Known for its straight-on point approach due to its limited number of characters, Twitter is an excellent social media platform for every brand that wants to build a sleek reputation online and to generate buzz offline.
With more than 353 million accounts worldwide, your business will be in good company if you had plans to join this platform anytime soon.
If you’re becoming a pro on Instagram or Facebook, but you’re not familiar with Twitter yet, we’re here to help you build an effective marketing strategy.
Want to know:
✔︎ How to attract more followers?
✔︎ How to create your content for maximum Twitter engagement?
✔︎ How to use analytics to grow your account?
With a broad vision, a lot of creativity and the use of the right tool, you’ll learn to create an awesome Twitter strategy for your brand in 2021. So let’s begin ⇣
10 steps to improve your Twitter strategy in 2021
1. Why use Twitter to grow your company
2. Create a Twitter account for your business
3. How to better engage with your community
4. Create a Twitter content calendar
8. Use analytics to your advantage
9. Use hashtags for more exposure
10. Incorporate Twitter into your overall social media content strategy
1. Why use Twitter to grow your company
There are many social media platforms on which your company can be active, but Twitter has often proved to be a striking opportunity to reach the perfect audience and gather more feedback.
Here's what you can do:
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Connect with people
No matter the industry, there are people who will want to learn about new ideas and engage with brands who create compelling content.
So businesses that want to make an impact and deliver quality, relevant messages, should make sure their messages are primarily informative and helpful, and not necessarily always centered around their brands.
Keep in mind that due to its character limit (280 characters), you’re given the task to summarize your posts, but still communicate in a meaningful and engaging way.
Let’s kick off the year right. 👍 Give us your advice below. #MondayMotivation https://t.co/lnhQHgNJtD
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) January 6, 2020
If you’re used to posting on Facebook it might sound like a limitation at first, but after a while, you’ll find out that this is actually good news. People have a fast-paced lifestyle, so reading a short post might actually be more effective.
Another important aspect is to make sure you understand exactly what your audience expects from you.
By constantly checking your analytics you’ll know what type of content is more engaging for your followers.
This way, you can convey meaningful messages tailored to their need and create a connection.
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Get to know the industry in-depth
We all know how hard it is to keep up to date, especially when there is a tendency to be inundated with information on a regular basis. And digging to this amount of information can be time consuming
This is why having only the relevant information at your fingertips when accessing your Twitter accounts makes things much easier.
But to do so, make sure you only follow profiles that are relevant to you.
Knowing your competitors on social media is, as a matter of fact, a wise thing to begin with when crafting a Twitter strategy.
You can learn valuable things only by looking at the ideas they emphasize. This way you can almost instantly tell what are the trends in your industry.
Do this by following both people or companies who are relevant in your field. Make sure you take notes when a good idea pops in. Try to see patterns rather than brilliant ideas. They might sound great at first, but might not passed the test of time.
Another way to have a good understanding of your industry is by following hashtags. Twitter puts a lot of effort into making them as visible as possible. Make sure you follow the ones who spark a real interest. Twitter's explore feature can help with that.
After you’ve done all of this, it’s time to spend time reading, looking for innovative ideas. Don’t clutter your feed with useless information. Keep things short, but valuable.
2. Create a dedicated Twitter account for your business
Being close to your community shows that you are paying attention to details and make the most out of social media. Twitter is the place where micro-content is the king.
Analytics can give you all of the insights that can help you understand that community. But in order to do so, you must firstly create a dedicated account for your business.
If you create a strong profile that attracts a great audience, you’ll be happily surprised that and where most of the followers will be actively interacting with your company and your brand’s personality
So where should you start? Because we’ve answered the “Why”, now it’s time to address the “How”. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide.
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Twitter business profile: step-by-step setup
- Go to Twitter.com and push the Sign up button.
Write down your name and an email address. If you already have an account, you can create and add another one directly from your app.
