7 Keys to Business Success on Twitter
Twitter claims 288 million monthly active users, which is why it’s a place many businesses want to be. But how can a business get the most from its presence there? A recent study analyzed data from more than 200,000 corporate tweets to find out what works – and doesn’t work – on Twitter. Here are the keys to success they uncovered:
1. Engage new followers early. Businesses on average lose 15% of their new followers within three weeks. Retain those new followers by staying engaged with your community. Talk to them one-on-one, ask questions, post tweets that are funny, human, and honest. Most important: share thought-provoking, valuable, and occasionally entertaining content, the kind that gets people coming back for more.
2. Add images to your tweets. Business tweets that include images are 34% more likely to get retweeted than tweets with no image. Photo file sizes on Twitter can be up to 5Mb and animated GIFs can be up to 3Mb. You can also tag other users in your photos.
3. Put your URL in the middle of your tweet. That will make it 26% more likely to get retweeted than if you put the URL at the beginning or end, which is where many businesses wind up placing it.
4. Include a hashtag. This makes a tweet from a business 33% more likely to get retweeted than a tweet with no hashtag.
5. Use 11 or more characters in your hashtag. Tweets are only 140 characters, so you don’t want to make a hashtag too long. However, the study found that hashtags with 11 characters or more got 117% more retweets than ones with 6 to 10 characters. Catchier hashtags seem to require a few more characters.
6. One hashtag is better than two. Business tweets with one hashtag are 69% more likely to get retweeted than tweets with two. Once again, less is more.
7. Have a plan to keep users engaged. The study found that 90% of Twitter users who engage with a Twitter-based marketing campaign do not follow the brand afterwards. Clearly, you need to come up with a plan to turn those users into followers.
The study also found that more than half the businesses surveyed are spending at least 50% more on Twitter marketing compared to two years ago, and that 15% are spending three times as much. But, as always, it’s not how much you spend, it’s how well you spend it. We hope these tips help you use Twitter more effectively.
Here’s to your continued success gaining followers and clients, as you keep putting together your best year ever… Enjoy a great month!