1. Include a photograph
Always include an avatar to show that you are a real person, that people want to connect with. For company profiles use the official company logo.
2. Follow influential people
Follow people who you want to learn from, this could be people that you are simply curious about or who are thought leaders in your area of interest.
3. Listen to the conversation
Invest time into watching how people engage on Twitter and what people respond to. Get to know your online audience’s characteristics so that you can tailor your content to this.
4. Participate in the conversation
Don’t just talk about yourself – share useful content from other sources far more than your own promotional content. Engage with people - ask questions, run polls and surveys.
5. Position yourself as an expert
Strive to be influential and a thought leader in your area of interest. Comment on industry news, share insights and give value added advice.
6. Retweet and recommend people
Comment when you retweet, rather than just a simple retweet, this shows that you are thinking about what you are sharing with others. Also ensure that you are retweet friendly yourself, keep your tweets well under 140 characters if possible.
7. Use Twitter hashtags
Hashtags enable you to broaden the conversation and have specific search terms for events, topics etc.
8. Use Twitter client
If you are going to be Tweeting frequently you should join one of Twitter’s clients e.g. TweetDeck and HootSuite. These are small programmes that sit on your desktop / mobile device and make it easier to manage your social media activity.
Benefits of Twitter Clients
- Easier to reply, retweet and quote
- Keep track of incoming messages
- Ability to schedule tweets
- Monitor search terms
9. Promote Twitter profile on and offline
Include your Twitter handle across all of your social media platforms as well as on your website, blog, business cards, email, marketing materials and presentations.
10. Learn Twitter language
Avatar is the image uploaded to your Twitter profile in the Settings tab of your account.
DM is a direct message. This is a private communication between you and another person. To use this function, both parties must be following each other. This is why you should follow people back who follow you.
Hashtag (#) is an agreed upon keyword for a topic or event. Using Twitter hashtags spreads your tweets to a broader audience searching for those words and/or abbreviations.
#FF stands for "Follow Friday." Twitter users suggest who others should follow on Fridays by tweeting with the hashtag #FF.
Follow is to follow someone on Twitter and subscribe to their Tweets or updates on the site.
Follower is another Twitter user who has followed you.
Listed is to be included in another Twitter user's list.
Lists are organised groups of other Twitter users, used to tie specific individuals into a group on your Twitter account.
Mention is when someone has referenced your Twitter handle anywhere in the body of the Tweet
RT is a retweet. This means that you’re repeating someone’s message. It’s a public message that you rebroadcast to all of your followers.
Timeline is a real-time list of Tweets on Twitter.
Tweet is a 140 Character message sent using Twitter or Twitter application. Tweets are broadcasted to your followers and the public.
Twitter handle is your name on Twitter. It starts with an @ symbol. When creating your Twitter handle, try to minimise the number of characters you use, as the characters within your handle are counted against your 140 limit. Keep your Twitter handle similar to your name, brand or company name. For example, Active Profile's Twitter handle is @ActiveProfileUK.