Firstly, what is Twitter? Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called “tweets”.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
Twitter allows you follow whoever you want and have their feed appear in your “
Timeline” view on desktop or mobile. It is like a real time newspaper filled with your own specific interests and continually updating like a Sky news station. Find fellow trekkies or flower lovers, vets or accountants etc.
Retweet the stuff you think is worth sharing which will show other people who follow you what you like or consider important, useful and interesting. You can retweet something as a “quote”, so that you can add your own message too.
Mention people in your posts using their
Twitter Handle or twitter name with the @MichaelMacGinty or @examplename tag. They will see that you mentioned them and may just respond.
- Use the Search facility in Twitter to find people, companies and topics, #Hashtags, so you can join a conversation or connect with people.
- Use Twitter to allow customers give you feedback as part of your Customer Service – Do respond quickly.
- Connect with industry headliners or experts.
- Add images or videos, yours or others for effect. The CTR Click Through Rate for a post with an image is higher than without
- ‘Favourite’ some tweets to show your interest. Add the # Hashtag to a word to make it the topic of a conversation.
- Use the Reply option to converse.
- Dress up your Twitter wall paper or profile page with a good image or two and a succinct description.

Find potential or targeted customers and communicate with them to start or join a conversation and engage. To share their news or offer advice or even learn something.
Advertise your
Card in Twitter Ads to extend your reach to a target market or demographic and encourage conversion. People who visit your website can be targeted in Twitter Ads. People can turn off ads or dismiss them if they want, so do not be afraid to advertise. There is value in this at present so take the time to make use of t
he opportiunity now. With a card you can allow people click to go to your website or download a coupon/app or sign on to your mailing list. You can have a standard summary card with text and image or have a large photo Summary Card which has a bigger image and less text. The card allows up to 200 characters and you could even have product cards to show a product and add a description which could be linked to your eCommerce solution. You can also have a Video card or an Audio card. Have a look at the Twitter Ads dashboard to create your first card and keep it simple to start. If you have the skillset you can tweak the code in th ecards to do loads of things. Get more tips here from Buffer.
Periscope from Twitter is a new App for video Live Streaming – download the App and start shooting from your smartphone and select who can see it. The video will be available to be seen for 24 hours whereas in a similar App called Meerkat, video lasts just whilst it is being transmitted.
Trending topics become popular by users highlighting, an event or specific topic or #Hashtag. When you search, Twitter feeds you trending topics based on who you follow. You can opt to get details of trending topics in a set geographical region, such as your town or county. You can become part of that conversation by tweeting with that #hashtag, but do not add the tag to an unrelated post.
You can DM Direct Message your connections, one person or many.
Create Lists or join to help sort the endless feed. Watch the feed from competitors or the utterings of bloggers or industry experts. Make a list private to avoid it being seen by anyone. Engage with groups, such as your customers or team members or attendees at an event – have an ongoing conversation. Introductory Twitter for Business Video