a simple guide to start your twitter account and use it effectively

1. Social Media
Workbook
Hands-on series
How to use Twitter efectively
Version 2.0
11/11
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2. Table of Contents
1. What is twitter................................................................................................. 3
2. Hook up your mobile....................................................................................... 3
3. Tweeting efectively.........................................................................................3
3.1 Easy steps to target the right 'tweeple' to follow......................................4
3.2 Easy steps to attract quality followers......................................................5
4. The Activity and @username Tabs..................................................................7
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3. How to use Twitter efectively
1. What is twitter?
“Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest
information about what you fnd interesting. Simply fnd the public streams you
fnd most compelling and follow the conversations.
At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each
Tweet is 140 characters in length (...) Connected to each Tweet is a rich details
pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded
media.” (twitter.com)
Go to Twitter.com and click "Join for free." For best results, use your real name
when signing up; otherwise your friends and your clients won't be able to fnd
you easily.
If you select the "Protect my updates" box, people won't be able to read your
Twitters unless you authorize them. Generally we don't suggest you protect
your tweets.
Now that you have a Twitter account, spread the word, add your username to
your email signature, your business card, your website; send your contacts the
link to your Twitter page (twitter.com/username; or simply send them your
twitter handle @username). Have a look at http://twitter.com/about/resources
to fnd twitter buttons/widgets/logos and icons.
2. Hook up your mobile.
The Twitter network works also if you're not at your computer. Once you are
registered, you can connect your mobile phone and use twitter with text
messaging. YOU DON'T NEED A SMART PHONE TO DO THIS. Just go to
http://twitter.com/devices and set up your phone. Or if you have a smartphone,
just download the twitter application: http://twitter.com/download.
We recommend you connecting your phone to your Twitter account so that you
are more likely to tweet often. Note that messages you send from your phone
will be readable on your personal Twitter Web page.
3. Tweeting efectively
Twitter is, before anything else, a SOCIAL network. Social means interaction,
not automation. Social Media is flling in what was missing in the Web, the
relationship, the personal, the reality.
It’s not important how many followers we have, what we want is quality
followers and by quality we mean those that are actually engaged.
If your followers are truly interested in your services/products, a real
conversation or engagement is much more likely to convert them into
customers, and make them a true advocate for it.
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4. To start tweeting efectively: Listen, Converse, Engage.
When using Social Media, be(have) yourself!
- Learn to Listen frst
- Don't rush your message out
- Be social/Converse
- Be generous: share knowledge, share tips, help people, thank people
- Acknowledge!
3.1 Easy steps to target the right 'tweeple' to follow
1) LISTEN - By doing this you will identify who are the most infuential
twitterers among your targeted audience.. so follow them, follow who follows
them, and pay extra attention to the interactions going on. Try to engage them
into conversations as much as possible. If they communicate with you a lot,
they will eventually mention you and you should get some RELEVANT followers
from them. Use twitter 'who to follow' tools at the start, and do it regularly (i.e.
once every 2 weeks):
1) Twitter automated SUGGESTIONS (they're often very relevant, based on
who you follow, your bio, keywords used, and more):
http://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow/suggestions
2) BROWSE INTERESTS (Select the topics you are interested in and fnd
interesting people to follow): http://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow/interests
3) IMPORT CONTACTS (discover which of your contacts are already using
twitter and start following them): http://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow/import
Take the time to see who is already talking about your product/service on
twitter: what are they saying? By all means tweet your own content, but it
really helps if you understand the twitter dynamics for your specifc
sector/area. Use the twitter Search to do so:
http://search.twitter.com
or better the advanced search: http://search.twitter.com/advanced
Use twitter ADVANCED SEARCH to fnd conversations about your niche, services
or products. REDUCE the NOISE in your twitter stream, organise/fnd content
according to your needs: download a twitter client like tweetdeck.
http://www.tweetdeck.com/
and start by adding:
- a column for your timeline (i.e. tweets from the people you follow)
- a column for the mentions you receive (i.e. tweets that mention you)
- a column for the direct messages you receive
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5. - a column with a search for potential alternative names to refer to you (use the
operator AND and OR) not to miss any mention
- a column for each one-word search of relevant content (using the # for
keywords)
- a column for more advanced searches. Use the search operators listed here
http://search.twitter.com/operators to aggregate more than one search in one
single column. This way you'll be able to track all the tweets that mention a
particular keyword or sentence. Search for combination of words, even whole
sentences that you think would be part of the conversation among your
targeted customers.
