Running a corporate Twitter account can seem like a daunting task. Have no fear, just use this guide to avoid some common Twitter faux pas.
- Do follow accounts that you are interested in and are relevant to your company. When you follow accounts that are similar to yours they are more likely to follow you in return. As your number of followers grows so will the popularity of your company.
Don’t follow random accounts just to gain followers. You should be interested in the people you follow so when they view your account it is obvious why you followed them.
Example: If you run a plumbing company and someone in your area tweets about their malfunctioning shower, it would be acceptable to follow that person. They are a potential costumer and following them will let them know of your company. - Do tweet regularly. Twitter can be used as a method of building relationships with current and future costumers. When you tweet more often your followers will become familiar with your company.
Don’t tweet excessively. Spamming will lose you followers and can annoy the ones that don’t unfollow you.
Example: As a general rule tweet at least once a day, but not more than once an hour. You can even queue your tweets by using a third-party plug-in like Tweue. - Do abbreviate if necessary. When you only have 140 characters to communicate a message you have to make every letter count.
Don’t abbreviate your entire tweet. Your followers need to be able to discern what you are trying to say, so try to avoid shorthand unless the text won’t fit otherwise.
Example: Say you wanted to tweet the message “Stop by our store today to receive a 20 percent discount on any item of your choice! This is a One-Day-Only offer, so take advantage of it while you can!” This is seven characters too long. You could shorten it by changing One-Day-Only to 1Day-Only and 20 percent to 20%. - Do interact with your followers. Try to check your replies, mentions and direct messages at least once a day to see what people are saying about your company.
Don’t use bot services to retweet. In fact, don’t use bot services at all. You will end up spamming and losing followers, and you might even get your account suspended.
Example: If you see a tweet that mentions your company and links to good review, this is something that is acceptable to retweet to your followers. - Do take advantage of hashtags. By creating a hashtag that people want to use in their own tweets, you are attracting attention to your company.
Don’t hashtag everything. Make sure if you use a hash tag that it is directly related to your company and your followers.
Example: If your company’s tag line is “I’m lovin’ it,” add the hashtag #ImLovinIt to a tweet. Your followers might post something similar and use the same hashtag. If enough people use your hashtag it could even end up being a Trending Topic.
