Twitter has grown to have hundreds of millions of users, providing promptly real time news and personal views to a large audience. This is achieved by exploiting a trend list, which can be accessed through hashtags. For easy access to trends, users are advised to turn on their location so as to get information affecting them on time. Twitter has also made it possible for businesses to market online. This article presents 5 things that users and businesses need to stop doing with their Twitter account for an effective exploitation of the platform.
Over tweeting
Every business loves to sell its products, and to do so there has to be a good advertisement to make the brand popular. This will make you get a wider market and sell your goods and services so as to stay in business. Twitter happens to be a good platform, where businesses can sell their products or services (Monaghan, 2017). This can be done through promotional services on a Twitter account or through tweeting on trending topics.
But what entrepreneurs need to remember is that Twitter is a social platform and not a selling platform. If you are marketing on Twitter, you should be aware that not every user is there to shop and also bear in mind that social media is about the customer and not about you (Doctor, 2017). Therefore, as a Twitter marketer, you should be considerate on people that follow you by not tweeting and retweeting about your products endlessly.
When tweeting about your product on Twitter, you should aim at creating a good relationship with your clients and not burdening them with tweets. This is because most people prefer buying from those they know and trust. So it is up to you to convince people to buy from you without bothering them with tweets.
A great example from Amazon, on providing helpful and interesting content for it’s followers.
Besides, over-tweeting may result to people disliking you instead. Promotional tweets should not exceed a certain percentage. In that, a large part of your tweets should be non-promotional. Tweeting a lot of promotional tweets will make your followers assume that you are more concerned about your business than them. As a business person you should use features such as trends and storytelling, which feels as if you are not shouting or forcing people to listen to you.
Also creating a short video about your products will be an efficient way to promote products or services to the public. Above all, you should minimize yourself from tweeting endlessly about a product you are selling as it will make people unfollow you.
Incomplete profile
When using a Twitter account, you should not leave your profile incomplete. Instead you should fill in the required details and not leave any information blank. This starts from the name down to the profile picture.
Take a good care of your profile picture and name, like Tommy Hilfiger does.
This results to a situation, where visitors to your profile are able to see who you are getting to acknowledge your existence by following you. Some Twitter users choose not to follow people, who still use the default profile picture on their accounts (Kobach, M., 2014). This is because people may take you as an anonymous individual, who has sinister motives to the security of others. Therefore, it is ideal to always put your current photo for authentic identification (Soffar, 2015).
Incomplete profile also raises the question of transparency especially when it comes to business related matters as clients can doubt the conduct of a business account that hides much from the public. Posting altered photos may make one be termed as fake or spam. It is therefore advisable to always post original photos of yourself, so as to avoid any legitimacy issue from arising (Chorley, 2012).
Sending Automated Direct Messages
This has always been a controversial topic especially for businesses. In real sense, it is not ideal to send an automated message to a user who has decide to follow your profile or when promoting your goods and products (Monaghan, 2017). This is because not everyone will like it and most of your followers may be annoyed and consider you as spam.
If it forces you to connect with your customers, it is ideal that you reach to them in person. This will enable you to have a genuine conversation with your clients and get to engage on what to do or what to improve about your brand.
There are different types of messaging that might work while some may not. For example, sending an automated message to thank somebody for following you may not be appealing to many and may be taken as spam, unfollow you and never take anything you say seriously. This will force them to get to their message only to find a direct message (Doctor, 2017). Hence, this may lead to some followers unfollowing you and others blocking you.
Source: Use Direct Messages wisely, like for customer support!
It is also prudent to put yourself into the shoes of your follower and envisage a situation whereby you are being sent an automated message to check about a product. It is likely to be agitated to find that what made you open the message was not worth it. This may result to a situation whereby you may lose followers and nobody to take you serious.
If you cannot resist the urge to send a direct message, it is in order to use good grammar and correct language so as not to show disrespect to the recipient. You should also use a language that will not have a negative impact to your brand. Therefore, if in case you should use direct message, then do not use automated direct messages on Twitter as this show as negative image about your brand.
Do not use a private account for official matters
As a Twitter account user you should stop using your private account for official matters such as transacting of business (Brandon, 2016). This is a tricky area which should be taken keenly so that it can minimize any conflict issue. Personal accounts should be kept for private matters, while businesses can have their own customized accounts, which they can use to advertise or promote their products and services.
This minimizes the chances of being compromised (Business Insider Australia (2014). Besides, not everyone likes you, hence some people may avoid products that are posted on your private account.
A Twitter account is also prone to hacking. This can be catastrophe as your account may be used by hackers to post sensitive information on your account thereby leading to people avoiding your company’s services (Kobach, 2014). With this it is ideal for you to be keen against using your private Twitter account for official duties.
Avoid of using foul words
You should avoid using of foul word and vulgar languages on the Twitter platform. This is because nobody takes such words positively and can lead to a situation where one can be sued because of a tweet (Monaghan, 2017).
Foul words can also be termed as discriminatory, depending on the environment where they are targeted to. For example, when using words such as negro on a black people’s platform by a white, that would be termed as racism and could lead to one being charged. Several people have faced jail terms because of the foul words they have used on Twitter (Aitchison, 2012).
President Trump has also come under fierce criticism due to his constant use his Twitter account to address certain issues to the nation. His constant outburst has led to certain groups feeling that the President is attacking them and have since started a campaign to ask him to resign or coercing the Congress to impeach him.
This goes a great mile to tell you to watch out on the words that you post or use on Twitter (Brandon, 2014).
Posting negative stories about others should also not happen, or writing ill about a business that that you don’t like may land you in serious trouble with the authorities as you may be sued for libel.
Conclusion
Twitter changed the way people share real time news and interact with others online. This changes the way people used to operate as they were able to communicate efficiently through social media. Communication has been achieved on Twitter via the trend lines, which easily connect with people to what is happening on their environment by giving real time updates. When using a Twitter account there are certain things one should deceit from doing so as to keep away from trouble and seclusion, or even being bullied online.
A Twitter user should no use foul word when expressing their feelings. Therefore, it is advisable to use well-structured and polite language when communicating with others in. This is because Twitter is a public platform used by millions and if misused, it may be used against you.
When using a Twitter account, it is also advisable not to use your official details as this will minimize the chances of someone profiling the real you. But at the same time it is good to complete your account profile so that you can easily connect with others in the public who check your profile account for possible connection.
With these measures, you can go on smoothly with your usage of Twitter and the benefits it comes with.
References
- Soffar, H, (30 May 2015) The advantages and disadvantages of Twitter.
- Brandon, G., (25 January 2016) 22 Pros and Cons of Twitter for Business.
- Kobach, M., (12 April 2014). 10 Rules Every Business Must Know BEFORE Posting Any Social Media Content.
- Business Insider Australia. (2 January 2014). 10 rules for tweeting every executive should know, according to Twitter’s engagement guru.
- Doctor, V., (2 July 2017). Twitter for Beginners: Basic Guidelines Before You Start.
- Chorley, M. (26 October 2012). Use fake names on Facebook and Twitter, says the head of government Internet security.
- Brandon, J. (20 September 2014). 25 Acts of Social Media Cruelty.
- Aitchison, S. (20 February 2012). 5 Things You Should Never Do On Social Media.
- Monaghan, M. (2017). 10 Twitter Mistakes to Easily Avoid.
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