Business has always been social. Entrepreneurs in the past relied heavily on feedback from their peers and their customers. A decade ago, this feedback was either gathered by direct contact, via third party surveys or what every business tries to dodge, bad publicity.

The advent of social media has made it easier for companies to reach out to their target audience. They also become audiences themselves learning and interacting with experts in their fields.

Twitter is considered one of the most popular media platforms of choice for entrepreneurs. Businesses spend hours and extensive resources on twitter. What are they doing with their 140 characters? Let's take a look at how entrepreneurs tweet like a boss.

1. Use #hashtags

#Hashtags can be placed anywhere in a tweet. There are many uses for hashtags. One is to be able to categorize a tweet. Entrepreneurs hashtag words or phrases that refer to a topic, a promotion or an event. When you put a hashtag on a public profile, your tweet can be visible to anyone who searches for it. How do you hashtag? Read about it here.

2. Ask questions

Effective entrepreneurs listen. In house and third party surveys have always been the main source of customer feedback. Surveys take days and even months to complete. Not to mention, can be expensive. Now, Twitter is taking that place and entrepreneurs are able to gain their customers feedback right away. When it comes to getting feedback on their brand, entrepreneurs can now directly address their customers by simply posting a question to their followers. Since Twitter can provide real time interaction, feedback can now be gathered during a new product launch or as an event is taking place.

One of the most admired entrepreneurs in the world, Richard Branson, posted a question through Twitter on Virgin Airlines' marketing campaign.

3. Share content

Twitter is like a highway where news, information, offers and content pass through your newsfeed at a faster speed than any other social media platform. Unlike Facebook where an exposure of content can only be shown for a certain frequency, Twitter allows entrepreneurs to post links, promotions or blogs on their website multiple times per day. Take for example a new blog post on your website. On Facebook you can post a link to a blog as you release it. Often, you need 1 to 2 days to promote it again.

On twitter you can post the same link up to 3 times in a day and it would still be digitally polite. Three posts on the same link might be considered spam on Facebook but on Twitter, because the newsfeed moves faster, posting multiple times allows you to expose your content to different sets of followers throughout the day. 

Social Media expert Jeff Bullas tweets about his blog using different catchy headings about an hour apart.

When sharing content via Twitter:

• Post at different times, to maintain an online presence throughout the day. Change it up.

• Post using unique headlines to the same links to see what improves engagement from your audience.

• Schedule your posts strategically by using tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.

4. Get traffic 

One of the goals entrepreneurs have on Twitter is to drive traffic back to their websites. Twitter is a platform where you can build your own community according to your niche.

• Build your profile correctly. Your followers over time should be able to recognise your brand and find your information. Place share to Twitter buttons on your blog's page too, this will allow your readers the opportunity to easily share your content to their Twitter followers. When they do, the link to your blog on your website will be exposed to other potential target audiences and new followers.

• Share consistently. People search and read through their Twitter feed at different times and for different periods. Sharing useful content consistently places links to your website on the Twitter feeds where your target audiences are. This increases your chances of getting traffic back to your website no matter what time your potential prospects or audiences are on Twitter.

5. Connect with Other Entrepreneurs

Social media has changed the way entrepreneurs interact with each other. Business owners who are building their companies are now able to follow and even reach out to those who have already made a name for themselves. Entrepreneurs in the same niche can collaborate and mutually promote each other. All of these are done in 140 characters or less via tweets, mentions, favourites, direct messages and Twitter chats.

6. Participate in discussions

There are Twitter discussions for virtually any business topic niche or idea. These discussions are opportunities to learn from someone in your niche or weigh in on a topic. Twitter discussions usually have a unique hashtag that lets every participant follow its progress.

These discussions are the best place for entrepreneurs to establish themselves as leaders in their industry. On Twitter, you can host your own discussion or become a guest expert in somebody else's. The complete list of upcoming Twitter chats is on the link.

7. Provide customer service 

The expectation for customer service has soared with the developments in technology. Customers are now able to post questions, comments, recommendations and complaints in real time on review sites and across social media platforms. Twitter is the fastest avenue to track these feedbacks and respond to them.

Some businesses even go the extra mile in helping their customers by finding questions that they can help with on Twitter and providing answers to their audiences. Nike Support proactively asks their followers to posts their questions and offer solutions on Twitter.

8. Take advantage of recent news and events

Aside from hashtags, twitter has popularised another word: Trending. A trending topic on twitter means that it is the most hash-tagged or the most talked about topic at the moment. Trending topics often follow the news or the latest events. 

The popularity of this year's World Cup has had businesses and advertisers tweeting. Often times it is to take advantage of this trending event to promote their products. 

9. Learn. Be in the same platform as industry leaders.

Who appears in your Twitter feed? Twitter is a large community that is made up of people from different fields and interests. Your newsfeed or timeline is filled with your followers tweets and retweets so choosing who you follow can give you real time updates on almost any topic and offer links to business news, sporting events, entertainment, celebrity, political rants or humorous posts. 

The good news is that thought leaders and industry experts are also on Twitter. This allows you to learn from the people you look up to in bite size formats via links to blogs, podcasts or videos. Following the power influencers in your niche offers you unique insights into how you too can best grow your twitter following and maybe even become and influencer yourself. 

10. Promote events

A big fraction of your Twitter followers should be your target audience. Twitter is an avenue to speak directly to your current and prospective customers. An event can be a physical gathering, a product launch or podcast.

One of the Forbes' Top 10 Social Media influencer, Kim Garst, updates her followers on her ebook launch via Twitter:

• Get found. Pick a unique and easy to remember hashtag for your event so your audience can easily find the details and follow the progress of your event.

• Collaborate. Getting together with other experts in your market niche is one of the ways to pique your audience's interest. This provides them with a lot of insight. One other benefit of collaboration is that it also exposes your event to your collaborator's audiences when you mention them on your event's tweets.

• Include graphics such as event posters or videos.

• Keep tweeting while the event is going on. It might be too late for people to attend but still a good time to promote your brand. 

Tips for entrepreneurs 

Reserve a Twitter username that is congruent to your business name and decide how you would like to build your own personal brand also. Make sure that your username is easy to remember. Complete your bio and make sure you can be found by listing the necessary contact details on your profile page. Follow people you are interested in especially those who are in the same business as you. It can also help you to follow your prospective customers. Initially retweet your niche influencers posts to build followers that are interested in this type of content.

Twitter is one of the most important social media platforms of the current times. The presence of the most successful brands on this platform as well as its growing number of users is an indication that Twitter is not just another social media fad, it is a business tool that is here to stay.

About the Author

 

About Angelica Manlunas

Angelica lives off of coffee and pizza. She spends her time online tinkering on social media, watching short films and poetry slams. Her offline time is devoted to trips to the beach or spending lazy days indoors with a book in her hand. Also, she writes at least 1000 words every day. Email Angelica at angelica.manlunas@transeo.com.au and follow Angelica @ang_transeo.