Okay, I admit it, I’m a twaddict (Twitter Addict) though I have been off the grid the past month and not tweeting 24/7 (though oddly, still reading the tweets of others… just being a fly on the wall I guess!).  I was speaking with a new social media management client a few weeks ago and she asked me to share my best tip for Twitter.  “Be yourself” I replied.

Twitter is a great engagement tool, especially for business.  But there’s a fine line to tread between providing good exposure for your business and inadvertently doing something that could damage your brand.

So let’s review my top three tips for Twitter newbies.

Twitter Tip #1: Be Yourself

Clients often ask me about their “voice” when tweeting and engaging in social media.  “What persona should I adopt?” they ask.  “Be yourself” I tell them.  Talk about the things that matter to you.  Even in you’re using Twitter for business.  Maybe especially if you’re using Twitter for business.  The online marketplace is different now.  People need to feel connected to you and know and like you to build enough trust to buy something from you.  So talk about the thinks that matter to you.  Some of my favorite Twitter accounts have tweeters sharing funny things their children say.  You can also talk about recent achievements and personal milestones.  I love talking about music or sharing my favorite tunes.  Talk about your favorite bands or a TV show.  These are just some examples.  The topic really doesn’t matter.  Join conversations that interest you and be friendly – just as you would at any party where a group of people were speaking.

Twitter Tip #2: Get Creative

Remember those high school creative writing classes?  Where you learned about sentence structure and grammar.  Some of the basic rules of literacy still apply on Twitter.  Be sure you can spell (increasingly difficult with auto-correct, believe me!) and put together a cohesive sentence.  You don’t need to be a novelist to use Twitter, but it helps if you have basic literacy skills and a healthy dose of creativity.  After all, with Twitter’s 140-character limit you’ll need to be creative with your Tweets.

Twitter Tip #3: Everybody Has A Story

Everybody loves a story.  And everybody has a story to tell.  If you have some good news (business or personal), share it.

And share links.  Links to your website, your blog, interesting news items, or anything else that interests your followers.  Sharing links and stories is a great way to get conversations going.

Another tip: retweet your follower’s links and stories, too.  Show them some tweet love and they’ll be grateful.  Just make sure you click the link and read the content before sharing it with your followers to make sure it’s relevant.

But keep this in mind: Twitter is not your personal soapbox.  It’s a community and you should be an active part of that community and engage and interact with others.  If you’re standing on your soapbox and constantly self-promoting, the community is going to stop listening.  That’s not to say that you can’t promote yourself.  After all, you are using twitter to gain exposure for your business so it’s natural that some of what you share will be about your business.  But try to stick to the 80-20 rule: no more than 20% of your tweets should self-promote.

iChat: Do You Tweet for Business?

  • Do you use Twitter or another social media platform for your business?
  • Are you engaging your followers or just talking about your business?
  • Do you have any tips to share?

Let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.