What is Twitter, what is it good for and how can it be useful in your day to day working. By the end of the session you will be able to describe what Twitter is, be able to set up an account & follow people, know how to use the list function plus know the difference between @ # #ff & RT!
And…
know why doing any of the above is worth doing!
Making twitter work for you part 1-2014-UK focused-social enterprise, coops, small org's & business focused
1. Making Twitter work for you
part 1-an introduction!
• With Alex Hartley @alexharteco
• @GCDA_UK offices 2013
3. Aim of the Session
By the end of this session you will be able to:
• describe what Twitter is
• be able to set up an account & follow people
• know how to use the list function
• Know the difference between @ # #ff & RT!
And…
• know why doing any of the above is worth doing!
4. Intro’s please!
• Me
• My experience with
marketing, running
workshops and social
media
• You
• Where are you from,
why are you here today,
what do you know
about twitter and what
do you want to get from
the session
5. Agenda
• In this session we will cover:
What is Twitter, why have an account, how is it useful & why it is
a bit like river
A point about good practice regards activity & results
General things you can do with it
Why and how it can work for small organisations
6. What is Twitter anyway?
Twitter is an information network made up
of 140-character messages called Tweets.
It's an easy way to discover the latest news
related to subjects you care about.
7. Why have an account?
• You claim your brand “space” on the web
• News breaks first on twitter before anywhere else
• In an emergency/danger it’s the easiest way to stay current
with the situation and read what’s going on
• Ability to create a news feed for what’s important to you be
it sports, politics, weather, etc
• LET ALONE ANY POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR YOUR PROJECT/
CAREER/ORGANSIATION/ BUSINESS!
8. How is it useful?
• Twitter contains
information you will
find valuable as you
choose who to follow
• Messages from users
you follow will show up
on your home page for
you to read
• You can discover news
as it’s happening, learn
more about topics that
are important to you,
and get the inside scoop
in real time.
10. Chris Brogan says, “Most people who see Twitter the first time
either flat-out ‘get it,’ or they say, ‘why bother?’
Here’s what people miss.
They believe one should read every single update that rolls
across your screen of choice. Don’t. Just let it roll past like a
stream.”
Who? You may say but he has 255k + followers-they cannot all
be dummy accounts!
http://www.copyblogger.com/grow-business-twitter/
Insight
• What do you think?
11. So, what Are You Going To Get?
“What’s in it for me?” is not
the best attitude for Twitter or
business, maybe instead think
in terms of what do you have
to give, offer or share.
People will remember you for
what you know and what you
share without charging them.
Draw people into your circle
by offering valuable
information about the things
they want to know.
“What’s in it for me?”
12. General stuff you do with TwitterUse
Twitter?
• Generating TRAFFIC to
your website
• BRANDING your company
and products
• LISTENING to what is
being said about your
company or industry
• PROMOTE & SHARE your
blog content, special
offers, events & more
• REACH new people daily
• Share and get the latest
NEWS
• NETWORKING with
others who share your
passion
13. Why Twitter Works For Small Organisations
•Higher customer loyalty/number of visits
•Higher rate of spending
•Frequent customer connection
•A channel for customer service
•Emotional connection to the brand
•Source for new product ideas and stakeholder/ customer polling
•Great way to network & find affiliate businesses
•Brand Monitoring, Competition Monitoring
In the UK Twitter has 15 million users according to Twitter September 2013!!!
14. How Twitter Works For Small Biz
Local angle
Social media’s greatest power is targeted &
local
Mega-brand vrs local in a personal way
Starbucks vrs @SEcoffeelounge…
@LizEarle vrs @BareSknBeauty in Greenwich
Discussion in pairs activity
How do you think being on Twitter could
benefit them?
My Local Angle Experience:
While on Twitter after just setting up
GCDA_UK I saw a tweet from a local
food business that had competed some
training at GCDA. The owner seemed
pretty friendly and exchanged a few
tweets with him- one where he praised
the training from us. The next week I
wanted to go out to dinner locally. It
was a no brainer.
I went to check out @saigonstreat tasty
Vietnamese food!
16. How Twitter Actually Works-theory
• When you follow people on Twitter you see their tweets i.e
what they written or they are RT-ing i.e what someone else
has written
• When people follow you, they see your tweets
• A Tweet containing @youruser is a Mention
• RT (ReTweet) someone and everyone following you sees it
just like you tweeted it
• When a tweet starts with @anyname only you, @anyname,
and anyone following both of you will see it.
