How to use Twitter, specifically as a sales person or brand representative for an editorial

1. Amanda Lucci
@alucci

2. “Twitter is a real-time
information network that
connects you to the latest
stories, ideas, opinions and
news about what you
find interesting.”
Source: twitter.com

3.  Thanks to the real-time nature of social media, our
editorial products now need to be 24/7 information
services
 Twitter alerts our audience to new content
immediately when it’s posted online
• This keeps us relevant to our industries in between print issues
 Twitter allows us to develop our voice socially and
connect directly with our current (and potential)
audience
 Shorter messages feed shorter attention spans
 Peer pressure
• Our competitors are using it
• Our readers are using it
• Our potential clients, advertisers and subscribers are using it

4. TWITTER.COM/SIGNUP
 Fill in your information
 Don’t think too hard on your
username at first – you can
change it in your settings
later
 After you sign up, Twitter
will take you through a few
screens suggesting people
to follow and getting you
acquainted with the site.

5. Change your options using this menu

6.  Usernames can contain a maximum of 15 characters and
have to be unique (if you don’t get the one you want it’s
because it’s taken)
 Use some variation of your name
• First and last: @AmandaLucci
• First initial, last name: @ALucci
• Underscore: @a_lucci
 …or identify yourself by your brand
• @MCMAmanda
• @MCM_AmandaL
 Avoid using numbers or a pseudonym that is difficult to
remember
• @mandy_catluvr
• @SteelersFan66
 Make sure you like your username – ideally, it shouldn’t
change very often (if at all)
 If you're tweeting only for business, you may want to have a
separate account for personal use.

7.  Use a clear, professional headshot
• Of yourself - not your kids or your dog
• If you must, use your brand logo
 Write a short, memorable bio to identify yourself
• Mention your brand – “Editor at @MeetingsNet” (more on
mentioning later)
• Personalize with specialties and/or interests
• The keywords in your bio are how you will be found in
search, so only include items that relate to who you are
and what you think you’ll be tweeting about
 If you only have one account (not separate
business and personal), you may want to add
“Views are my own” to your bio
 Don’t forget to add your location!

8.  Choose a theme Twitter provides for you
 If you’re feeling adventurous, you can add your
own background image and create your own
color themes
 Sites like Twitbacks.com offer free, professional
backgrounds that you can personalize

9.  Smartphone users can download a Twitter
app to receive push notifications if someone
has followed you, messaged you or shared
your content
• You can also post using these apps – great for on-
the-go tweeting, like at a trade show
 Non-smartphone users can choose to
receive these same kinds of notifications via
text or email
 Notifications are useful, especially if you’re
not checking your home page all the time, to
keep up with who is engaging with you

10. #yay

11. Return See who is
to this connecting Current
page with you trends Feed of
tweets from
people you
follow
Search for
users, topics
Follower or hashtags Settings New
s tweet
Tweet here
Hashtag
Suggested
connections
“Promoted” tweets
are advertisements
Worldwide,
national and Click any name for info on a user
local trends

12.  Use this box to follow
users Twitter suggests for
you – Refresh or click the
X to get new options
 Click Find friends to
search for email contacts  A blue checkmark
indicates a Verified
or individual users Account – for a
brand or celebrity
 Click Browse categories this serves as
confirmation from
to view suggested users Twitter that this
account is official
in topics that interest you

13.  Type in a topic that interests you.  Using the menu to the right of
Click Follow if you like any the Follow button, you can
users that show up – it turns blue
tweet them and even turn on
to confirm the action.
notifications for them – so you
 Click on a name (eg “Marketing
B2B” ) to view more about the get a text every time they post.
user, like # of followers and a  Use this search function to look
few of their recent tweets. for people, too!

14. Hashtag Compose
new tweet
Post
tweet
Link (auto-shortens)
Mention a user Number of characters left out of
140 possible (it won’t let you
Upload an post if you go over)
image to attach
to your tweet

15. #
“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.” – from Twitter’s official definition of a
hashtag
 Hashtags are completely arbitrary and anyone can
create and use one at any time in any tweet – you
can't buy or reserve certain hashtags
 To create a hashtag, add a # sign before any word or
phrase (without spaces) in a tweet.
 You can also add general hashtags (eg #marketing,
#b2b) at the end of a tweet – it doesn’t have to be
part of a sentence.
 Don’t overdo it and #make #every #word #a
#hashtag, but try to include at least one in every
tweet.

16.  Hashtags are links - click
one to see who’s saying
what about a particular
topic
 Hashtags make your tweets
more visible to people
looking for content like
yours
 You may find new follows
or potential connections by
sifting through topical
hashtags
 Many industry events will
*Hashtags can be ANY simple word or
use a unique hashtag to
phrase! For example, we’ve created organize the discussion –
hashtags in the past to help promote the use it to see who’s there,
#CMI25, #Changemakers etc. – if you and add it to your tweets to
see the main account using these, follow stay visible!
suit!

