This document outlines best practices for using Twitter presented by Heidi Miller. Key recommendations include being personal and generous with others on Twitter by engaging in two-way conversations, answering questions, and sharing links and content. It also recommends setting up a descriptive Twitter handle, linking to your website in your bio, following influencers and those of interest, and using hashtags and mentions appropriately. The document provides tips on what types of content to share, tools for saving time and analyzing engagement, and conventions like retweets and favorites.

1. Twitter Best Practices
Heidi Miller Media
Creative Connections
Minneapolis, MN Sept 16-19, 2010
Heidi Miller
www.heidi-miller.com
@heidimiller
www.profile.to/heidimiller

2. What is Twitter?
@heidimiller

3. What is Twitter?
Social
Instant
Messaging
@heidimiller

4. Two-way conversations
@heidimiller

5. Two-way conversations
@heidimiller

6. Who are you
trying to reach
and why?
@heidimiller

7. How
do you build great
online relationships with
Twitter?
@heidimiller

8. @heidimiller

9. Be personal
Be generous
@heidimiller

10. Be personal
Be generous
•Self-expression
•Reach out
•Respond personally
•Share your ideas
•Give credit, give links, give a
hand
Liz Strauss •Be passionate, funny, human
http://www.successful-blog.com/1/ways-to-get-noticed-in-the-twitterverse/
@heidimiller

11. Be personal
Be generous
• Giving back is the new black
• “The public should feel included
in almost everything you share”
• Engage with others on topics
they bring up
Brian Solis • Pay it forward
Brian Solis
• Reflect your personal brand
http://www.briansolis.com/2009/02/finding-tweet-spot-top-tips-for.html
@heidimiller

12. Setup best practices
@heidimiller

13. Setup best practices
Handle: Descriptive,
shortest version of
your real name
@heidimiller

14. Setup best practices
List your real name,
even when
Twittering for a
brand
Handle: Descriptive,
shortest version of
your real name
@heidimiller

15. Setup best practices
@heidimiller

16. Setup best practices
Link to your
website
@heidimiller

17. Setup best practices
Link to your
website
Bio: list roles, interests,
show personality. If
Twittering for a brand, say
so.
@heidimiller

18. Setup best practices
Link to your
website
Bio: list roles, interests,
show personality. If
Twittering for a brand, say
so.
@heidimiller

19. Setup best practices
Link to your
website
Bio: list roles, interests,
show personality. If
Twittering for a brand, say
so.
@heidimiller

20. Setup best practices
Link to your
website
Bio: list roles, interests,
show personality. If
Twittering for a brand, say
so.
@heidimiller

21. Whom to follow?

22. Twitter Directories
• www.wefollow.com
• www.twellow.com
• www.justtweetit.com
@heidimiller

23. Twitter Directories
Search for
keywords
Follow
influencers
Follow those of
interest
@heidimiller

24. Twitter Directories
Search for
keywords
Follow
influencers
Follow those of
interest
@heidimiller

25. Twitter Directories
Search for
keywords
Follow
influencers
Follow those of
interest
@heidimiller

26. Twitter Directories
Search for
keywords
Follow
influencers
Follow those of
interest
@heidimiller

27. How do you get followers?
@heidimiller

28. @heidimiller

29. Be personal
Be generous
@heidimiller

30. Be interesting
Be curious
Respond promptly
Be honest
Be Be human
@heidimiller

31. What
do you
talk
about?
@heidimiller

32. What is your brand?
@heidimiller

33. What will help your
followers?
@heidimiller

34. Answer the questions
@heidimiller

35. Answer the questions
• What are you reading?
• What are you commenting on?
• What are you blogging?
• What are you furious about?
• What are you excited to see?
• What do you need right now?
• What are you wondering about?
@heidimiller

36. Answer the questions
@heidimiller

37. Answer the questions
• What would you like to ask?
• What are you participating in?
• Who are you with?
• What are you talking about?
• What are you laughing about?
• What are you rolling your eyes over?
@heidimiller

38. Share and discover news on
what’s happening, topics
and trends
@heidimiller

39. Share and discover news on
what’s happening, topics
and trends
@heidimiller

40. The
most useful
Tweets
are
@heidimiller

41. What to Tweet?
links to interesting stuff
@heidimiller

42. What to Tweet?
links to interesting stuff
@heidimiller

43. Link shorteners
http://is.gd.com
http://tinyurl.com
http://adjix.com
http://bit.ly (has tracking)
http://snurl.com
@heidimiller

44. What to Tweet?
links to videos
@heidimiller

45. What to Tweet?
links to videos
@heidimiller

46. What to Tweet?
links to your posts
@heidimiller

47. What to Tweet?
links to your posts
General rule: promote others’ content 8x
as often as your own
@heidimiller

48. What to Tweet?
questions
@heidimiller

49. What to Tweet?
questions
@heidimiller

50. What to Tweet?
where you’re going
@heidimiller

51. What to Tweet?
where you’re going
@heidimiller

52. What to Tweet?
breaking news
@heidimiller

53. What to Tweet?
breaking news
@heidimiller

54. What to Tweet?
customer service updates
@heidimiller

55. What to Tweet?
customer service updates
@heidimiller

56. What to Tweet?
something you thought was
funny
@heidimiller

57. What to Tweet?
something you thought was
funny
@heidimiller

58. Answer the questions
@heidimiller

59. Answer the questions
• What are you reading?
• What are you commenting on?
• What are you blogging?
• What are you furious about?
• What are you excited to see?
• What do you need right now?
• What are you wondering about?
@heidimiller

