Twitter 101: An Intro to Twitter
I’m sure that you’ve heard of Twitter by now. Everyone has. Twitter is one of the biggest social media platforms out there. For those of you who want to dip your toe into the Twitterverse, we’re giving you Twitter 101: An Intro to Twitter. What we’ve listed below with help you gain a basic knowledge of Twitter and how to take advantage of it for your business.
What’s it all about?
Twitter is all about what is happening in real-time. It is a way for people to communicate and engage on a wide, and endless, variety of topics in an instant manner. This is why you will often see or hear of top trending hashtags or Twitter feeds exploding during or following major events. We’ll get into more of that below, but let’s walk through some of the very basic things you need to know to get started.
About That Handle
Usernames are sometimes referred to as handles and are always preceded by an @. For example, you can find us on Twitter under the username @virtualofficead. Just like all social media platforms, you will have a profile where your logo or profile pic will be displayed and you can share a small bio about your business.
Tweets
Twitter is a social media platform with a timeline or feed, like you would see on Facebook. Your feed consists of companies or people you follow. It’s similar, but what differs on Twitter is the length of the message that is being shared. In this case, the message is called a Tweet. Tweets are limited to 140 characters or less. This is not the platform to share lengthy messages about your new menu or your staff updates, but that doesn’t mean you cannot share that information at all. Twitter allows you to be brief and hold the reader’s attention with either a short message or directing them to your website for more information via links.
Hashtags
You’ve most certainly heard of this word by now. Tweets will often have hashtags associated to it. A hashtag is a word or phase (with no spaces) that makes that word or phase easily searchable and is always shown with a # in front (remember when we all called that the pound sign?). An example would be an event. It’s coming up on Oscar season and there are bound to be hashtags out there referencing the Oscars or #RedCarpet even. Hashtags are a means to promote or draw awareness as well.
We’ve sent out the tweet below in which you will see our short message including our hashtags that we are drawing awareness too, which are our business, #VOA, one of our specialties, #VOASocialMedia, and a broader hashtag with #socialmediamanagement.
So Now What?
Really, there is a lot you can do from here when it comes to getting creative and connecting with your audience. Your focus as a business should be gaining followers. You should be able to link to your profile from website and other social media platforms. Share your Twitter handle with your clients. Have them follow you and follow them back. Get your clients involved! It truly is a great way to connect with your audience outside of your brick and mortar location.
Be sure you are following other companies in your field as well to help grow your network. Not only should you work on building your network, you should participate. Retweet tweets that you love or are inspired by or you feel are worth sharing and reply to tweets to take part. Always remember to respond and interact with those following you, as you should do on any platform.
What we’ve provided you with today is a basic look at how Twitter functions in a broad sense. As with virtually any social media platform, there are many ways you can take advantage of Twitter as a way to connect with your audience and share your brand. We are here to help you when you are ready to make your move in the world of Twitter and other social media sites as well. Contact us today to learn more!
Happy Tweeting All!
