The no nonsense social media news and business platform

Twitter is a social networking and online news platform that enables - encourages, even - user interaction.

These public interactions (or messages or posts) are known as ‘tweets’. A tweet can be no more than 280 characters in length, which creates a sharper, more focused and business-like virtual atmosphere.

Twitter sees 500 million tweets posted daily (which works out at 5,787 every second). And with 326 million users each month, the staggering number of tweets per day statistic is made more believable.

So, there can be no doubt it packs a powerful cyber punch. Let’s look at that in more detail.

Trending: the place for businesses to be?

Probably the most telling - and compelling -  of statistics is that 40% of users say they’ve made a purchase because of a tweet by an influencer.

With an array of experts and celebrities posting frequently, influencing is clearly happening. And we can tell you that it works for many, many companies - large and small. 

It’s also worth noting that 75% of B2B businesses market on Twitter; and 65% of B2C businesses do too. That will be for a reason. No business would continue to promote their brand on a platform that wasn’t working for them.

Customer service is cited as one of the top reasons for companies to be on Twitter. It’s another point of contact for clients.

Whilst you may wish to keep individual concerns private - and in some cases, this will be vital due to data protection regulations - for the record, research shows only 3% of customers use the ‘@company name’ when complaining.

Anyhow, in today’s online world, this tends to be embraced and considered another opportunity to show what an excellent service you offer.

Tweet to who?

Twitter boasts that 80% of users are affluent millennials. If this is the target market you are interested in reaching, that is one persuasive percentage. If it’s higher earners you are looking to find, you can’t go wrong with Twitter.

To understand its user demographics better, it may help to know what Twitter users are looking for.

The platform is known as the place to be for the very latest news. To rubber-stamp this, a whopping 71% of Twitter users are reading news there. It is also heavily relied upon for scientific and technical information.

It’s an indicator of just how trusted Twitter is, as well as the types of people using it. Those who want to keep their finger on the pulse of what’s happening around the globe. Building a picture, yet?

These are online savvy people. An incredible 84% of users search for coupons and deals and look at brand reviews.

Ready to turn up the heat and tweet?

If you have established your target audience and are comfortable that Twitter is the right place to find it, it’s time to set up your account.

Bear in mind that it’s more important than ever to choose your words carefully. When restricted by characters, it can be tricky to convey your message accurately. Fewer words can spell misunderstandings; as when less is said, more ‘reading between the lines’ can occur.

It’s therefore vital your business profile is precise and concise, getting the right message across quickly. These are busy people you are appealing to, so you’ll want to keep it brief, whilst always in keeping with your brand image.

No room for witter on Twitter

Once your account is ready, it’s time to start familiarising yourself with how Twitter ticks. Note the kind of posts that attract attention and work out if and how you can adapt these types of messages to make them work for your business.

If it helps, we have some information at the ready to get you started.

Tweets that include a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) gain 55% more engagement. We think of GIFs as human emojis, if that helps at all - a silent looped image which can describe a feeling about something. For example, a well-known celebrity made to look as though they are repeatedly rolling their eyes; that type of thing.

Another winner when used right is video. Tweets that include a video attract 10 times as much engagement as a regular post.

As for timings: research has established that a peak time to post for B2B brands is around mid-afternoon.

For B2C brands, scheduling posts around working hours is likely to prove more beneficial. For example, within lunch times and commuting hours.

We suggest you post around 6 times per week, to start.

Are you retweeting posts worth repeating?

Retweeting happens when a user sees something that they feel is worth passing on to their followers. It’s when their followers want to share it, then theirs and theirs (and so on), that a post really becomes known and talked about.

With Twitter, there are endless opportunities to maximise your reach. Don’t just tweet for the sake of tweeting. Think about the information you are posting. Will it be appealing to the type of people you want it to appeal to?

As you create each post, always consider its retweet potential. Aim for retweets every time.

An encouraging 79% of small to medium businesses enjoy seeing their posts retweeted. And, so they should. It’s a fantastic way to get free publicity.

Twitter, inventor of the hashtag and live-tweeting, facilitates trend-setting. It is unquestionably influential. And very well regarded by professionals, regardless of their area of expertise.

Research shows that 31% of people are more likely to recall things they have seen on Twitter, versus what they recall while browsing online, generally.

Regardless of whether you have products to sell or services to promote, it is highly likely that you’ll be able to make your mark on this extraordinary platform.