Why I Love Twitter More Than Facebook
Twitter is one of my favorite sites to use each week. My followers and the accounts I follow are all part of a community of people who care about the issues and topics I do. It includes people like:
- Leaders in my industry (Internet marketing)
- People interested in politics
- People who love keeping up with science and environmental news
The system is fast, easy to use, and perfect for sharing tweets about what is happening in the moment. I personally prefer Twitter because it is a simple system that makes it easy to communicate with others. Many well-known and famous people, leaders, and influencers write their own tweets and engage on the system. Twitter is also a great tool for driving traffic back to your website if you are regularly creating content. Give people a reason to read or watch what your company or organization is publishing/sharing each week and they will gladly click through to your site.
How Twitter Can Benefit a Business or Organization
Outside of my personal preferences, Twitter is a great tool for making actual connections. It may not be the best for selling jewelry online or convincing people to attend your music festival, but it is great for the following:
- Developing a personal brand
- Networking
- Establishing thought leadership
- Sharing resources
- Making personal connections with the media and journalists
- Learning/teaching new things
- Participating in events
- Listening to the market
- Providing customer service
- Contributing to important conversations
If you are using Twitter and hope it will increase website traffic and—in the long run—sales, then there is one thing you must commit to: being a part of the community and spend time connecting with the community in intentional ways. Beyond this, there are a few pro tips you can follow in order to make the most out of your Twitter presence and to generate leads, partnerships, attention, sales, and advocates.
7 Twitter Pro Tips
- Choose who you follow wisely. The number one way to increase your followers is to follow others. Make sure you choose people, companies, media, and organizations that share your target audiences, align with your values, share valuable information you care about, and are active and engaged.
- Upload videos directly to Twitter. This will give you access to deeper tracking and more information about your video’s performance.
- Reply to everyone who mentions you! Keep the conversation going and let people know you heard them after they re-tweet or reply to you.
- Don’t auto-post your Facebook posts to Twitter. One of the things Twitter members hate most is having Facebook posts automatically tweeted. If you want to get results on Twitter, participate in this specific community.
- Link people back to your website or blog. One of the perks of being on Twitter is that many members are used to clicking on links for more information. If you have content on your website or blog you want to promote, write a great tweet and share the link. If you know certain followers might be interested, mention them in the tweet.
- Create and use hashtags. Hashtags can help you join conversations, highlight important topics, and increase the relevancy of your tweets. Do hashtag research. Find out what people are talking about by listening. If you want to create more brand engagement, create your own hashtags. Stick to including a maximum of 2 or 3 hashtags per tweet.
- Watch what is trending and get involved. Many companies and people that achieve success on Twitter are watching trends, becoming part of important conversations, and referencing news or events happening in the moment. This allows your account to become part of a larger community and gain more exposure to people, businesses, and organizations you’ve never met or heard of before.
Don’t Believe the Hype—Twitter is Still Relevant
There has been a lot of chatter lately about whether or not Twitter is going to last for the long term. Although it is true that the number of new accounts created has slowed a great deal and Twitter is looking to sell (but has not yet found the right buyer), people and businesses currently active on Twitter are very active and easy to engage. If you know your audience is out there tweeting, then don’t miss your chance to develop real relationships and drive more qualified, interested people to your website.
Looking to Keep up with Social Media News and Expand Your Skills?
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