Do you use Twitter? Even if you do use Twitter, it is easy to lose sight of why you specifically are using the social network. This article looks at how a organisation can use Twitter to promote and engage, rather than the social network becoming a drain on your time.

Stay focused.

Once you have a reasonable amount of connections on Twitter it is easy to lose focus. It could be how you manage a complaint from a person via Twitter, to someone wanting to receive a response within an hour on a Friday afternoon. You need to make sure you organisation’s policies and procedures factor in social networks, rather than you mismanaging a response caught up in the moment, fearing negative coverage.

Be consistent.

You need to be consistent to be noticed and to properly engage with people on Twitter. If you send a ‘tweet’ once a week, then that is doing no more than link building. If you engage with followers as well as regularly ‘tweeting’ updates related to your organisation, it can build a stronger presence and possibly increase the chances of ‘retweets’. i.e. others informing other Twitter users on the network of your tweet.

Integrate into your website.

When people visit your website, you could have a Twitter button on some pages, enabling people to share a website page or blog post on Twitter. This is then free promotion initiated by a visitor on a free social network! Often overlooked, but an impressive form of free marketing.

You can also share your latest tweets on your website, though this can often prove to be a distraction to the visitors on your website. Another option is to have a notice on your website informing people of your Twitter account, such as a graphic floating on the left or right of the screen away from your main content, else a button in the header area out of the way.

So what is the point of Twitter?

From an organisation's prospective you can engage with customers and inform people of your products and services, who otherwise might have never found out about them and the costs are minimal. Plus have other Twitter users help promote your organisation.

Hire Geonet Solutions to setup a business Twitter account and integrate into your site.