Twitter 101

At only 140 characters per tweet, the same as an SMS (Text) message, Twitter has been used as a tool by many celebrities, businesses, and organizations to get the word out about what it is they’re doing and how it affects “Tweeple” or “Tweeps” (a.k.a. people of Twitter) around the world. With Twitter, it’s not about quantity, but instead it’s about quality, and when tweeting (a.k.a. posting information) on behalf of your business make sure you are always aiming to interest others. Be aware of the target audience, and what it is they want to hear. Always retweet (a.k.a. Tweet another person’s exact tweet) interesting tweets, but only if they pertain to your company or the focal topic of your Twitter. Retweeting is a great and easy way to gain followers and spread important and interesting information.

Another benefit to your business or organization is the concept of a hashtag (represented by #____). Using a hashtag in a tweet will put your tweet on a twitter feed (a.k.a. list of tweets) sharing the same hashtag. For example: “I’m trying to take my #dog to a #dogpark. Where can I find a good one in #Sacramento?” is a tweet that will show up in the #dog feed, #dogpark feed and #Sacramento feed. Someone is more likely to see it and help answer this Tweeter’s question quickly. This Tweeter may even gain followers who have the same question or common interests, like owning a dog in Sacramento. Hashtags are very simple, and it’s recommended to start one to help brand your company. However, be wary: don’t just flood your tweets with hashtags. It is only recommended to have, at most, 3 hashtags per tweet. Flooding is frowned upon in the Twitter community and can lead to a loss of followers.

In reality, this is only scratching the surface of the vast Twitterverse. Remember: Twitter is about quality NOT quantity. Twenty random posts per day is not as great as one or two posts per day about a specific topic. Tweeps (a.k.a. Twitter “friends”) follow you because they wanted to know more about your company and your topic. Less is more, and if you have a lot to say, there’s always a way to link your larger posts from other websites (like this blog, for example) to one of your tweets… but we can save that lesson for Twitter 202.

Tweeting is like texting

Twitter has slowly become one of the best ways to get the word out about your business or organization. Each 140-character “tweet” can pack a powerful punch if used correctly. Not only does the 140-character limit make your tweets concise and to the point, but it also opens up access to all cell phone users, and not just smart phones with a Twitter app.

SMS messages (or text messages) on regular cell phones are limited to 140-characters before “spilling over” into a second text message. Part of Twitter’s early success was based on the fact that any cell phone user could text a command to Twitter’s special number, “40404,” and control their personal Twitter feed. From a cell phone, a Tweep (User of Twitter) can: tweet, follow another user, block another user & Retweet (“RT”) someone else’s Tweet.

A user can also handpick which Tweeps are privileged enough to have all of their updates sent to his or her phone. So, if your company or organization Tweets quality information that other Tweeps want to know about, you may just end up with a few Tweeps who are text message subscribers.

Stay tuned as we will have a Twitter 101 for the month of June. Here’s to good Tweeting from the company that Always “Tweets” You Right!