It wasn’t long ago that a “tweet” was recognized as nothing but a sound. That all changed in 2006 when Twitter launched. Five years later, more than 100 million people are having conversations on Twitter, and not just about what they ate for breakfast. Everything from breaking news to where to find the best rigatoni in town is tweeted about in real time. It’s even been called the new tool for social revolutionaries. It’s not a fad. It is not a waste of time. Twitter is word-of-mouth on steroids, and it’s an incredible way to communicate with people around the world and around the corner. Your business can take advantage of Twitter to refine your brand, promote products and services, network with business contacts, provide customer service and—perhaps most importantly—build relationships (and loyalty!) with current and potential customers. It doesn’t take long to get set-up with Twitter, but it helps to know the basics. This workshop is designed to explain what Twitter is and how it can help your business. Here’s what you will learn: 1) An overview of Twitter 2) Twitter lingo 3) How to establish an account and customize your page 4) How to perform a Twitter search 5) How to find and follow people 6) How to build a following 7) The importance of defining your Twitter business goals 8) Guidelines for crafting effective, strategic messages 9) How to measure success 10) How to use Twitter desktop and mobile apps

1. Using Twitter for Business Oct. 13, 2011

2. Today’s agenda What is Twitter? Twitter + small businesses Terminology Establishing an account Customizing your page Finding + following What to tweet about How to tweet Business goals Measuring success Desktop apps Mobile apps

3. What is Twitter? Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets”. A new form of online communication Communicate &listen Community Engage &have a dialogue Send brief text messages to followers

4. The history of Twitter Launched in 2006, Twitter was designed as a social network to keep friends and colleagues informed throughout the day. However, it became widely used for commercial and political purposes to keep customers, voters and fans up-to-date as well as to encourage feedback.

5. How are small businesses using Twitter? Source: Mashableinfographics, February 2011

6. How are small businesses using Twitter? Source: Mashableinfographics, February 2011

7. Why do small businesses use Twitter? Public relations Marketing Customer service Brand

8. Terminology Tweet The 140-character message you share or read on Twitter. @Reply The @ sign is used to call out usernames in Tweets.When a username is preceded by the @ sign, it becomes a link to a Twitter profile. Replies always begin with @username (insert username of the person you are replying to). All replies directed toward you will show up in your @Mentions tab on your homepage. Replies are public.

9. Terminology @Mention A mention is any Twitter update that contains @username anywhere in the body of the Tweet. All replies directed toward you will show up in your @Mentions tab on your homepage. Replies are public. DM (direct message) A direct message, also referred to as a DM, is a privatemessage from one Twitter user to another. Direct messages can only be sent to people who follow you.

10. Terminology Follow To follow someone on Twitter means to subscribe to their Tweets or updates on the site. You automatically receive all updates posted by people you follow on your Twitter homepage. Follower A follower is another Twitter user who has followed you. Hashtag The # symbol is called a hashtag. It is used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet.

11. Terminology Retweet (noun) A retweet (abbreviated RT) is when one Twitter user re-publishes something another user has written—think of it like an email forward. The format is RT @username. Retweet (verb) The act of forwarding another user's Tweet to all of your followers. URL shortener URL shortening services are used to turn long URLs into shorter URLs. The short version, which takes up much less room in a 140-character tweet, can be used instead. The two most popular services are bit.lyand TinyURL. Learn more by visiting the Twitter Glossary.

12. How to start an account Visit www.twitter.com and complete the New to Twitter? section.

13. Starting an account (cont.) Complete the form by choosing a username and click Create my account. Note: You can only have one account per email address.

14. Choosing a username You have 3 options: Use your real name Use your business name Use keywords and descriptive text Your username cannot exceed 15 characters. You ARE able to make changes without losing your followers.

15. Starting an account (cont.) Twitter will walk you through a brief tutorial and ask you to follow some of their recommended people and brands. You can skip these steps.

16. Complete your profile Under Settings, click the Profile tab. Here, you will complete: Photo Name Location Website Bio

17. Write your bio You have 160 characters. What does your company provide? What will you be tweeting about? Why should people care? Who speaks for your company?