Twitter will ask you to customize your experience. You can skip this part by clicking next. But if you want to “Get more out of Twitter”, “Connect with people you know” or to receive personalized ads, then fill in the boxes and press the Sign up button again. We strongly advise doing so.
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Verify.
You’ll be asked to enter a verification code that’s sent to the email address you’ve added. The code is usually sent in an instant. -
It’s time to choose a proper password. Choose a strong one and make sure you haven’t used it before. For security reasons, of course.
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Pick a profile picture. Your company logo will do.
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Twitter lets you describe your company using a limited number of characters (160).
You are also allowed to skip this step, but we advise against it. Pick your words carefully and create an attractive, clear description. It can gain you more followers.
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Upoad contacts.
If you have a list of people who are eager to see your first tweets, maybe the company’s employees, you can upload their contacts. -
Pick your interests. Think of your business needs while doing so.
Twitter will ask you what are your interests in Sports, News, Music, Entertainment, etc, in order to offer you relevant content suggestions. Then you'll find a few suggestions of celebrities, politicians of companies to follow.
- Set how often you’d like to receive notifications and Voila! You’re staying right in front of your Business Twitter Account.
If you skipped on some of the steps or would like to make changes, you can always do so from the Profile section.
Now make sure you create a great Twitter marketing strategy and align your tweets with the other social media channels!
You can find a viable solution to manage and align your accounts with the help of Twitter management tools.
Don’t be afraid to and be as creative as possible.
Enjoy the ride and post your first tweet!
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Optimize your Twitter profile
- Craft your bio
Your Twitter bio is the first thing that people see on your profile. When you meet a stranger on the street, you need to make the best first impression. With this in mind, you need to get creative with those 160 characters available.
The brilliant idea is to include your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), company mission statement, or a funny catchphrase.
Take, for example, Burger Kings’ approach from the image above.
2. High-resolution profile image
Also, another critical piece of the puzzle is your profile picture. The simplest way to make a great first impression is to have a suggestive and relevant profile photo.
It can be your brands' logo or a portrait photo of yourself if you are a personal brand. You can get creative and design a header image that displays at the top of your profile.
We can observe from the image above Shopify's funny example of a creative header. Consider adding this to your Twitter marketing strategy.
3. Twitter Handle/ Username
Your Twitter username, also called the handle, needs to be clear and straight to the point. It needs to represent your brand best and be easy to recall.
Based on the example above, we can see that the Wall Street Journal created a small and easy to remember handle from a long name.
So, make sure you choose a simple handle that will be easy to remember. Keep in mind that people will tag you in their posts, so make it as easy as possible.
3. How to better engage with your community
Actively following your community will give you the ability to better understand their needs, interests, and preferences . So make sure you keep an eye on their tweets as well.
For instance, if one of your followers has a tweet that is written very well and is in line with your company’s strategy or values, then you can retweet it, like it or even follow that person back.
This is a great way to show that you value your community and are paying attention to what they say.
Be as interactive as you can. Start a conversation with your followers on relevant topics or the ones in your industry by making use of your expertise in the field.
Also, People like to get fast responses. Try to respond quickly to comments and messages in order to be perceived as a reliable partner of dialogue.
4. Content calendar
Posting on Twitter is just like growing a tree. You need to water it at the right time and take care of it. The same applies to your account.
Your Twitter marketing strategy needs to include posting when your audience is online on the platform and crafting high-quality posts that will evoke engagement from your followers. Maybe it's in the form of a funny cat compilation or an emotional, thought-provoking story about your employee.
We have created a list of the best times to post on Twitter with Sproutsocials' infographic that you can use for guidance.
As we can see, the best times to post on Twitter are from 9 to 11 AM in the workweek.
The best performing days are Wednesday and Friday. Also, the worst day to post is Sunday. So, you can schedule your content calendar around those times.
5. Consistency
Even though being consistent is all about discipline and willpower, using it in your business will bring you massive results.