3) CHECK DIRECTORIES - Use twitter directories like WeFollow
http://wefollow.com/ or http://www.twellow.com/, they may help with targeted
searches. You can also include yourself in them, in order to be found by other
people.
4) Twitterers worth following – Make sure you follow some of the twitter
support and help accounts like @twitter, @tweetsmarter, @tweetdeck, etc, to
stay updated with the latest changes, and to read a lot of useful tips on how to
use twitter efectively.
3.2 Easy steps to attract quality followers
1) SMILE - Make sure your twitter page is ready to welcome potential
followers. Change the default settings here:
http://twitter.com/settings/account
Change the avatar or picture, change the design - it shows you care. Make sure
you include all the relevant information. Always mention your website if you
have one, and make the most of the 160 characters of your BIO: use keywords
relevant for your sector/area to describe your company. Highlight its strengths
and its main focus, its USP. Followers may return to your profle rarely, but they
will almost certainly visit your twitter page at least once, and that will probably
be the most important visit.
2) BE VISIBLE/SEARCHEABLE - Use hashtags (#) and keywords in your
tweets. Try to fgure out what your targeted audience would search for and use
those words in your tweets. Find out how people search for your website if you
have one (you can do so checking your website analytics. If you don't check
your website analytics already, start now: http://www.google.com/analytics/).
What terms are they using? Hashtags are good because they make your tweets
more visible in twitter search, but don’t abuse them or your tweets will look like
a censored conversation.
3) ACKNOWLEDGE – If you like what someone else says, don't copy and paste
their tweet, re-tweet them (RT) or mention them (e.g. by @twintangibles, /via
@twintangibles), better if quickly adding your touch to the tweet (best practice
is to add your comment at the end, so the people you're mentioning will easily
see your mention):
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6. e.g. RT @twintangibles. Content is queen. Trust is king ← TRUE!
If you mention a person or an organisation in one of your tweets, and they have
a twitter account (always take a minute or two to check if they have one), don't
use their real name, use their twitter id.
e.g. Today I had an interesting conversation with @twintangibles
3) BE YOURSELF – It's good to RT and mention (@), but if you keep hiding
yourself behind other people’s links and RTs, the real you won’t be seen. You
need a voice and authenticity otherwise followers will lose interest in you and
your product/service.
4) DON'T SPAM, don’t mass follow, don’t use automated DMs for your new
followers, don’t do anything impersonal and automated. Don’t try to sell your
products / services all the time: it takes a click to unfollow you, even less than
what it takes to bin spam email or to shred advertising material just come
through the post.
5) BE FRIENDLY – Make the most of some twitter “events” such as the #FF
(follow Friday, i.e. tweets you spend each Friday to recommend someone to
your followers), keeping in mind that you only get what you give. Spend those
5 minutes every Friday to recommend users you fnd interesting. Make the #f
as much personal as possible, i.e. tell why they should follow that particular
person.
e.g. #f to @xxxxxx for the great service they can provide to their clients
6) BE INTERESTING – There is nothing more boring than a constant stream of
tweets that sing the praises only of your products and services. Interesting
content that is not entirely self-serving will build your reputation as an honest
broker and worth listening to, and perhaps most importantly generate retweets
so making your name spread more widely.
7) ENGAGE - Content is queen, trust is king. Content is important in as much
as it leads to relationship and trust. Don't talk to people, talk with people. If you
see a tweet and you feel like you have something to say about it, remember
that behind that tweet there's a person: reply to him/her (@), start a
conversation.
Last but not least.. Be patient! It takes time and efort. A solid follower base
can be a fabulously valuable asset for your brand and it can only be built
through QUALITY conversations. Always remember you simply can’t buy
community trust and customer loyalty.
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7. 4. The Activity and @username tabs
The Activity and @username tabs are new features that help you monitor your
and your tweeps' activity on Twitter. They can be useful when you're accessing
twitter through your browser, and you're not using any twitter client.
Basically, they will show you when someone favorites 1 or retweets one of your
Tweets. You can also see which Tweets are most interesting to the people you
follow.
This tab will let you see which of your Tweets are Favorites, plus the latest
Retweets (of your Tweets), Tweets directed to you (@replies and mentions), and
your new Followers.
The Activity tab highlights the latest Favorites, Retweets, and Follows from the
people you follow on Twitter.
1 Favorites, represented by a small star icon next to a Tweet, are generally used as bookmarks, eg. when users like a
Tweet and wish to save it for later.
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8. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
Generic License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
twintangibles Limited 2011
twintangibles Ltd is a company registered in Scotland with company number SC397987.
Registered ofce is Blue Square House, 272 Bath Street, Glasgow, Scotland, G2 4JR
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