Social Media for BusinessCaoimhe Burke

“a service for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers”

What is Twitter?

Number of users: 645, 750, 000 New sign ups/day: 135, 000 Unique site users/month: 190 million Tweets/day: 58 million Mobile users: 43% Active users/month: 115 million Tweets sent/second: 9,100 Twitter advertising revenue: $405, 500, 000

The fastest growing demographic is 55 to 64 year olds, with an increase of 79% in active users in this age group.

Statistics (2013)

Set up an account using your email address Make sure your profile photo is actually you as it will

look small on a mobile device Don’t choose an obscure username as you will want

people to be able to find you – try to use your full name if possible.

Make sure to write a good Bio – this is the first thing a potential follower will see, it is essentially the chance to sell yourself (your profile and bio will be indexed by Google so it is essential you get this right).

Setting it up

Good vs BadTwitter Profiles

Good Profile

• Her bio targets the sort of people she wants to follow her – digital marketing and IT professionals, relating companies etc.

• Also lists interests to show that she won’t be hard selling, rather tweeting about what she finds interesting.

• Links to her google+ account as her website – cross-platform marketing. You can also use your company website here if you like.

• Choose a background image that makes the bio text stand out.

Bad Profile

• Obscure twitter name – not search-friendly• No bio information. This person could really be anyone.• Would you want to follow her?

Good Profile

• To-the-point bio• Location included• Link to website• Block colour background that makes the text stand

out• This is a verified account – indicated by the blue

tick beside the name. This means it is the official account of a person or company.

Try to use the same username for any accounts you want other people to be able to find.

Synchronizing your public accounts is a way of search engine optimizing yourself.

The more active your twitter account is, the higher you will be indexed.

As you can see, I am the most active ‘Caoimhe Burke’ on Twitter…

Mention a user in your tweet using their username - eg. @stephenfry Retweet (RT) other tweets or articles you find

interesting Use a hash tag (#) in a tweet to set context or

connect with other people using that tag Favourite a tweet to your favourites list (like

bookmarking for twitter – you can read these later) Sent direct messages (DM) if you don’t want your

followers to see

Functions

Reply, retweet to your followers or add to your favourites list

If you reply to a tweet, the user is already mentioned for you

You only have 140 character to tweet – keep your tweets like a headline

Click the camera to add an image from your computer or device

You can tag your location to the tweet using this – this allows your tweet to be indexed higher for people in the area you tagged

Sending a Tweet

A hash tag is a SEARCHABLE function that connects you to other tweeters using the same tag

I.e. #ridiculouslylonghashtagthatnobodyuses – makes no sense, is pointless and will connect you to nobody as no other person will ever have used the tag, or will use it in future.

#loveconstruction , #business , #mondayblues, #TGIF – tags like this are popular and allow your tweets to be seen by people searching for or using these tags.

If you are unsure, research a tag by typing it into the search toolbar before tweeting it – this will show you how many people are using the tag, and the frequency in which it is being used.

Hash Tags

At first, only follow people you know and who know you.

Your account is weak at first, influencers are less likely to follow you back if you follow them at this stage.

Once you have a good profile and a decent number of followers, begin following people based on your work and interests. You can find them by typing their name into the Twitter search bar or on Google.

Getting Started: Who to Follow

Twitter Etiquette

DO

Listen to what your Twitter friends are saying - respond to them if you think you have value to add to the conversation

Update at least once a day Use relevant hash tags Respond when someone mentions

you in a tweet Respond to criticism (see below) Say what you are doing or thinking

(within reason – nobody cares that you’re having toast for breakfast)

DON’T

Ask for people to follow you Hard sell Spam – try not to tweet more than

once an hour, unless you are replying to people

Swear (much) Make spelling/grammar mistakes –

this looks unprofessional Say anything you don’t want the

world to know Post links to your website constantly

Good and Bad Tweeting

Good Tweet

• Images and other forms of media are more engaging than plain text

• Includes a hash tag that is frequently used (at least one tweet a minute includes this tag)

• Mentioned (@wagamama_uk) a company in the tweet so they could see it, in the hope they would retweet

• Wagamama DID retweet this…

…meaning that the original tweet had the potential to be viewed by an additional 22,255 followers.

Bad Tweets: Hard Selling

Building brand awareness Building loyalty and retention Humanizing your brands Customer service Recruitment Monitoring competitors Instant updates Search visibility (all content is indexed)

How Businesses use Twitter

Things to watch out for

Spam accounts : often indicated by an ‘egg’ profile picture and a link in the tweet

If you receive a tweet like this, NEVER click the link. It may harm your computer or device.

This is also spam. In this case, it could be a programmed spambot, or a genuine user’s account may have been hacked. Either way, don’t click the link!

Spam direct messages - this happens quite often. This is a genuine user whose account has been hacked. Again, DO NOT click this link.