Consistency means posting at a specific time, with the same voice and personality, establishing a deep and trustful connection with your followers.
If we look at Wendy's example, we can see how they create a consistent feel for their brand by matching the video caption with the content.
As a side note, keep in mind that more content doesn't equal better quality. You need to take your time and craft content that will speak to your target audience and followers.
Consistency is the secret sauce of a successful Twitter marketing strategy.
6. Authenticity
The perfect post on every social media has its own specificities. Crafting a close to perfection post on Twitter is definitely different than writing for Facebook or even Instagram.
- When it comes to the type of post, use more videos.
The results from a recent social media study has shown that the most engaging tweets contain videos.
- Include emojis
Even though you would expect a more formal approach when it comes to Twitter, think again. Emojis are not excluded from the equation. They perform really well on Twitter. The more, the better.
- Make good use of the character limit.
Even though Twitter is the only platform with a character limit, it seems that the longer the tweets are, the better they perform.
According to the content study mentioned earlier, brands post, on average, more often on Twitter than on any other platform: 25post/month on Instagram, 60 posts/month on Facebook, but almost 200 posts/month on Twitter, 195 to be exact.
This means that the competition for engagement is extremely high.
- Research content ideas.
If you’ve tried all kinds of things and your engagement doesn’t skyrocket and you’re willing to get some inspiration, Socialinsider’s Content Explorer allows you to discover cool ideas that worked for others.
Let’s say your company has just released a newer, better type of eco-friendly car. Then it’s time to brag a little bit on every social media, just like Tesla. We all know what’s the impact of cutting emissions on our environment.
Breaking: Sony announces an electric concept car called the Vision S https://t.co/tjenJgXKgv pic.twitter.com/DT9NfyaS6G
— The Verge (@verge) January 7, 2020
These two tweets are among the most engaging ones in their niche.
More utility than a pick-up
Better performance than a sports carhttps://t.co/28RWdWLYMi— Tesla (@Tesla) November 22, 2019
Learn more about how to write the best social media posts.
- Twitter Polls
They are a great way to crank up engagement and hear your audiences' opinions about diverse subjects. You can look at trending subjects on Twitter and create your poll based on them.
You can set the poll duration from 5 minutes to 7 days, and after it finishes, the result will be bolded.
To create a poll, click the 3rd button from left to right in the Twitter compose box called "Add a poll". Furthermore, you can add your question and your answers in the additional boxes. You can add a maximum of 4 questions to your poll.
Do not forget to set the duration for your poll and then hit the "Tweet" button.
- Questions
Another exciting idea is to ask your followers questions from time to time and see their responses.
As a suggestion, you can make use of controversial, factual, open, and closed questions. Trivia questions can also increase engagement and encourage more of your followers to participate.
- Videos and Images
A picture is worth a thousand words. We know that sounds like a cliché and overrated, but it is true. This is another tool that you can add to your Twitter marketing strategy toolbelt.
Based on our latest social media industry benchmark study we did, press agencies post the most images, followed by restaurants-cafes, and conglomerates. Sadly, video is still a small part of brands’ content strategy.
Moreover, your posts should contain only high-quality, relevant images.
Tweets that contain videos can receive up to six times more engagement than image tweets.
The video format provides a much easier medium to share insights, behind the scenes, tips and tricks, and interviews with personalities from your industry.
You can also start recording live videos to connect faster with your audience. The videos are posted as tweets after you stop your recording.
7. Twitter Ads
Twitter Ads is an excellent addition to a complete Twitter marketing strategy. Whether you want to grow your accounts' followers or increase conversions, you've come to the right place.
Objectives like video views, reach, website clicks, followers, engagement, and more are at your disposal. Depending on which objective you chose, it will also affect your costs.
Also, be sure to make the creatives relevant to your audience, and find an appropriate call to action. Some examples may be: buy now or start trial now. Do not forget to stop a campaign if it underperforms.