• On occasion when the RTer wants everyone to see the
mention, it will look like .@ because the character in front
makes it visible to everyone
17. Tweeting 101
• Once you're ready to begin authoring your own messages,
consider mentioning other users by their Twitter username (preceded by
the @ sign) in your Tweets. This can help you think of what to write, will
draw more eyes to your message, and can even start a new conversation.
• Try posting a message mentioning a celebrity or person you admire – they
often respond to fans. You’ll see their response on your Mentions
tab. Tip: Can’t think of anything to write? You don't have to. The real
magic lies in your reading of content on Twitter.
• As you become more engaged on Twitter, others will begin to find and
follow you. Once you're familiar with Twitter basics, consider exploring the
site’s more advanced features: direct messages, and favourites. Learn how
to include images or videos in your Tweets, or consider connecting your
Twitter account to your blog, Facebook, or website. Tip: The best way to
gain followers on Twitter is to regularly engage and contribute in a
meaningful way
18. Twitter lingo
• Remember only 140
Characters- Less is more
• @ Reply messages
• #hashtags- Unique
identifiers Ex: #Tech12
• RT- Re-Tweeting
messages
• DM- Direct Messages
Activity- have a 5 min read
of the handout page 4 & 5
19. Your turn!
• Pair up with someone
• Preferably with 1 person
who has a Twitter
account, 1 person who
has not
• Go to Twitter.com and
follow the instructions for
setting up an account
• Ask me for assistance if
and when!
20. Setting Up Your Account
• Name – Real name 20 Char, displayed on
profile. User Allowed 15 Characters for
@(Handle) but less is better if you can do it
without sacrificing brand recognition & that
includes your own
• Location – be sure to add where you’re at.
more apt to follow people in the local
region.
• Add a short bio about you or your business.
Give them a reason to be interested in you.
Describe the benefits of your business &
express your business personality. Allowed
160 characters to get it all in.
http://socialmediadiyworkshop.com/2010/05/write-a-great-twitter-bio/
Good Step By Step Instructions:
21. To do later...
• Add your own photo/ logo
• Change the background/ colour
• Tweak your bio to include relevant hashtags so
people can discover you-not just from what
you tweet! THIS IS IMPORTANT!!
22. • One more branding opportunity.
• Choose a picture of logo that represents your business
• I think people like to know who they’re “talking” to and is better for
engagement.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-twitter-background-photoshop/
Pictures & Profile Page
Avatar Size: Must be larger than 48K but less than 700k,
a Square picture and 73 x 73 pixels formats the best.
Background: A custom Twitter background is only visible when someone visits your
Profile page. Having a professional looking background lends credibility but won’t be highly
Visible so I wouldn’t sweat it too much. Using Photoshop find an image or put one together
to upload. Create it with 2560px width x 1600px height
Sidebar Left: Many accounts take advantage of the sidebar real estate, if you want to also,
a good size to stick to is 235px (w) and 700px (h)
Avatar or Picture Seen With All of Your Tweets
23. Editing your profile
• There are a few ways you can edit your profile:
From the Profile tab in your Settings
• From your profile page -- just click the Edit
profile button underneath your profile
information and edit any text directly inline or
drag and drop photos into the profile photo
and header sections.
27. Who to follow?
• Lists!
• “Who to Follow”
• Similar to you
• People who follow you
• Fun- Celebs, sports stars,
etc...
• Professional- experts,
industry colleagues,
contacts, coworkers,
companies, affiliates who
can refer people to you!
28. Who to follow- Discover Page
Find Friends
Follow trends
Who to Follow
29. What do they offer you
by following them?
No bio, location,
low # of tweets or
followers
are good signs this may
be a “bot” or bad follow
You Don’t Have to Follow Everyone that follows you….
asdfjbakjfkajhfkahfkja
f
asdfjbdsjhfkjadbcjdbcm
nbcmzbcxmnzxbcmzbc
mzmzbcmzbcmzbcakahf
kjaf
sdhfksdfkaksjd
A low number of
tweets, low Follow to
follower count are
Probably bad follows.
