The markITwrite Guide To Getting You Started On Twitter

If you’ve been using Twitter for a while, then you most likely know your way around quite well already. In fact, you may well have mastered the art of tweeting, tweeting tips, Twitter etiquette, and all that comes with using the birdie…

However, if you’ve just started and you’re just getting to know your way around, you can’t be blamed if you’re finding the whole thing a tad daunting.

But fear not, the markITwrite team have been using Twitter for years and we’ve put together this handy little guide to ensure you know what you’re doing and don’t fall foul to any of the pitfalls that so many others have experienced before you.

The Rules

Before going any further, it’s very important to understand that you must always respect the rules of Twitter. So, first up, here’s a few dos and don’ts to make sure you don’t end up getting your account suspended – if this happens it can take weeks for you to be back up and running, and you don’t want that. Indeed, serious offenders can even find their account banned permanently – so let’s make sure we know how to avoid this from the outset.

The 3 Big Don’ts

First, don’t go crazy with the following. Whilst it’s tempting – especially when first starting out – to fire up the bluebird and follow as many accounts as you can in the hope to get some follow-backs, Twitter doesn’t like this tactic. It reeks of spam tactics, you see, and you will risk being flagged up as a potential spammer.

Twitter does allow users to follow up to 1,000 accounts per day (up to 5,001), but this doesn’t mean that you should follow this many – again, it’s all about behaving like a serious tweeter, which indeed is why the limits are there in the first place.

Secondly, when you reach the 5,001 follow limit, you may be tempted to trawl through your list and unfollow en masse anyone who hasn’t followed you back. Again, this is just providing more evidence to Twitter that you’re just a spammer and not serious about the platform at all. Twitter is a community where people follow each other without obligation, and attempts to play the system will not be tolerated.

Third – don’t buy followers. It’s OK to market through Twitter or even sites such as Twiends, but stay well away from these grammatically appalling accounts that offer 5000 followers for $20 etc. etc.

Twitter does not allow this, but besides, there are other reasons for staying away from this practice. It is very easy to spot users who have purchased their followers – and it just looks tacky, desperate and will do more to ruin your online reputation than what you think having a few thousand followers to your name will do to boost it.

When someone who has only tweeted five times suddenly has 10,000 followers it sticks out like a sore thumb. And it’s a false economy anyway. These ‘followers’ aren’t real people – they’re just dud accounts, and you will receive no engagement from them whatsoever. In short If your content is good enough, your followers will come.

Understanding The Follow Limit

To begin, Twitter imposes a limit on the number of accounts you can follow – 5,001. This is to halt the spread of spam accounts playing the follow-back game. However, you will eventually be able to follow more people once you’ve got a high enough ratio of followers to following.

Although the literature on Twitter’s help page says “this limit is different for every user”, I’ve been using Twitter for a long time and have managed dozens if not hundreds of accounts, and I can tell you that the limit normally seems to be 10% – i.e. you can follow roughly 10% more people than those that follow you at any one time.

So, if you have 30,000 followers you can follow 33,000 accounts.

These limits should inform your following decisions – you may decide to follow back everyone who follows you. But if you do this you should be aware that at some point you may have to do a bit of juggling if you find some new accounts that you want to track but have reached your limit.

Your Profile

Ok, let’s move away from the negatives now and focus on the positives.

As ever, first impressions count on Twitter. And so, when you sign up, before you do anything else, you need to complete your profile page – and make sure that it looks good.

Profile Picture and Banner Image

If you’re setting up a brand account, then of course you’re going to use your brand’s logo as your profile picture, making sure that it matches the image that use elsewhere on the web, on your promotional material and other social media pages.

However, if you’re a real boy-or-girl, then the best bet is to use a shot where you’re looking happy, but professional at the same time (not all moody and serious like our head writer @JohnWaldron_ – he thinks it looks all arty and mysterious, but would you hire that psycho-looking sod?).

Much better to go for the suave and (hic!) sophisticated look like me.

Though to be fair, I think that my beautiful and now dearly departed wife @Kesbutters got the balance between professionalism, the welcoming and approachable profile pic and branded banner image just right to be honest.

So here’s the lesson – be like Kerry and not like John!

Hashtags In Your Bio?

Yes, but not too many.

Your bio is displayed on your profile page beneath your profile picture. You only have 160 characters to play with, and within this space you need to concisely explain exactly who you are or what your business does, or possibly the purpose of this particular Twitter account (some companies open an account specifically for handling customer enquiries and/or complaints, for instance).

