I work with many, many companies who want to use Twitter as part of their business but the individuals themselves are using it for the first time and – quite understandably – don’t know where to start.  There are lots of great guides and blogs out there around using the best keywords in tweets, the optimal time to tweet info, etc. but this is still a bit too complicated for those that are new to Twitter.  I feel what’s needed here is a newbie’s guide to using Twitter for business, so here are my 4 golden rules:

1. Be clear about your Twitter account’s purpose

Before creating an account and publicising it on your website and collateral, have a think about what the account is for and who you want to reach.  It’s a good idea to have a company account which is used as the single point of information for customers; a lot of the time I see the MD tweeting under one name, the Development Director tweeting in another guise and the Marketing team tweeting under a further name which is confusing for your customers.  Decide on what your company Twitter account will provide and plan accordingly.  Also take time to think about who will tweet using that account; putting a human face behind your company account will help your customers relate so be sure to add that info into your profile.  Which brings me to . . .

2. Create a great profile page

Your profile page is your shop window on Twitter so be sure to keep it up-to-date.  It is here where you can add a few concise sentences around what it is exactly that your business provides, your location, an introduction to the person tweeting and a link to your website.

3. Find like-minded people

You will want people to find and follow you and the best way to do that is to find people you are interested in and follow them.  And once you’ve done that you can also start following other people who follow them.   It may be that they are in the same field as you or perhaps in the same geographical location as you, but doing this starts to build a community of like-minded people with whom you can interact.

4. Don’t just broadcast, engage

So you have your Twitter account and people are starting to follow you; the temptation now might be to promote, promote, promote.  My advice – don’t!  A constant stream of adverts will turn people off and they will eventually unfollow.  You need to post relevant, engaging content around the industry as a whole which will compel your target audience to follow you.  You can of course mention your own solutions and the impact they have had on schools, etc. but it has to be a reciprocal relationship.  Be sure to chat with your followers around what’s interesting to them too!