Twitter for business can be a slippery slope. Where do you start? What type of content do you post? How do you get more followers? Trust me, every business owner has been confronted with the exact same questions, along with many more. That’s because social media is an extremely important aspect of marketing, and the last thing you want is to get off on the wrong foot.

 We all know how difficult it is for brands to rebuild a tarnished reputation on social media, so the best way to avoid this nightmare is to implement a viable strategy from the very beginning. To help you out, we’ve listed the top three ways your business can tackle Twitter like a pro. Check them out below.

1. Embrace The Hashtag

Twitter hashtags are an awesome tool you can use to reach more users. When you share something without hashtags, the only people who will see it are those who are following your account, and the followers of users who retweet your post. Obviously retweets are ideal, but they don’t always happen. By taking advantage of what’s trending, you can use hashtags to categorize your content so that every user searching a specific tag will see your post.

There are several companies that have experienced success by utilizing hashtags, one of them being Instant Checkmate. The company specializes in online background checks, which is a relatively specific topic that is not likely to be trending on a given day. So, their social media wizards must constantly find ways to integrate relevant hashtags into the company’s tweets in order to achieve optimal reach.

With this implemented, the information contained in your tweets will reach a much larger audience, and the more eyes on your content, the better. Audience growth is particularly important for companies that have just begun to implement social media into their marketing efforts, because each time you reach a new user, that’s one more person who could be a potential customer. 

2. A Little Friendly Competition Goes A Long Way 

Running a Twitter contest is a great way to grab the attention of your followers because, let’s be honest, everyone loves the thought of winning a prize. Depending on the nature of your business, you can tailor your contest however you see fit as long as you adhere to the guidelines that have been set by the site itself. The most important aspect to keep in mind when creating your contest is the prize. It has to be something awesome, but not too awesome because that will scare people into thinking it’s a scam. It’s great to invoke some creativity, so remember to always stay true to what you have to offer, and avoid sounding over-promotional. 

 An article on Mashable states that prizes with a value of $500 or less are ideal. For example, lots of restaurants run contests as a way to promote their business. But rather than simply offering a free meal, the restaurant owner might advertise a romantic dinner for two with a fancy bottle of wine. See how much better that sounds? It’s exclusive and enticing, and come on, who wouldn’t want that? 

3. Shortcuts Are Your Best Friend     

You know the old saying, “Work smarter, not harder”? Well, when it comes to Twitter, and social media in general, shortcuts are your best friend. Obviously we’re not telling you to skimp on the quality of your posts, but there are certain ways to supercharge your strategy in order to make your life a lot easier. First off, you should invest in a service that lets you schedule tweets ahead of time.

There are several different programs you can use that will allow you to manage your social media pages from one single dashboard. That way you won’t have to log in and out of all your accounts each time you want to share a new post. Also, it’s the perfect solution for certain situations where you (or your social media manager) will be away for an extended period of time. 

If you’re going on a two week vacation, you can’t just abandon your social media pages for that long. In fact, doing so could be detrimental to your marketing efforts, especially if you’re company is new. By scheduling your posts to be sent out each day, your brand will maintain its visibility among your social media fans and followers, and no one will ever know that you’re actually laying on a beach somewhere sipping a pina colada (lucky you).  

Do you have any additional advice for business owners who are new to Twitter? Share your thoughts with our other readers in the comments below. 

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