With markets booming, the need for businesses to turn to the digital medium for marketing is necessitated. Twitter being a vital customer engaging social media platform, the number of businesses on it are multiplying by the hour. Sure, many of us follow businesses on Twitter for their exclusive promos and offers. But as ardent fans of marketing, some of us enjoy the clever campaigns brands post and we may even get inspired. But if a business is all about advertising, it can cause consumers to stop following them instantly. Just because Twitter is free, doesn't mean a business can spam followers constantly with links/ads and still expect them to keep following. Business accounts on social media should be something worth following. Gaining and retaining followers is paramount. Being creative, clever and consistent with tweets sends a clear message that you as a brand care and value your customers.
Business accounts are viewed to be both professional and human in the eyes of their followers. We can lose sight of who we are following and who's following us, if the tweets get a little too “spammy” with repeated promos and offers back-to-back. In these cases the Twitter account might be viewed as unauthentic, and misleading followers into thinking that it is not an “official” account, thereby leading them to click the unfollow button.
Image Courtesy: Transworld Business
We've gathered tips & tricks on important Twitter etiquette for business accounts from this outboundengine article:
- Think Before Tagging
Tagging people in photos is a great way to expose you and your business to their friends. But it's generally a bad idea to tweet at people using their @ handles with a link to your article. To @ every person you follow in your industry with a link will get you unfollowed faster than you can say "spam” and the article is spot on. While tagging global brands could be of great potential to get more “impressions”, it could come off as unprofessional when multiple brands are sent the same/re-purposed tweets that clearly shows the lack of authenticity. The chances of global brands to RT/like a tweet are rare, especially when it comes off as spammy when they have not been reached out to, officially.
- Stop Sharing the Same Message Again And Again
The article emphasizes that it’s in lazy and poor taste to take the same status update, tweet, or LinkedIn post and continue to share it over and over again. First of all, all social networks are smart enough to see the repetition and they’ll start showing your post to less and less people. Secondly, it’s just a bad way to label yourself as lazy.
- Don’t Over Share
With Twitter, you can tweet a half dozen times per day and be fine. Write tweets that get people’s attention — in a good way. The article solicits you to be mindful of tweets with too many hashtags or only links look like spam that will in turn lead to “unfollows,” lack of engagement and being ignored.
Utilizing Twitter for consumer engagement is a smart move. A tweet/RT from a brand could get millions of impressions, no doubt, but it is important to give it some thought as to where the actual “engagement” happens or how it can be converted into online engagement. Looking at Twitter analytics and analyzing the tweets could shed some light on what works and doesn't. Taking such simple and minimalist efforts in modifying social content accordingly, could save a lot of time and capture the attention of the followers. With that being said, tweet away and engage your consumers consistently, for you don’t want to be the last one in the race.