17. @
 Mention an account in your tweets by preceding it
with the @ symbol
• Example: “Read this new story from @MeetingsNet”
 Talk directly to someone by mentioning their account
first in your tweet
• Example: “@betsbair I loved this month’s issue!”
• NOTE: Unless your followers are also following the person you
are talking to, this conversation will not show up in their
timeline. If you want others to see this conversation, re-phrase:
“I loved this month’s issue, @betsbair!”
 Realize that the people you follow are most likely having
conversations you can’t see – if you want to see who’s talking to who,
visit a person’s full profile at twitter.com/theiraccount.
 Make sure you are mentioning relevant brands or
people instead of just naming them – this will bring it
to their attention, making them more likely to share it
with their own audience.

18.  Click a tweet anywhere
on Twitter to expand it
 You can Reply to the
original poster,
Retweet the post to
your followers or
Favorite to save it and
revisit later
 The expanded view of a
tweet also shows you
how many other people
have already retweeted
and favorited the tweet

19.  Clicking Retweet immediately forwards
a tweet that you like to your followers.
 While it’s important to develop your
voice through original tweets, retweets
enable you to share something you
“couldn’t have said better yourself.”

20.  You should NEVER copy and paste the text of
someone else’s tweet and pass it off as your own!
 If you want to reuse all or part of someone else’s
tweet in your own tweet, use these modifiers (and
mention the user you took it from):
• RT: Retweet – if you take exact wording
• MT: Modified tweet – if you alter the wording but take the
general idea (sometimes people do this to stay under 140
characters)
• HT: Hat tip – it’s like saying “thanks for bringing my attention to
this link/idea/etc”
This is useful if you want
to add your own insight
to someone else’s tweet
(and that’s how good
conversations start!)

21. New followers (click each picture to
Click to see only mentions learn more about them)
(filter out retweets and favorites)
Someone mentioned
you, and someone
else retweeted it
(you’re going viral!)
Someone has retweeted one
of your tweets
Other people retweeted the same
tweet (must have been a good one)
Someone has mentioned you
(don’t forget to reply and thank them
for the compliment!!)
Someone has favorited one of
your tweets for easy viewing later

22.  View your new followers’ profiles to see who
is following you – if you don’t know them,
you might want to follow them back,
message them or get to know them
 If people are mentioning you, reply to them!
A simple “thanks!” goes a long way in social
media
 Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get
hundreds of followers right away. Keep
tweeting, sharing and interacting and the
follows and shares will come

23.  If you want to privately tweet to a
particular user who's already following
you, start your tweet with D to direct-
message them.
 Nobody else on Twitter will be able to
see this message.
 You can check your Direct Messages
using the same drop down menu where
you edit your Settings.

24. Well………..

25.  Follow @meetingsnet - it’s the best way to stay
on top of our newest content so you can share it
too
• Retweet us!
 Don’t just post the latest headlines – tweet fun
facts from a story, crack a joke or give your
opinion. Show your personality! (while still being
a professional)
 Share links to our stories, blogs, newsletters,
Facebook page, whitepapers, webinars, digital
issues…you get the idea
 Show people how great our magazines are –
make them WANT to click the links you post

26.  Find out the official hashtag before you go (ask
around or tweet the organizers)
 Tweet observations, pictures, and your
experiences while you’re there
 Follow the hashtag to find out who else is there
and what to check out
• Some events will even project the hashtag’s live stream on
a screen during the event
 Use Twitter to stay in touch with people you meet
after the event is over – follow them, then share
and respond to their tweets to stay on their radar
without formal correspondence

27.  Best time to tweet: between 1-4 p.m.
 For every 10 tweets, 7 should be actual
content and 3 can be promotional/lead gen
 Tweets have a low shelf life, so you CAN
promote something more than once a day
(but don’t be annoying)
 Have fun and tweet content that interests
you! You are an ambassador for our brand,
but realistically you do consume content
outside of your colleagues’ – people are
more likely to follow those who tweet
different, interesting, sharable things

28.  Share. Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business.
Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users
come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!
 Listen. Regularly monitor the comments about your company, brand, and
products.
 Ask. Ask questions of your followers to glean valuable insights and show
that you are listening.
 Respond. Respond to compliments and feedback in real time
 Reward. Tweet updates about special offers, discounts and time-sensitive
deals.
 Demonstrate wider leadership and know-how. Reference articles and
links about the bigger picture as it relates to your business.
 Champion your stakeholders. Retweet and reply publicly to great
tweets posted by your followers and customers.
 Establish the right voice. Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine,
and of course, a likable tone from your business, but think about
your voice as you Tweet. How do you want your business to appear to the
Twitter community?
Source: twitter.com

29. Any questions?