How to use Twitter

Amanda Lucci@alucci

“Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and

news about what you find interesting.”

Source: twitter.com

Thanks to the real-time nature of social media, our editorial products now need to be 24/7 information services

Twitter alerts our audience to new content immediately when it’s posted online• This keeps us relevant to our industries in between print

issues Twitter allows us to develop our voice socially and

connect directly with our current (and potential) audience

Shorter messages feed shorter attention spans Peer pressure

• Our competitors are using it• Our readers are using it• Our potential clients, advertisers and subscribers are using

it

TWITTER.COM/SIGNUP

Fill in your information Don’t think too hard on

your username at first – you can change it in your settings later

After you sign up, Twitter will take you through a few screens suggesting people to follow and getting you acquainted with the site.

Change your options using this menu

Usernames can contain a maximum of 15 characters and have to be unique (if you don’t get the one you want it’s because it’s taken)

Use some variation of your name• First and last: @AmandaLucci• First initial, last name: @ALucci• Underscore: @a_lucci

…or identify yourself by your brand• @MCMAmanda• @MCM_AmandaL

Avoid using numbers or a pseudonym that is difficult to remember• @mandy_catluvr• @SteelersFan66

Make sure you like your username – ideally, it shouldn’t change very often (if at all)

If you're tweeting only for business, you may want to have a separate account for personal use.

Use a clear, professional headshot• Of yourself - not your kids or your dog• If you must, use your brand logo

Write a short, memorable bio to identify yourself• Mention your brand – “Editor at @MeetingsNet”

(more on mentioning later)• Personalize with specialties and/or interests• The keywords in your bio are how you will be found

in search, so only include items that relate to who you are and what you think you’ll be tweeting about

If you only have one account (not separate business and personal), you may want to add “Views are my own” to your bio

Don’t forget to add your location!

Choose a theme Twitter provides for you If you’re feeling adventurous, you can add your

own background image and create your own color themes

Sites like Twitbacks.com offer free, professional backgrounds that you can personalize

Smartphone users can download a Twitter app to receive push notifications if someone has followed you, messaged you or shared your content• You can also post using these apps – great for

on-the-go tweeting, like at a trade show Non-smartphone users can choose to

receive these same kinds of notifications via text or email

Notifications are useful, especially if you’re not checking your home page all the time, to keep up with who is engaging with you

#yay

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Suggested connections

Tweet here

Followers

Current

trends

See who is connecting with you Feed of

tweets from people you

follow

New tweet

Settings

Worldwide, national and local trends

Search for users,

topics or hashtags

Hashtag

Click any name for info on a user

“Promoted” tweets are advertisements

Use this box to follow users Twitter suggests for you – Refresh or click the X to get new options

Click Find friends to search for email contacts or individual users

Click Browse categories to view suggested users in topics that interest you

A blue checkmark indicates a Verified Account – for a brand or celebrity this serves as confirmation from Twitter that this account is official

Type in a topic that interests you. Click Follow if you like any users that show up – it turns blue to confirm the action.

Click on a name (eg “Marketing B2B” ) to view more about the user, like # of followers and a few of their recent tweets.

Using the menu to the right of the Follow button, you can tweet them and even turn on notifications for them – so you get a text every time they post.

Use this search function to look for people, too!

Compose new

tweet

Post tweet

Number of characters left out of 140 possible (it won’t let

you post if you go over)Upload an image to

attach to your tweet

Hashtag

Mention a user

Link (auto-shortens)

Hashtags are completely arbitrary and anyone can create and use one at any time in any tweet – you can't buy or reserve certain hashtags

To create a hashtag, add a # sign before any word or phrase (without spaces) in a tweet.

You can also add general hashtags (eg #marketing, #b2b) at the end of a tweet – it doesn’t have to be part of a sentence.

Don’t overdo it and #make #every #word #a #hashtag, but try to include at least one in every tweet.

#“Think of hashtags as the theme of your Tweet. Users

can then click on a hashtag to see other similarly-themed tweets and find yours in search.” – from

Twitter’s official definition of a hashtag

“Think of hashtags as the theme of your Tweet. Users can then click on a hashtag to see other similarly-themed tweets and find yours in search.” – from

Twitter’s official definition of a hashtag

Hashtags are links - click one to see who’s saying what about a particular topic

Hashtags make your tweets more visible to people looking for content like yours

You may find new follows or potential connections by sifting through topical hashtags

Many industry events will use a unique hashtag to organize the discussion – use it to see who’s there, and add it to your tweets to stay visible!

