10 Things Successful Companies Do on Twitter

So you realize that this social media thing is kind of a big deal for brands these days. Either you haven’t started regularly posting content to your social channels or you have and realize that you aren’t getting the traction you want. To help you get more of the results you want, I’ve compiled a list of 10 things successful brands do on Twitter.

Use this blog as a checklist and assess if and how successfully your brand is doing the following things on Twitter. If the answers are consistently no, you should consider hiring an employee or a company like SMC to do these things for you.

1. Solicit Interactions. Unlike TV, radio and print, social media is a two-way broadcast method. You can get immediate responses from your audience if you ask. Post a picture and ask followers to create the caption. Or give two options and pose the question, “would you rather?”
2. Respond Quickly.If someone responds to something you post or asks an unsolicited question, make sure you have the resources allocated to respond to that message quickly. What if you asked a friend a question and they took 2 days to respond? Responding quickly shows you care.
3. Allocate the necessary resources.Social media is accessible and omnipresent, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It takes time to monitor, post, and respond. Don’t delegate the responsibility to an overworked employee or intern. You need someone whose job it is to see these things get done well.
4. Show company culture.Social media is about creating a trusting relationship between your brand and your individual customers. Showing them some of the inner workings of the business shows your human side and encourages people to identify with you more closely.
5. Use professional quality images.Images are an important part of social media. Great content paired with a grainy image looks amateurish and untrustworthy.
6. Engage with other brands.Social media doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You shouldn’t start a Twitter fight with your competitors, but keep an eye on what other brands are publishing and engage with them if it’s warranted. Their fans could become yours.
7. Have a sense of humor.You want to make your value proposition your number one priority, but mixing in a little humor every now and then shows your human side and makes people more willing to connect with you more often.
8. Create original content.If this was a prioritized list, you’d find it right at the top, but social media without original content is like bread with no yeast. You can eat it, but goddamn is it dry. Original content sings your value straight from the horse’s mouth.
9. Curate from trusted sources.When you’re not posting original content from your brand, curate relevant articles from trusted sources. This helps build your online identity as well as shows your commitment to providing value to your audience.
10. Give stuff away.Again, this shows that your Twitter page is a great place to go for people who want the best news and information in your industry. Give something away! Whether it’s a product, discounted product, or simply knowledge and information, this shows that you value your followers and are willing to prove it.

Now you’ve got plenty of ammo for creating or revamping your Twitter page for success. These 10 things aren’t the only things you need for success, but they will help. Want to know more dirty details about how to accomplish some of these things? Leave a question in the comments or dig into our handsome backlog of blogs.

Reprinted with Permission.

Image credit: CC by Garrett Heath