As social media becomes more integral to our everyday lives, companies frantically work to lock down popular social media platform accounts with their brand name. Twitter, one of the more popular social media networking services, is an excellent multi-tool with a variety of uses ranging from simple networking, to customer support, to marketing.
It has been highly recommended that companies have a Twitter account for their brand. Though Twitter can provide extended benefits to a company, there are some difficulties that users should be aware of before creating an an account.
Let’s take a look at some of how having a Twitter account can impact your company!
Connecting with customers
The most obvious benefit of having a Twitter account is that it helps you connect with your customers from both a support level and a personal level. Customers and fans can easily connect with you through tweets or messages. You can also share news or company updates with your followers. This connection will make your customers feel valued and ultimately help strengthen your relationship with them.
Extend your company reach
Twitter also allows you to extend your company’s reach, meaning that your Twitter can connect you to a new customer base. Have you ever seen one really spectacular tweet from a brand that stuck out on your Twitter feed? Maybe it was a promoted tweet or perhaps a retweet from someone you follow.
No matter the source, the ability to extend your reach on Twitter is extremely beneficial for the growth of your company. As a personal example, a few months ago a Tweet from Nature Valley, a brand I don’t follow, appeared on my feed through a retweet. It immediately caught my attention in a lighthearted manner. Nature Valley was running a hilarious campaign that involved adding their granola bars to screen shots from popular anime shows, as well as interacting with other Twitter users copying that trend.
This obviously captured my attention, and I starting following them.
Marketing
Having a Twitter account also opens a door for your brand’s marketing possibilities. On Twitter, companies are able to purchase ad space with “promoted tweets” that will show up on someone’s feed regardless of whether or not they follow the respective company. You can also boost attention to a sale or promotion by sending out a quick and simple tweet that will be seen by your followers.
Social proofing your brand or product
With a Twitter account, you have the opportunity to establish your brand and create a sense of popularity or urgency for your product. Social proofing can improve your companies image on Twitter. When your follower count grows, people who click through to your account will see your large following and become interested in your product and ask the question “why are they so popular?”
Negative tweets
No brand is perfect, nor is any product. Someone will always be dissatisfied with your company, product, or service and decide to voice their complaints on Twitter. Whether it be directly to your account, or meant to be exclaimed to all of Twitter, you will surely come across a negative tweet. It’s an unfortunate but very common occurrence. You do, however, always have the ability to turn the conversation around and make the customer happy once again.
Twitter accidents
We’ve all heard of them, and possibly even experienced them first hand. Maybe the social team intern had an irrelevant meme copied on their clipboard and accidentally sent that instead of the FAQ article they meant to. Twitter accidents, though we wish they were a myth, are very real and easy mistakes to make.
Looking unfinished or “fake”
It looks extremely lazy if you create a Twitter, post once or twice, then ultimately abandon it. If you decide to make the commitment to have a social presence, stick with it. Don’t leave your Twitter account to die. If you’re having trouble with learning the platform, look up some tutorials or articles to help you gain a better understanding. If you don’t have enough time to commit to a Twitter, look towards hiring someone to help you out with one. Alternatively, you can look at some services that help you queue and schedule Twitter posts such as Buffer or Hootsuite. There is nothing more depressing than looking for a brand on Twitter in hopes of connecting with them and finding their page barren and devoid of activity.
Trolls and toxicity
Some people on the internet seem to solely exist to ruin your day. These parasites can bring constant frustration and continue to rustle your jimmies even after the work day ends. Their comments can be some of the rudest, most terrible things you will ever read.
A pro tip for handling trolls or toxic customers? Don’t take their insults to heart, and ignore them if at all possible. If a customer or fan has turned toxic, it’s OK to ignore them until someone else can help defuse the situation for you and handle them properly. The good news is that they will eventually disappear and find someone else to harass.
The important thing to remember when handling these types of tweets is to remain stalwart and professional. The public will be able to see your responses to these negative tweets. The last thing you want is someone retweeting an immature reply from your account. Try not to take upsetting tweets to heart or let it linger in your mind.
Tweet your heart out
The answer is quite clear: yes your company should have a Twitter account! It’s simple to set up and easy to learn how to use. It’s convenient for your customers, and a great way to personally reach out to people. The negative aspects may seem scary but, as someone who experiences dealing with upsetting tweets on a daily basis, you’ll live. The positives of having a Twitter account for your brand are monumental. Don’t be discouraged if at first you don’t receive many incoming tweets or gain hundreds of followers. After putting some work into your profile, your effort will surely pay off.
Does your company have a Twitter account yet?
Emma Zwirko is a social media manager at WP Engine. She hails from the East Coast of the US and enjoys video games, frozen pizza, and cat GIFs. You can follow Emma on Twitter @WPE_Emma.
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