60. Answer the questions
@heidimiller

61. Answer the questions
• What would you like to ask?
• What are you participating in?
• Who are you with?
• What are you talking about?
• What are you laughing about?
• What are you rolling your eyes over?
@heidimiller

62. Which is more
interesting?
@heidimiller

63. Which is more
interesting?
eating oatmeal fighting off zombies
@heidimiller

64. Twitter conventions
@heidimiller

65. Hashtags
#sxsw Keyword or
#macworldexpo
#blogher10 term that
#chic2geek
#smbsea describes an
#bcs10 item (metadata)
@heidimiller

66. Hashtags
#sxsw Keyword or
#macworldexpo
#blogher10 term that
#chic2geek
#smbsea describes an
#bcs10 item (metadata)
@heidimiller

67. Hashtags
#sxsw Keyword or
#macworldexpo
#blogher10 term that
#chic2geek
#smbsea describes an
#bcs10 item (metadata)
@heidimiller

68. Hashtags
#sxsw Keyword or
#macworldexpo
#blogher10 term that
#chic2geek
#smbsea describes an
#bcs10 item (metadata)
@heidimiller

69. Mentions
@heidimiller

70. Mentions
@heidimiller

71. Mentions
@heidimiller

72. The Power of the
ReTweet
@heidimiller

73. @heidimiller

74. Be personal
Be generous
@heidimiller

75. Rules of the ReTweet
• Read the linked article
• Give credit to original
poster
• Add a hashtag
• Add a commentary
• Shorten if necessary

76. Rules of the ReTweet
• Read the linked article
• Give credit to original
poster
• Add a hashtag
• Add a commentary
• Shorten if necessary

77. More Conventions
H/T = Hat tip (thanks/credit)
CC = mention to specific followers
via @follower = credit to original poster (after a RT)
#FF = Follow Friday, a convention in which Twitterers
list suggestions of cool people to follow on Fridays
@heidimiller

78. More Conventions
H/T = Hat tip (thanks/credit)
CC = mention to specific followers
via @follower = credit to original poster (after a RT)
#FF = Follow Friday, a convention in which Twitterers
list suggestions of cool people to follow on Fridays
@heidimiller

79. More Conventions
H/T = Hat tip (thanks/credit)
CC = mention to specific followers
via @follower = credit to original poster (after a RT)
#FF = Follow Friday, a convention in which Twitterers
list suggestions of cool people to follow on Fridays
@heidimiller

80. More Conventions
H/T = Hat tip (thanks/credit)
CC = mention to specific followers
via @follower = credit to original poster (after a RT)
#FF = Follow Friday, a convention in which Twitterers
list suggestions of cool people to follow on Fridays
@heidimiller

81. More Conventions
H/T = Hat tip (thanks/credit)
CC = mention to specific followers
via @follower = credit to original poster (after a RT)
#FF = Follow Friday, a convention in which Twitterers
list suggestions of cool people to follow on Fridays
@heidimiller

82. How to save time?
@heidimiller

83. Favorite Twitter apps
www.hootsuite.com
www.seesmic.com
www.tweetdeck.com
www.twhirl.org
www.tweetie.com
@heidimiller

84. Cross-posting
www.twitterfeed.com
feed your blog posts
to Twitter
feed Tweets to
Facebook
@heidimiller

85. Cross-posting
www.twitterfeed.com
feed your blog posts
to Twitter
feed Tweets to
Facebook
@heidimiller

86. How to
analyze and strategize?
@heidimiller

87. Twitter Monitoring Tools
www.tweetstats.com
www.rowfeeder.com
www.hootsuite.com
www.twitteranalyzer.com
www.tweetmeme.com
www.twitalyzer.com
http://favstar.fm.me
@heidimiller

88. Twitalyzer metrics
@heidimiller

89. Twitalyzer metrics
@heidimiller

90. Twitalyzer metrics
Are you RTing your
most influential
followers?
@heidimiller

91. Twitalyzer metrics
@heidimiller

92. Twitalyzer metrics
Are you RTing your
most influential
reTweeters?
@heidimiller

93. Favstar.fm
See who has
Favorited your
Tweets
@heidimiller

94. Worst Practices: Don’t
expect someone to follow you just
because you followed her
pimp your product
try too hard to sell
USE ALL CAPS!!! IT’S ANNOYING!!!
wait for your followers to start
conversations
feel the need to “catch up” on Twitter.
ignore your life.
@heidimiller

95. Twitter Best Practices
Heidi Miller Media
Creative Connections
Minneapolis, MN Sept 16-19, 2010
Heidi Miller
www.heidi-miller.com
@heidimiller
www.profile.to/heidimiller