It’s obvious how powerful Twitter is as a marketing tool for business. But some still aren’t using it correctly. I see so many mistakes being made that I decided to give you a quick list of Do’s and Don’ts to help you on your Twitter journey.
DO:
Follow back potential customers. It amazes me how many big companies have over 40k followers, yet they are only following back about 500. Why? Wouldn’t you like a follow back from the company you admire or do business with? How would it make you feel to engage with someone in real life and they just ignored you? Some companies don’t even say ‘Thank you for the follow’. I understand that they might have a whole lot more followers than most, but not following back especially if they are an influencer or have a pretty high following themselves really doesn’t make much sense to me. Twitter is all about building realtionships and brand loyalty so if a person follows you because they are interested in what you have to offer, the polite thing to do would be to follow them back or engage with them. (I’m not saying follow back everyone, just the ones you think are normal)!!
DO Assist others. For example if someone is looking for a place to stay in Dublin and you know a really good place, tag the hotel as a suggestion. (This also makes the hotel happy and shows you are helpful. The hotel might reciprocate someday with a RT or referral). Maybe even RT the person looking or quote the tweet asking does anyone know? Twitter folk are really helpful so they like to jump in with suggestions. You will attract followers this way also.
DO Credit people for content or articles that you share on Twitter. Chances are, if they see themselves tagged, they will RT it for you anyway. (More chance to get followers and future customers) All you do is say ‘Via…’.whoever the person is who wrote the article.
DO put up photos of staff doing that charity event or celebrating an award win etc. We want to see the human side of your brand.
DO deal with complaints if any, straight away. Respond. Ask them to Direct message their details so you can chase up and resolve the problem.
DON’T
Don’t get involved in arguments on Twitter. Just don’t. Stay away from controversy as much as possible.
Don’t use other people’s content or hashtags and claim them to be yours. Often people or brands create their own hashtags. The ones I use are #Twittermagic and #TeamTweetinggoddess #Womensinspire – Even though you will get others from all over the world using these hashtags especially the twitter magic one, in Ireland, I am known for using this one in my twitter workshops. It is just courtesy really. I once used a hashtag #Twittersitter and it turned out a lady in USA uses this one all the time. We engaged and I realised she uses it all the time so I haven’t used it since.
Don’t use Twitter for negative statements or bitching. People are always watching. If someone is bitching about you, do the dignified thing and say nothing, ignore it, copy and paste the tweet for your records and put in a document just in case it continues. No one wants to deal with someone like that, trust me, they are making themselves look worse.
Don’t EVER buy followers. There is no point to this. You want real followers who are human and are most likely going to engage with you. These ‘followers’ won’t do that. Oh and also us prolific tweeters can tell if they are bought followers. (We are real detectives)
Don’t ignore someone who sends you something interesting that might be of value to your community or followers. I once sent a local media outlet great news about women from the area winning national awards. They didn’t RT, engage and say ‘Well done’ …nothing. I have unfollowed them and certainly will not ever RT anything for them in the future. Don’t ignore someone who Retweets you often either. Be nice, engage, have manners.
Don’t ask someone for a RT if you have never ever engaged with them before. Why should I help you out if you never ask me how my day is going, or comment on my tweets or engage at all. Big no no.
Please feel free to add your own Do’s and Don’ts here. Am sure there are a few situations you can identify with here also! Use Twitter to build relationships. Be social. Twitter is all about people.