{"id":18853,"date":"2020-08-11T11:17:15","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T10:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=18853"},"modified":"2020-08-11T11:17:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T10:17:15","slug":"7-top-tips-for-using-twitter-for-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2020\/08\/7-top-tips-for-using-twitter-for-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Top Tips For Using Twitter For Small Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img src=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Lana-Richardson-Twitter.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18854\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent years Twitter has got a bit of a bad reputation for being a \u2018dying\u2019 platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not according to Lana Richardson, Digital Marketing Manager for PropertyPal. PropertyPal were early adopters of social media, and today boast over 200,000 followers across their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With over 10 million visitors to their website in 2019, the business has seen 6% growth month on month in their social following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lana shared her top tips on how to maximise Twitter at a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com\/lunchtime-learning\/\"> Lunchtime Learning<\/a> session facilitated by the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com\/\"> Cathedral Quarter BID<\/a> (Business Improvement District).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said: \u201cFacebook and Instagram are image-heavy platforms. Twitter encourages conversation and discussion, as well as debate and disagreement. It has a different purpose for each person who uses it \u2013 some are there for current events, some for sports news, and some to follow celebrities. The character limit forces creativity and Twitter is often where viral moments start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might wonder if your business has any place on Twitter, but according to Lana, the statistics speak for themselves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The average Twitter user follows five businesses.<\/li><li>77% of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand when their tweet is replied to.&nbsp;<\/li><li>80% of Twitter users have mentioned a brand in a tweet.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Companies using Twitter for customer service see a 19% lift in customer satisfaction.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As the third most popular social media platform in Northern Ireland, Lana says all business owners should consider if Twitter could add value to your business.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are Lana\u2019s top 7 tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Establish a clear brand and a clear brand voice&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lana said: \u201cYour brand voice will dictate what you post, how you post it, and when you post. It helps to make your business memorable and creates trust through consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. Find some inspiration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research other company profiles and see what kind of content you enjoy looking at, how can you make this work for your business?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lana explained: \u201cCheck out other businesses in the same industry as you. Many brands treat Twitter entirely differently so see what others are doing and figure out what works for you.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. What do you post?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lana advises: \u201cOptimise your bio \u2013 it\u2019s the first thing people see on your profile so it should give a brief explanation of who you are and give followers an idea of what to expect. An average tweet has a lifespan of just 18 minutes, so you need to focus on quality over quantity and post engaging content that will grab the attention of your audience.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. Engage in conversation with trending topics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Twitter gives you an indication of what topics are popular within the trending feed. According to Lana you can use this to your advantage if it fits with your business and your target audience. Don\u2019t try to shoehorn your brand into a trend when it doesn\u2019t fit, but you can be creative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. When do you post?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There really is no hard and fast rule of when to post to Twitter.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lana said: \u201cDon\u2019t post just for the sake of it \u2013 your tweets should have purpose or being engaging in trending topics. Only post when you have something to say. If a tweet doesn\u2019t do well within the first hour, I\u2019ll delete it from our feed and repost it at another time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6. Make use of tools to help you<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Twitter Analytics and Twitter Advanced Search are free and easy-to-use tools that can give you an insight into how your profile is performing and highlight areas where you could make tweaks and improvements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TweetDeck is another free tool that is great for scheduling content.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTwitter is much more fast-paced than other social media platforms, so you will want to post some content \u2018live\u2019\u201d said Lana, adding: \u201cAnd make sure you always have quick and easy access to TweetDeck to stop any scheduled posts if they are no longer suitable. For example, if news is released about a celebrity death and you have scheduled a meme that features them, that probably isn\u2019t the best time to post that content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. Have posting guidelines for what your brand does and does not do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Twitter, you really need to cut the red tape.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lana explained: \u201cThings that land and perform well on Twitter are usually more off-the-cuff and timelier in nature, so if you have to wait three days for your boss to approve a post, it just won\u2019t land the same. Having guidelines can help with this as you can work out what you do and do not post, for example is profanity OK? The use of slang? Whatever you do just remember that Twitter is there to increase awareness of your brand, not to generate direct sales. No one likes being sold to on Twitter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Check out Lana\u2019s full Lunchtime Learning on the Cathedral Quarter website:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com\/whats-on\/lunchtime-learning-twitter-for-small-businesses\/\"><strong> <\/strong>https:\/\/www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com\/whats-on\/lunchtime-learning-twitter-for-small-businesses\/<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To see more Lunchtime Learning sessions go to:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com\/lunchtime-learning\"><strong> <\/strong><strong>https:\/\/www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com\/lunchtime-learning<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent years Twitter has got a bit of a bad reputation for being a \u2018dying\u2019 platform. Not according to Lana Richardson, Digital Marketing Manager for PropertyPal. PropertyPal were early adopters of social media, and today boast over 200,000 followers across their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles.&nbsp; With over 10 million visitors to their website &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2020\/08\/7-top-tips-for-using-twitter-for-small-businesses\/\">Continued<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18853"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18855,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18853\/revisions\/18855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}