Twitter is a social media platform that allows users to post short messages called tweets. Business users and companies can use Twitter to expand their networks, promote products and services, and engage with customers. To get started, users sign up, fill out their profile, find people to follow, and join conversations by replying, retweeting, and using hashtags. Success on Twitter is measured not by the number of followers but by engagement through replies, retweets, and link clicks.

1. Red Giant Consulting
Twitter 101

2. Definition of Twitter [Twit-er]
• Twitter is a social networking and microblogging
service that enables its users to send and read
messages known as tweets.
• Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters
displayed on the author's profile page and delivered
to the author's subscribers who are known as
followers. (Wikipedia)
 Simply put, Twitter is a public short messaging service to
share news and information and have conversations with
groups of people or individuals

3. Who Uses Twitter and Why?
• Business People
 Expand network and build personal brand
 Promote company, products, and services
 Find people with like interests
• Companies
 Provide customer service
 Engage with community
 Promote products and services
 Generate incremental revenue
• Personal users
 Find people with similar interests/hobbies
• i.e. reading, cooking, etc.

4. Deciding if it’s Right for You
• Listen – the conversation is happening, decide if you
want to be a part of it
• Determine your goals
• Create a strategy for Twitter use whether it be for
personal or business use (or a combination of the
two)
 Decide what you want out of your involvement with Twitter
 Configure how you will measure your success in relation to
your previously stated objectives

5. Signing up for Twitter
• Sign Up
 twitter.com/signup
• Choose a handle (username) that is:
 Short
 Memorable
 Personable
 Connected to you or your business, what you will mostly be
Tweeting about
 Has longevity

6. Fill out Your Profile
• Choose a photo/avatar/logo
 Having a photo will allow you to be taken more seriously by
other Twitter users
 Your photo should be professional and recognizable
 For a corporate account, use company logo or a photo of who
will be Tweeting on behalf of the company
• Create a bio
 Use full amount of space available
 Reflect what you do/what you are interested in
 This will show potential followers what you will Tweet about
 Include location to help people build their own networks
 Don„t forget a link to your website or blog!

7. Start by Listening
• Set up searches for:
 Company or personal name
 Categories/keywords (e.g. inbound marketing, mobile
advertising…)
 Competitors
 Partners
• Monitor searches daily to follow conversation & get to
know community
 http://www.search.twitter.com
 Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Seesmic, etc.
• Listen and observe how people are communicating
before jumping in

8. Find People to Follow
• How do you find people to follow?
 Upload existing contact/customer list to see who is already on
Twitter
 Follow bloggers/reporters/analysts whose work you enjoy
reading
 Find people talking about your interests via searches:
• search.twitter.com
• Subscribe via RSS to stay up to date
• Use search column to Tweetdeck, etc
 Use 3rd party services:
• WeFollow keyword based directory
• Listorious directory of Twitter lists created by others
• Mr. Tweet recommendation service
• Twitter Grader evaluates your Twitter presence and provides lists of top
Twitter users in geographic areas

9. Joining the Conversation
• Replies – to respond to someone publicly
 Use @ in front of user handle (e.g. @tgruber)
 If you use the Reply button or start your tweet with @ -- only those
followers also following that person will see the response
 If a word is put before “@” everyone following you can see the
tweet
• Send a Direct/Private Message (e.g. DM)
 DM @tgruber
 User has to follow you back for you to direct message them
• Retweet (RT)
 If you like something, retweet it to share with your followers
 Use “RT” button or include RT in tweet
 RT as is or edit
 If you add content, separate from original tweet [e.g. RT @tgruber
Twitter 101 is now available (cool, can‟t wait to read it) ]

10. What Should You Tweet About?
• ~40% Sharing
 Links, news blogs
 Use URL shortnening services to preserve your 140
characters when sharing such as bitly.com
 With a free Bitly account you receive stats to assist you in
measurability
 Connect your Bitly account with your TweetDeck account
under settings to simplify and measure all short URLs shared
• ~40% Engagement
 Replying to people
 Having conversations
• 10-20% Self Promotion

11. Where to Tweet?
• Twitter.com
• Third-party desktop applications
 Tweetdeck, Co-Tweet, Hootsuite, Seesmic
• Mobile applications
 m.Twitter.com
 Tweetie (now Twitter for iPhone)
 Echofon, Tweetdeck, Foursquare….
• From the web
 Connect to Facebook and/or LinkedIn but cross-post selectively
 Retweet from others blogs
 “Share This” button

12. How Often should you Tweet?
• Rule #1: Don‟t expect to read every Tweet
• Time spent depends on goals
• Plan to check in periodically throughout the day to
see updates on groups, keywords that are of interest
to them
• Create a “must follow” list if you want to see every
Tweet by a key contacts
• Tweet once a day at a minimum

13. Best Practices for Businesses
• Use the bio to identify who is managing the account and/or link
to site with Twitter/Community Manager bios and alternative
contact points
• If managed by multiple people, consider using identifiers to
show who is responding (e.g. ^TG)
• Monitor throughout the day, assign times for
evenings/weekends
• Train individuals in corporate messaging, customer service,
crisis communication, and other policies
• If you are experiencing a high volume of Tweets, seek
alternative tools (Co-Tweet, etc)
• Consider more formal social media monitoring tools such as
Radian6

14. What the ####?
• A hashtag (#) is used to identify and thread
conversations about a certain topic
• Conferences use hashtags to integrate everyone in
attendance
• If you want to be found by association with a certain
topic, use a hashtag in your Tweet
• Search using hashtags to see who is talking about a
certain topic
• Common hastags include:
 Wireless Wednesdays #WW, Music Mondays #MM
 Follow Friday #FF (recommend other people to follow)
• Hashtags are also used to thread Twitchats (set time,
day discussions such as #sbbuzz, #soloPR…)

15. Measuring Success
• Go back to your goals
 Customer satisfaction
 Brand favorability
 Brand awareness
 Sales revenues through Twitter channel
• Twitter-specific metrics
 It is NOT about the followers, it is about engagement
 # of replies
 # of RTs
 # of clicks/opens of short URLs shared (via Bitly)

16. Now What?
• Twitter 201 will cover:
 Auto tweet or not?
 Turning location on or off
 Scheduling tweets
 Cross-posting to other social networks
 Alternative tools for using Twitter
 Participating in and creating TwitChats
 Building lists
 Creating custom backgrounds

17. Follow me on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/tgruber