There is room one or two hashtags here, but some users make the ugly mistake of filling their whole bio with nothing but hashtags. Presumably the thinking behind this is to make the account discoverable to those searching for the specific hashtags – but the reality is that just using hashtags in the end reveals very little about the individual or company, and we must always remember that Twitter is a social network, and this approach is a bit utilitarian and desperate to be honest. #BeHuman

Unless You’re 14, Don’t Ever Use The #FollowBack Hashtag

This one really grinds my gears, and I’m sure I’m not alone. If there’s one thing worse than over-hashtagging, it’s the single #FollowBack hashtag. If you’re a teenager and you want to have more followers than your friends it’s not an issue. However, if you are even attempting an air of professionalism this is an absolute no-no. I’m serious.

It’s Time To Tweet!

Ok, so your profile is looking good, you know what not to do to make sure you don’t get banned from Twitter… there’s nothing left for it but to start tweeting!

My Top Tweeting Tips

1. There’s no one strategy fits all – While you may have read that there are certain times of the days when you should tweet or how often you should tweet, this isn’t an exact science. So don’t be afraid to experiment.
2. Keep an eye on the competition – If a competitor has a strategy that appears to be enjoying more engagement than yours, maybe it’s time for a rethink.
3. Consider scheduling software – There’s a virtual plethora of different apps out there for scheduling from the very popular Hootsuite to new apps such as Tweet Jukebox. They all have different advantages so take the time to look at some of the more popular ones to see if one is more suitable for your product or service.
4. “You have to be social to be social” – This was a favoured mantra of our late MD Kes Butters that she would be at pains to drive home to all of the staff here at markITwrite. There’s no point in just posting and hoping for success. Take the time to answer questions, respond to comments and to thank those who engage with you. This is a sure fire way to increase engagement and to grow your audience faster.
5. Don’t be overly self-promotional – No one wants to follow a Twitter account that does nothing but go on about how great the company is. If someone is following you, they are likely to be interested in your niche. As such, you’ll want to position yourself as a ‘thought leader’ or ‘industry authority’. And this means that you want to be delivering value to your followers – tweet things that would interest them, even if it’s links to content that you haven’t created yourself.
6. Retweet others – Find accounts that fit your niche but who aren’t competitors and take the time to retweet them. Make sure they are respected sites however, as you don’t want to retweet incorrect facts and be left with egg on your face.
7. Comment on your tweets and retweets – You may be using scheduling software, but if someone thinks you’re a bot they won’t be interested. Don’t be afraid to give your opinion. If you know your subject matter others will want to know your take on it. Share your opinions, but try to avoid controversy as it can cause more harm than good.

8. Shorten your links – Long links don’t look good on Twitter. What’s more, with only 140 characters to play with (though this is set to change) you don’t want to use up space with long links.
9. Keep the tweets short – Don’t use 10 long words when one small one will do. According to Social Media Examiner tweets in the ball park of 110 characters get 17% more engagement. So if you can keep it down, do so.
10. Personality is key – Don’t take your account too seriously (unless of course you’re an undertaker or something where it may be deemed inappropriate). Amusing memes from within your industry will often make others chuckle and will likely get you some added engagement.
11. Use images – As you’ve probably noticed, practically every brand and major account utilizes images in their tweets. Tweets with images get around 34% more engagement than those without.
12. Tweet questions – This is great for engagement as pretty much everyone has an opinion on something and most just love to share it. So ask them their opinion.
13. Always be polite – The last thing you want is a heated argument on Twitter for the world to see. While the likes of Dana White may get away with abusing those who don’t share his opinions, most people don’t, and it’s more than likely to backfire. Discuss, debate and respect the opinions of others.
14. Don’t over tweet – You may notice that many of the larger accounts seem to tweet every five minutes and get plenty of engagement. The reality is they have worked hard to grow a very positive online reputation, and, as such, they can get away with this. But that isn’t the general rule of thumb. If you’re just starting out, maybe 3 to 4 times an hour is OK, but don’t be tempted to tweet every five minutes or people will start unfollowing.
15. Monitor your engagement – It stands to reason that some tweets will get far more engagement than others. If you find that some are working really well, think about how you can build upon that success and spend less time on the tweets that don’t perform. If you are tweeting a piece of content regularly to try and get as much engagement as possible, try using different images. This will give an appearance that the content is different and may well get you more engagement.
16. Optimize images – Make sure your images are optimized for Twitter. There’s nothing worse than seeing an image that’s cut off at the head. This handy guide will help you along the way.
17. Run a Twitter poll – These are now very easy to do and a great way to increase engagement. It doesn’t have to be anything spectacular, just a simple ‘which do you prefer’ is a good place to start.

Final Word

Twitter is a great platform for those looking to increase brand awareness, website visits or to up the traffic to your blog. However, it’s important to get off on the right foot and do things by the book, especially if you’re a newbie.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you along the way and in no time you’ll have as many followers as your favourite pop star (though I wouldn’t count on it as many of the biggest names out there are also buying followers in a bid to be number one).

Continue reading here: Three Brands Who Have Mastered Social Media.

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