50 Tips for Using Twitter For Business

Can we really deny the fact that companies have been testing out Twitter for business as part of their journey into the social media landscape? You can say it’s a stupid application, that no business gets done there, but there are too many of us (including me) that can disagree and point out the business value. You don’t have to be a celebrity anymore to be on Twitter (though it does help draw an audience/followers), there is a place for Twitter for business. I’m not going to address the naysayers much with this. Instead, I’m going to offer 50 thoughts for people looking to use Twitter for business. And by “business,” I mean anything from a solo act to a huge enterprise client, non-profits and education.

You don’t have to agree or adopt all of them, but hopefully you will find a nugget, or a few, that will be meaningful in your particular situation.

1. Build an account and immediately start using Twitter Search to “listen” for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your industry or space. (Aren’t we taught to listen first?)
2. Add a picture. (My daughter Chloe reminds me of this.) We want to see you, yes – even if you haven’t had a hit song.
3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more stuff, at least right away, but it shows us you’re human. Using Twitter for business starts with reaching people in their business.
4. Point out interesting things in your space. Don’t make it just about you. This is a step on the path to becoming a thought leader in your industry.
5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
6. Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
8. Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
9. Throw in a few humans, like @billgates, @barackobama etc. @beyonce? Maybe on rare occasions. Noodle on this a moment, Beyonce has over 14 MILLION followers.
10. Talk about non-business, too, like @garywilliams627 who loves to tweet about his kids as well as his business.

Ideas About WHAT to Tweet

11. Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
12. Have more than one “twitterer” at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have variety.
13. When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
14. Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
15. Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who they follows, and follow them back.
16. Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, this may not directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
17. When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
18. Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things while using Twitter for business.
19. Don’t toot your own horn too much. (Says someone that’s been guilty once or twice. – Side note: I’ve gotta stop tooting my own horn).
20. Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too. Karma, in my experience, is a real thing.

Some Sanity For You

21. You don’t have to read every tweet.
22. You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty). It can get overwhelming, like internet dating.
23. Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation.
24. Use services like Twitter Search to see if someone’s talking about you. Try to participate where it makes sense.
25. 3rd party clients like Tweetdeck  make it a lot easier to manage Twitter.
26. If you tweet all day while your coworkers are busy, you’re going to hear about it.
27. If you’re representing clients and billing hours, and tweeting all the time, you might hear about it.
28. Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and Bit.ly and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
29. If someone says you’re using twitter wrong, forget it. It’s an opt-out society. They can unfollow if they don’t like how you use it. Use Twitter for business your way.
30. Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.

The Negatives People Will Throw At You

31. Twitter takes up time, or the more pessimistic view, Twitter is a complete waste of time. (i.e. Those new fangled home computers will never catch on.)
32. Twitter for business takes you away from other productive work.
33. Without a strategy, it’s just typing.
34. There are other ways to do this.
35. As I hear often, Twitter doesn’t replace customer service, but it can be a supplement, and shows that you’re on the bleeding edge for those early adopters.
36. Twitter is buggy and not enterprise-ready. All software is buggy all the time. Get used to it.
37. Twitter is just for techno geeks and iPhone users.
38. Twitter’s only a heading to 300 million people by the end of the year…and they’re not my target audience. Really?
39. Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing. Well something should!
40. Twitter for business opens the company up to more criticism and complaining.

Some Positives to Throw Back

41. Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups).
42. Twitter works very well as an opinion poll.
43. Twitter for business can help direct people’s attention to good things.
44. Twitter at events helps people build an instant “backchannel.”
45. Twitter breaks news faster than other sources, often (especially if the news impacts online denizens). It is not unusual for Tweets to hit police stations and fire houses before the 911 call, sad but true.
46. Twitter for business gives a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization.
47. Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn.
48. Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them. Rather have them in the open than lurking in the shadows
49. Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online (mine are) – and thanks for reading through #49!
50. Twitter for business can augment customer service. (but see above)