Blogging, tweeting, facebooking, instagramming, pinning…the world of social media and branding can be extremely confusing. Where do I begin? Why do I need social media? How can I benefit from it? These questions can oftentimes feel overwhelming to businesses, especially when many brands know they can benefit from social media but don’t know how or where to begin. Specifically, Twitter has become a social network that brands and businesses are still trying to fully understand. Finding a starting point and understanding where to begin can help create a clear picture of how to fully utilize Twitter to its full potential.
- 1. Survey the Space
After creating your new Twitter account, take a minute to survey this new space. Twitter can feel overwhelming to new users, especially when a brand is clueless how to effectively use the new social network. Poke around and get a feel for who is already on Twitter, especially your competition. Find out what your competitors are doing and think about how you can do it better. Before tweeting, take a good look around and devise a social media strategy plan for your brand.
2. Content is Key
Tweeting is great, but many companies are tweeting mindlessly. Yes, Twitter is a constant feed of news, information, and interesting articles that your “following” will receive on a second-to-second basis, but tweeting out only relevant content to what you are trying to accomplish will help your brand stand out from the millions of other tweet-ers. Although brands should be tweeting often, companies tweeting all the time get boring, repetitive and ultimately obnoxious.
3. Goals, Goals, Goals!
While creating your social media strategy plan, devise a list of specific goals your brand would like to accomplish by using Twitter, and a specific time frame in doing so. Refer back to your goals often and make sure your brand is staying on-track. After all, it’s easier to diverge from the analytics side of ROI than to stay on top of it! Hint: at the end of each month create a Google Analytics report so you can visually see how your Twitter efforts are paying off (or not). If the stats are not in your favor, try a new strategy! Being open minded to changing your Twitter initiatives is part of the social media world. Remember, social media is always changing, as are social media initiatives. If one plan doesn’t work out, try another!
Do you have any Twitter tips and tricks that have helped grow a brand’s presence? Let us know and comment below!