The importance of content on Twitter

The recent Twitter Masterclass (YouTube) raised a question about creating content for and how to use it well to benefit your business.

Creating the right sort of content on Twitter is important

Here’s what we’d suggest.

Professional

You are representing your company, whether you are a business owner or employee, and so your tweets and content need to be professional.

Whether you are formal or informal will depend on your industry, and whether you are tweeting from a business account or an employee account.

The approach for a cutting edge marketing company, might not be right for a traditional firm of solicitors.

Permanent

You need to be mindful that your tweets are permanent, and so it’s advisable not to rant on Twitter via your business or employee account.

Relevant

Tweets should be relevant to your business, but there is nothing wrong with having a personality, especially if it’s an employee account rather than a business account.

It’s worth remembering the 80:20 rule though:

• 80% of your tweets should be non-sales-y, and 20% about your products and services

Nobody wants to read a timeline that is totally sales-focused.

Honest

Your tweets need to be honest, and not full of superlatives, unsubstantiated claims, or overinflated results.

Well-written

Just like your blog posts, your tweets should be well-written, and perhaps a series of tweets is better than a single abbreviated hard to read one.

Respectful

Your tweets can take advantage of news or events, but need to remain sensitive and relevant.

Jumping on a bandwagon might seem like a good idea to reach a new or bigger audience at the time, but can come across as extremely crass.

Images

Utilising images can help make your tweets more engaging, and encourage people to read them, and visit your website.

Statistics show that tweets with images are more likely to be clicked, favourited and retweeted, which will help to grow your audience.

Timely

It’s a good idea to try and tweet little and often. Tweeting when you have something to say can help to generate interest and followers, especially for employee accounts.

For business accounts, tweeting a specific number of times a day or week can have the most impact.

Conclusion

What you put out on Twitter says a lot about your company, your products or services, and your employees. Whether you’re excited about attending an event, or answering customer queries, you need to make sure that you are professional and appropriate.