Be sure to include your
location and good info &
links in your bio
30. Tips
• IF YOU FOLLOW PEOPLE, SOMETIMES THEY WILL FOLLOW YOU BACK!
• It is really quick There is lots of information out there, so you really need to be
useful, or be very funny.
• Don’t spam or oversell, as that’s the first thing to turn people away.
• And I would be careful tweeting too much about your kids, cats and personal
issues. And, you probably shouldn’t tweet when drunk either ;-s Yes, twitter can
seriously damage your carefully build reputation in one tweet …
• I spend about 30 – 60 minutes per day on twitter: a quick scan during breakfast
and lunch time, and after 4.30pm. I have to confess that I tweet often in the
evening, even in queues or waiting for a bus or even watching the TV! with a
smartphone it’s easy to continue to tweet and stay in contact.
32. How to Make Twitter Useful
• Take the accounts you follow and create a list
Click Follow
Click Here
Click Add to
List
34. If you don’t have existing lists, click “Create a List” and add your new follow otherwise
click on an existing one to add
35. Followers can fit into more than one of your lists so add them to multiple ones if it
applies.
36. Time to do something again- 1st tweet!
• Time to start to converse with the Twitterspere!
• What do you want to say-something about how you are feeling,
where you are or what you hope to be tweeting and talking about?
• How to start tweeting:
• People who are interested in what you have to say may follow you
and they’ll see all the Tweets you share with them.
• BUILD A VOICE: Retweet, reply, react
• Use existing information (other people's Tweets) on Twitter to find
your own voice and show others what you care
about. Retweet messages you've found and love, or @reply with
your reaction to a Tweet you find interesting.
• Tip: If you're a new user, others are more likely to find your
messages if they are Retweets or @replies.
37. Keywords and search-human fueled
Google!
For any part of your business it is important to know what keywords or words
related to your business drive people that are searching to your website and other
business connections. Ask your webmaster for a list of keywords associated with
your website
Keywords are “Key” for a reason. Give yours some thought from a whole web
perspective not just Twitter.
Take those Keywords and think of Twitter as your “Conversation Search Engine”.
Use search.twitter.com
38. Hashtags #
Think of hashtags as the theme of your Tweet.
Users can then click on a hashtag to see other
similarly-themed tweets and find yours in
search. {business.twitter.com/basics/glossary}
Use them to follow an event or trending topics
Gives a reason to follow what you’re doing
Also can be used to invoke #sarcasm
39. It’s Another Way to Get People To Your
Other Social Sites… Examples Being
Announce You
Posted a Photo
Album on
Facebook
Respond to
Check-ins on
Foursquare
Promote Your
Latest
Blog Post
Tweet out
links to
good reviews
or ask for more
Find a Great Site
or Article you
+1’d?
Share it
Ask others to
Connect with
you on Linked In
40. Follower battle
• Divide in to 2 teams
• Choose an account that does currently have
any followers
• First one closest to 5 in 10 mins wins!
• GO!!
41. Posting Pictures
• People love to comment on pictures so it’s a
great way to increase engagement.
• Fun way to share info on your business be it
your employees, something new you’ve added
or a sunset. Pictures are fun!
42. Picture Apps-not just directly from
your device
• Twitpic, Lockerz or Yfrog
• Twitter: Share photos on Twitter by including a photo in your
text message. It’s simple: just enter the text of your Tweet as you
normally would, attach a photo to the message and send to Twitter
with AT&T, Verizon Wireless and C Spire Wireless in the US
• Instagram: A fun app for SmartPhone users to add funky textures
and tones to pictures. Create a business account & link to your Twitter
account. Banana Republic does a fantastic job (IMHO)
43. Twitter Tools-maybe in part 2…
• Tweetdeck/Hootsuite
• CoTweet or Hootsuite Pro for multiple admins
• Bit.ly (tracking links)
• Advanced Twitter search
• Buffer- to schedule your tweets
• Strategy and marketing
See you there?!
44. Remember to Rock it!
• DID WE COVER EVERYTHING QUIZ-5 mins
• Be creative, attention-grabbing bio
• Post consistent and quality content (is King!)
• Promote other’s work and mean it
• Make a custom twitter background
• Have a personality- be you!
Thanks for your time today-let’s chat on Twitter!
@alexharteco @GCDA_UK
Credits