10 Top Tips for Twitter Success!

Twitter is used by millions of people worldwide, and is a great tool for small and medium sized businesses to build a loyal customer base and increase sales leads. Consumers are much more likely to use your business if they follow and interact with you on Twitter and with this in mind, we’ve put together our top ten tips to help grow your online presence and optimise your business.

1. Choose the right user name

Your Twitter username makes up part of your Twitter web address.  It’s best to keep it short and simple and should include your business name.  For example if your user name was @PSmithPlumbing, your Twitter web address would be www.twitter.com/PSmithPlumbing. If you already have a Twitter account, you can change your username using the settings menu. Don’t forget to also enter your business name, rather than your own name in the user details section as this is what will appear on your profile.

1. Making the most of your ‘bio’

Your ‘bio’ is the short description of your account that appears under your profile picture. What you write in your bio will help your search engine rankings when potential customers are looking for an installer online. You only have 160 characters to describe your business so it’s important to get as much detail in as possible about what you do. Take into consideration what a customer may type into a search engine to find your business and include your name and contact details so potential customers know who they will be getting in touch with.

1. Profile images

If possible, combine a picture and your company logo into your profile image, for example a picture of yourself in branded work wear. A smiling, friendly face is a great way to attract customers! If you are unable to get your brand into your profile image, another option is to use your logo as your header image (this is the large banner at the top of your Twitter profile).

1. Creating content

The best way create content for your tweets is to think about the messages you want to get across to your followers and potential customers. Make a list of your services, promotions, hours of operation etc. and compose tweets around these. Attaching images to your tweets such as installation pictures or infographics is also a great way to make your posts more engaging.

1. Composing tweets

With a 140 character limit per tweet, it can be tempting to use ‘text speak’ to fit as much content in as possible. This may make your tweets hard to read and may exclude potential customers so using correct spelling, punctuation and grammar is the best way to get your message across.

1. Don’t forget your website!

You may not be able to get all of the information you would like into your tweets, but you can use links to cover anything you can’t fit into 140 characters. Update your website with your current services and contact details and include the link in your tweets. For example ‘We operate longer hours over the winter season, find our more here (website link)’.

1. Scheduling tools

You don’t have to be ‘on’ Twitter to be active and promoting your business. Tools such as Hootsuite and Sprout Social that let you schedule tweets in advance. The tweets will automatically be posted to Twitter at your chosen scheduled time meaning you can schedule a whole week’s worth of tweets in advance.

1. Use #hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to get your business noticed, as tweets that contain them show up in search results. For example if a customer searched #boilerservice or #Leedsplumber and you’d tweeted using these hashtags, your tweet would come up in the customer’s search results.

1. Retweet

Retweeting useful information is a great way to engage with potential customers. For example as an installer, retweeting energy saving tips or information about boiler servicing shows potential customers you’re interested in their overall benefit and not just in their business. You can also retweet feedback from your customers who have shared their satisfaction on Twitter. The users whose content you retweet may retweet your posts in return, meaning your business is then promoted to all of their followers.

1. Pinned tweets

If you are running a promotion, pinned tweets are an excellent way for as many followers as possible to hear about it. Compose a tweet about your promotion, post to your page and click the three dots under your tweet. Choose ‘pin to your profile page’ and anything you tweet following your pinned tweet will appear underneath it, leaving your pinned tweet at the top of the page.

Improving your Twitter account and making it work for you is an unlimited, free resource to boost your business. Keep an eye on the Ideal Boilers Twitter feed and our blog for product updates and information, useful hints and tips for your customers and installation pointers, all of which can be retweeted to your own twitter feed! Don’t forget to tweet us pictures of your installs and we will retweet you!