How to win on Twitter

While Donald Trump famously ‘gets’ Twitter and uses the 280 characters allowed to his full advantage, very few businesses make use of the app with any level of creativity. Walmart has a million followers and the tweets look standard — and T K Maxx is even worse.

You can do so much more with Twitter than just posting a link to your website out every day. Here are a few things I have been doing with the Legal English UK account to build it.

Don’t be afraid to editorialise

If you are going to tweet out bland vanilla nonsense then you can’t expect people to engage. Even if you have a corporate account you should comment occasionally on what’s going on. Don’t hurt your brand but don’t be afraid to get involved.

Respond to people

If you want to build your account you have to get noticed and one way of doing that is to respond to people in your area. If you run a law firm then respond to well-known lawyers and law schools. Say something more than ‘nice tweet, bro’ and make a contribution.

Go on a liking spree

Some may not agree with this but you have to make people aware that you exist so if you come across anyone who you think should be following you then take a look at their tweets and like a few that appeal. They might take a look at your account and follow you — it’s worth a shot.

Post links sometimes

You’re still running a business and you still want people to head to your website so post links now and again. Try and be a little creative with the 280 characters you have been allowed rather than tweeting ‘New store opens in London’. Add some superlatives and be more like Trump (I never thought I would ever write that).

You can get a lot from Twitter if you invest some time and energy into it. It may take several months but with Facebook seemingly determined to push businesses away it is a useful social media tool.

Mike Davies works for Legal English UK.

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