Twitter is a user-friendly micro-blogging social platform, meaning individual posts may consist of text, images, or links but that all content cannot exceed 140 characters. This size regulation allows users to share useful information in a fast, easily-read format that facilitates quick sharing and large audience reach. We've created a user guide for first-time business users beginning with the most common Twitter terms.

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Basic Terms

Handle: Your username, preceded by the @ sign. I.e. @yourbusiness

Tweet: A tweet is a 140 character post consisting of text, images, or links.

Feed: A stream of tweets from other Twitter users you follow.

Follow: To view tweets from other users in your feed, you must “follow" them. Once you have followed a user, their tweets will appear in your feed and you will be able to retweet their tweets, mention them in a tweet, or direct message them.

Followers: A follower is someone who follows your activity, allowing your tweets to appear in their feed and giving them the ability to retweet your tweets, mention you or direct message you.

Retweet: Re-posting another user's tweet. Retweets are a good way to share valuable content your followers will find useful and allow your followers to retweet your content to their followers.

Mention: Referencing another user by their handle (i.e. @theirbusiness). Mentioning another user facilitates interaction.

Hashtag: A topic or keyword preceded by the # sign which highlights the word or term and makes it searchable.

Direct Message: A private tweet between you and another user, visible only to that user and yourself.

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Best Practices

Now that we've got the basic terms down, let's talk about best practices for using Twitter for your business.

Compose: Creating great tweets is the first rule of Twitter and to do that you have to decide upon a voice, or attitude you present when posting. Feel free to add personality and get creative! Your Twitter account is a great place to interact with your customers in a personable way while offering great value by means of interesting and educational content.

Once you've decided on how you'll present your information, get started! It is recommended to tweet 3-5 times a day depending on your industry and size but your business should be tweeting at least once a day. These can be original content or shared content by way of retweets.

Content: The best Tweeters use a variety of content types to share their message. Include images, videos, and links to other useful information with a variety of educational, funny, inspiring, or topical subject matter.

Be sure to follow other businesses in your industry and pay attention to what they do well! Your feed is an excellent source of inspiration and content any time you are unsure of what to tweet. Your username, preceded by the @ sign. I.e. @yourbusiness

Engage: Twitter is a SOCIAL network so be friendly! Mention followers in relevant posts, reply to tweets mentioning you, respond to direct messages, etc. Involving your followers in your posts creates a community for your customers and widens your audience, increasing the effectiveness of your marketing.

Follow: As we mentioned, it's important to follow other businesses in your industry. Twitter provides a list of “Who to Follow" which can be helpful in building a following list as well.

Lead: For your business to be effective on Twitter, you need followers. Gaining followers takes some time in the beginning, but by consistently posting engaging and useful content, you will gain followers who look to your business as a resource. Invite customers to follow you on Twitter by including links on your website, adding your Twitter handle to your email signature, and mentioning your Twitter account in your office.

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Because tweets are limited to 140 characters, it is imperative to make your content count! Interesting tweets not only draw more engagement, but improve your brand's reputation as an industry leader and authoritative source for valuable information.

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