what makes fireflies glow. These are loosely related to pest control and designed to pique interest, not sell something specific.

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This article is published by Will Sherwood | The Sherwood Group |Website Design | Graphic Design | Marketing Communications: The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising,  graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering,  Now what do we do?”  We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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