18. Tips for writing your bio Use adjectives Use keywords Use the pipe symbol (|) to separate key terms Insert personality

19. How to customize your page This is your chance to brand your page with your logo and color palette.

20. Customizing with design colors Background Text Links Sidebar Sidebar border

21. Customizing the background You can change the background design by: Using any of the 19 default options (themes) Uploading a personalized background Note: Background images must be in PNG, GIF, or JPG format, smaller than 800k. If your image's file size is too large, the easiest way to get it down is to use and image editing program or web app to shrink the image. Animated GIFs are not supported as background images.

22. Finding people to follow You can search Twitter in many ways: Users Tweets Email addresses Bios Twitter suggestions

23. Searching users Find specific people by typing their name into the search box at the top of your Twitter homepage. Results will show up at the top right of your page, followed by a "view all" link.

24. Searching tweets Find tweets about specific topics by typing a word or a search term into the search box at the top of your Twitter homepage. Results will show up in the center of your page. Tip: Use quotes to search for a specific term (ex: “Kansas City Royals”).

25. Searching with email addresses Visit your Twitter homepage and click on Look for your friends. On the next page, you can search your contacts.

26. Searching bios Visit http://www.locafollow.com/ to search Twitter users by keywords in their bio or by location.

27. Searching Twitter suggestions On your Twitter homepage, click on Who To Follow. You will see recommendations of accounts Twitter thinks you might find interesting based on the types of accounts you’re already following and who those people follow.

28. Following others Once you find someone that you want to follow, click on the Follow button underneath their profile picture. Once you follow a person, their updates will automatically appear on your Twitter homepage.

29. Following others: Mobile updates If you would like someone’s updates sent to your mobile phone, vs. only to your Twitter homepage, click on the circled icon below. Note: You must have inserted your mobile phone number in Settings.

30. What can you tweet about? Ideas Original articles or blog posts Third-party articles or blog posts you think your followers would find valuable Tips Inspirational quotes News from your industry Offers, discounts and promotions Customer service responses Pose questions to your followers Upcoming events New product and service announcements Local news and events Pop culture

31. How to tweet Log into Twitter. In the What’s Happening box, type a message. Make sure your update is fewer than 140 characters, which includes spaces and punctuation. As you type, you will see a number below the text box, which indicates how many characters you have remaining.

32. Tips for effective tweets Sharing photos results in a click through rate (CRT) 5-10 times greater than normal tweets Drive people to your website with links Mention, promote, give kudos to others Avoid abbreviations Watch your spelling and grammar Leave room for retweets Double check all links Think like your followers

33. Defining business goals Monitor your reputation Provide customer service Monitor your reputation Share information with customers Drive traffic to your website Thought leadership Engage in dialogue Connect with peers and colleagues Showcase knowledge and expertise Generate traffic to your website Give a “human face” to your brand

34. Measuring success Quantitative metrics Followers Click-through rates Retweets and mentions Frequency of posts Favorites Sales leads (requires analytics) Reduction in customer service calls Customer retention Qualitative metrics What are people saying about your brand? Is it positive or negative? Engagement with customers Quality of followers Market research Feedback Awareness Engagement Influence

35. Klout score KloutScore measures influence based on your ability to drive action. Every time you create content or engage you influence others. KloutScore measures: True Reach: How many people you influence Amplification: How much you influence them Network Impact: The influence of your network

36. Crowdbooster https://crowdbooster.com At-a-glance analytics Recommendations Audience insights Total impressions Follow suggestions Best times to tweet

37. Desktop apps Desktop applications are third-party software applications installed on your desktop. They have many advantages, including: Managing multiple social media accounts Avoiding logging in and logging out Searching & organizing Scheduling updates Uploading videos and photos

38. Desktop apps vs.

39. Mobile apps

40. Final tips Reply. Reply. Reply. Whenever you get a response or mention (@yourname), make sure you respond. Engage. Pose questions. Promote the account. Tweet daily. Don’t be too promotional. Provide value. Remember: WIIFM? Remember Twitter is a two-way conversation.

41. Questions? Contact me: Maria Fogliasso @KCGrammarGirl