8. Use analytics to your advantage
This has a few metrics that will help you have a broad image of your activity:
By accessing native Twitter analytics, you’ll be able to see you the number of tweets, your top tweets, what tweets have the most replies and which are the result of the promoted ones on a period of 6 days.
Twitter will also show you how many clicks you’ve earned in the last few days, how many retweets, likes, and replies.
Looking at this data and constantly monitoring it will allow you to notice your constant growth, as well as a preference for certain posts.
Twitter offers a lot of insights, but if you want to have even more information, you’ll have to go in-depth with the data analysis and start looking at third party apps.
Using a third party dedicated analytics tool you’ll be able to have all the above mentioned metrics, plus other relevant ones, as well as download comprehensive branded reports.
When it comes to tweets comprehensive analysis, using tools like Socialinsider you’ll be able to see and download reports that include:
- the distribution of tweets
- the average number of tweets/day
- the average engagement per tweet and profile
- your top three tweets
- your follower’s growth
- top mentions and distribution of mentions, as well as top mentioners.
- your best hashtags by engagement.
You can also take a look at who are your biggest fans, by going to the top mentioners section.
A very helpful metric is the profile activity by hour of day because it lets you see what is the perfect hour to post your next tweet if you want to be seen by as many followers as possible.
Another useful feature that the native app doesn’t have, but is present in tools like Socialinsider is the comparison feature, which allows for instant competitor benchmarking.
This is a handy way to compare your business activity on Twitter with another competitor, measure results side by side, and draw conclusions to improve your own Twitter strategy.
Only a few clicks away you’ll be able to access metrics such as the number of tweets, engagement, followers growth, average engagement, average engagement rate per tweet, average engagement rate per profile and the followers count.
Also, you can analyze what are the best tweets, compare post evolutions and learn from engagement evolution.
One main advantage is that you can also download full reports, ready to be shown to your supervisors or clients, which ultimately saves up a lot of time.
You can choose between default periods or make your own custom period. Whether you prefer PPT, PDF or XLS files, a specialized tool can help you generate branded reports almost instantly.
The differences between the native app and a specialized tool are undeniable, but it ultimately all depends on your needs.
Twitter's native app will work fine is you don't have too many accounts to manage, but if you are juggling a lot of pages and want to save some time but still impress your clients, use more comprehensive, relevant data.
9. Use Twitter hashtag analytics
Hashtags are all the rave and they have been embraced by all the important social media platforms.
They actually work as a URL by collecting all the tweets that include them. Branded or non-branded ones, businesses across the internet love hashtags. and this is why monitoring them is a good idea to reach your audience.
Make sure you add content related hashtags that are relevant for your business in your tweets. Then start monitoring them to see how other people use them.
You can track your top hashtags and to better understand what works and what doesn’t when it comes to adding hashtags. You can also reach hashtags reach on Twitter.
A great way to get yourself know on Twitter is by searching for a trending hashtag and use it in your tweets. Right underneath the Search bar on Twitter, you’ll find trending hashtags.
Select the option to have the trends personalized for you and give them a try.
Find out how to use hashtags to boost your Twitter engagement.
10. Incorporate Twitter into your overall social media content strategy
To have a marketing strategy that bears results, you need to be mindful of all the social media platforms, not only Twitter. Of course, Twitter just plays a part in your strategy.
Think about your marketing objectives, and then find the best platforms to reach them. If Twitter is the right medium to achieve them, consider having a presence on it. If not, find other mediums and double down on them.
Also, being consistent across all your social platforms is very important. Your voice, visuals, and tone needs to be the same over all your platforms.
Final Thought
Having a plan and constantly keeping an eye on important data for your Twitter marketing strategy means a constant and sustained growth.
Just remember to monitor the most important KPIs, build a community, engage with your followers, discover great ideas from your niche and use the power of data and insights by using an analytical tool for Twitter.
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