Did you know that 74% of adults online use social media? Of that, 23% are on Twitter. That’s almost a fourth of the adult population, over the age of 18, who are using Twitter. As Twitter continues to increase in popularity as a social media tool, so does its importance as an online marketing resource.

To best utilize this resource, SS1 has compiled a list of a few basic best practice tips for Twitter to better optimize your page’s overall performance. Use these tips as a guideline to start building your brand’s visibility and increasing traffic to your page, 140 characters at a time.

1. Create a Content Schedule

Sporadic tweeting is bad business. If your brand tweets five times within a span of 30 minutes, chances are, your followers are only going to see one or two of those tweets, if you’re lucky. The average Twitter feed is in a constant state of flux, so it won’t take long for your published tweets to become lost in an abyss of content streaming from other brands. Creating an automatic post schedule can pose a simple solution for this occurrence, by ensuring that your content is sent out at pre-designated times. Not only will this show that your brand understands social media, but it will also eliminate the possibility of annoying your followers with an endless overflow of content.

2. Timing is Everything

As previously mentioned, Twitter timelines are constantly changing. If you tweet at 11:00 a.m. and your target audience doesn’t get online until 5:00 p.m., they most likely aren’t going to see your content. Instead, you should post during the social media “rush hour.” The time for that will depend entirely on your target audience. For example, teenagers are most active after school, so tweeting in the afternoon would be more useful to your brand. If you are trying to reach an older audience, on the other hand, tweeting before and after normal work hours would be a better time to reach higher levels of traffic.

3. Retweet the Relevant

Obviously, not every tweet you publish should be a retweet of something someone else posts. Original content helps to establish you as an authority on topics that are relevant to your brand. The same can be said for retweets, which help to show that not only do you know what you are talking about, but that you can also find other sources of authority to back up your claims. Retweeting relevant posts from other accounts will also ensure that you’re entertaining your followers with information that isn’t always related to your specific product, brand, or service. This makes your brand appear more approachable and your tweets seem less like subtle sales pitches. Most people dislike it when a person only talks about themselves all the time and the same rule applies to brands. Make sure to keep your content new, fresh and diverse to keep your followers interested.

4. Share Media, Not Just Text

Whether you’re posting an original tweet or a retweet, make sure you’re sharing things other than just text. Too much text can be like TV static to the consumer eye. By tweeting a variety of images, infographics and videos, you’ll keep things interesting and increase the chances for your post to grab someone’s attention as they’re scrolling through their Twitter feed. Also, posts that implement eye-catching media also tend to get better click-through rates (CTR) than just posts that only include a hyperlink attached to text. Utilizing pictures, videos, infographics, and even emojis in your tweets can be an easy way to increase engagement among your followers.

5. Make Content Engaging

Twitter is a social media platform. The very term implies that there should be some form of ongoing engagement between various parties, but in order for that to happen, your content must be interesting enough for people to discuss. When you’re drafting your tweets, make sure your brand has its own unique voice that your followers will recognize. In other words, don’t write tweets that sound like a textbook. People are on social media to talk to people, not robots. Ask questions and be conversational with your Twitter community. They will appreciate the feeling of direct brand involvement and you can get an even better sense of your online target audience.

6. Use #Hashtags Whenever Possible

Learning how to properly use hashtags is crucial in the current business climate. Hashtags are extremely useful for organizing, analyzing and emphasizing content. When you put the # symbol in front of a keyword or phrase it becomes a hyperlink, and when a user clicks on the link it will show all other social media posts in relation to said keyword or phrase. Hashtags allow your brand’s content to be viewable by anyone with an interest in your hashtag subject, even those outside of your network of followers. This expands your content reach to anyone interested in that subject, which gives your brand more visibility and a certain level of credence as a thought leader for your industry. On Twitter, posts with hashtags get twice the number of engagements (clicks, retweets, favorites, and replies) than posts without. However, it is important to limit oneself to no more than two hashtags per post, if possible. Using three or more hashtags can decrease levels of engagement by an average of 17%.

7. Respond, Respond, Respond

Even if you ignore everything else in this blog post, do not ignore this tip. Respond to your audience! If someone replies to a tweet, keep the engagement going. Favorite their tweets, thank new followers for following, retweet positive testimonials and, most importantly, ask if they have any questions about your brand/company. Even if someone reaches out to you with a negative comment or complaint, respond in a helpful and polite manner. If you don’t try to repair the relationship, that customer could tell their followers, which could result in a string of negative comments surrounding your brand. Keeping an open line of communication with your followers on social media will show that your brand places importance on customer care and service.

Having a well-maintained presence on social media, namely on Twitter, is a must for brands and public figures and could prove to be one of your most powerful marketing tools. However, it is equally important to take the time to understand best practices for each of the social networking platforms. If you follow the guidelines highlighted in this article, you’ll be well on your way to properly formulating your online presence on Twitter.

Be sure to follow Social Strategy1 on our own branded Twitter page for future best practice articles!