*Hashtags can be ANY simple word or phrase! For example, we’ve created hashtags in the past to help promote the #CMI25, #Changemakers etc. – if you see the main account using these, follow suit!

Mention an account in your tweets by preceding it with the @ symbol• Example: “Read this new story from @MeetingsNet”

Talk directly to someone by mentioning their account first in your tweet• Example: “@betsbair I loved this month’s issue!”• NOTE: Unless your followers are also following the person

you are talking to, this conversation will not show up in their timeline. If you want others to see this conversation, re-phrase: “I loved this month’s issue, @betsbair!” Realize that the people you follow are most likely having

conversations you can’t see – if you want to see who’s talking to who, visit a person’s full profile at twitter.com/theiraccount.

Make sure you are mentioning relevant brands or people instead of just naming them – this will bring it to their attention, making them more likely to share it with their own audience.

@

Click a tweet anywhere on Twitter to expand it

You can Reply to the original poster, Retweet the post to your followers or Favorite to save it and revisit later

The expanded view of a tweet also shows you how many other people have already retweeted and favorited the tweet

Clicking Retweet immediately forwards a tweet that you like to your followers.

While it’s important to develop your voice through original tweets, retweets enable you to share something you “couldn’t have said better yourself.”

You should NEVER copy and paste the text of someone else’s tweet and pass it off as your own!

If you want to reuse all or part of someone else’s tweet in your own tweet, use these modifiers (and mention the user you took it from):• RT: Retweet – if you take exact wording• MT: Modified tweet – if you alter the wording but take the

general idea (sometimes people do this to stay under 140 characters)

• HT: Hat tip – it’s like saying “thanks for bringing my attention to this link/idea/etc”

This is useful if you want to add your own insight to someone else’s tweet (and that’s how good conversations start!)

New followers (click each picture to learn more about them)

Someone has mentioned you (don’t forget to reply and

thank them for the compliment!!)

Someone has retweeted one of your tweets

Someone has favorited one of your tweets for easy viewing later

Someone mentioned you, and someone else retweeted it (you’re going viral!)

Other people retweeted the same tweet (must have been a good one)

Click to see only mentions (filter out retweets and favorites)

View your new followers’ profiles to see who is following you – if you don’t know them, you might want to follow them back, message them or get to know them

If people are mentioning you, reply to them! A simple “thanks!” goes a long way in social media

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get hundreds of followers right away. Keep tweeting, sharing and interacting and the follows and shares will come

If you want to privately tweet to a particular user who's already following you, start your tweet with D to direct-message them.

Nobody else on Twitter will be able to see this message.

You can check your Direct Messages using the same drop down menu where you edit your Settings.

Well………..

Follow @meetingsnet - it’s the best way to stay on top of our newest content so you can share it too• Retweet us!

Don’t just post the latest headlines – tweet fun facts from a story, crack a joke or give your opinion. Show your personality! (while still being a professional)

Share links to our stories, blogs, newsletters, Facebook page, whitepapers, webinars, digital issues…you get the idea

Show people how great our magazines are – make them WANT to click the links you post

Find out the official hashtag before you go (ask around or tweet the organizers)

Tweet observations, pictures, and your experiences while you’re there

Follow the hashtag to find out who else is there and what to check out• Some events will even project the hashtag’s live

stream on a screen during the event Use Twitter to stay in touch with people you

meet after the event is over – follow them, then share and respond to their tweets to stay on their radar without formal correspondence

Best time to tweet: between 1-4 p.m. For every 10 tweets, 7 should be actual

content and 3 can be promotional/lead gen

Tweets have a low shelf life, so you CAN promote something more than once a day (but don’t be annoying)

Have fun and tweet content that interests you! You are an ambassador for our brand, but realistically you do consume content outside of your colleagues’ – people are more likely to follow those who tweet different, interesting, sharable things

Share. Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!

Listen. Regularly monitor the comments about your company, brand, and products.

Ask. Ask questions of your followers to glean valuable insights and show that you are listening.

Respond. Respond to compliments and feedback in real time Reward. Tweet updates about special offers, discounts and time-

sensitive deals. Demonstrate wider leadership and know-how. Reference

articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates to your business.

Champion your stakeholders. Retweet and reply publicly to great tweets posted by your followers and customers.

Establish the right voice. Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine, and of course, a likable tone from your business, but think about your voice as you Tweet. How do you want your business to appear to the Twitter community?

Source: twitter.com

Any questions?