7 Mistakes to Avoid When Using Twitter
by Robin Amster /While Twitter can be an effective business tool for travel sellers, using it the wrong way can backfire, according to a social media expert.
When used correctly, Twitter is a way “to sort and organize the news that’s relevant to your business,” said Ilana Bercovitz, an executive with Retargeter, a digital marketing and advertising platform. “It’s a place for news sharing and information sharing. It has become another search tool.”
But using Twitter effectively includes formulating a strategy that adds value for followers, Bercovitz said. And many businesses make mistakes that turn this useful tool into a wasted resource.
Bercovitz shared these Twitter blunders to avoid.
#1. Shameless Self-Promotion.
Tweeting about your business is okay as long as it’s in moderation, said Bercovitz. Everyone uses twitter for the same reason: They’re there to promote themselves but you need a strategy that includes adding value to the conversation.
An important thing people fail to do is listen to the conversation. “You should tweet things your followers care about. If you are producing content, it should answer questions that will help your customers,” she said. “And it doesn’t always need to be directly related to your business; it can be industry-related.”
#2. Retweeting Mentions of Your Own Brand.
This is not a huge no-no but it relates to the issue of self-promotion, Bercovitz said. “It looks like you have nothing to say if you keep retweeting a mention,” she said. “In the real world, would you go around repeating compliments you’ve received? Probably not. Apply the same rule when using Twitter.
“I would recommend you reply to the person with a thank you and move on,” she added. However, if the mention contains content followers might want to see, be sure the retweet includes a thank you to the user who mentioned you.
#3. Repeating the Same Tweet Too Often.
As of June 2012, Twitter was at 400 million tweets a day, according to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. With that many streaming through your followers’ tweet feeds, there’s a good chance your tweet will be missed, Bercovitz said.
Many businesses try to fight that by repeating the same tweet 50 times a day, but that may cause followers to tire of you. “If it’s a very important tweet and I want to make sure it’s seen, I would repeat it a couple of times a day for a few days, but not much more,” she said.
#4. Using Too Many Hashtags.
Too many hashtags automatically make a business look like a spammer, according to Bercovitz. “Your tweet will be ignored. Instead of stuffing your tweets with hashtags, pick one or two keywords that relate to your tweet and place those at the end with hashtags,” she said.
#5. Misleading Link Descriptions.
“There’s nothing more irritating than clicking on the link in an interesting tweet and finding you’ve been taken to a completely unrelated page,” Bercovitz said. “A misleading link will only hurt your reputation.”
You can be engaging without misleading your followers, by composing a tweet that both attracts attention and relates to the link you’re sending, she said.
You don’t always need to have a link, but what are you tweeting about if it isn’t something valuable? And often the way to add value is through a link. “You want to share a link, describe it and then categorize it with a hashtag,” Bercovitz said.
#6. Asking Generic Questions.
If you are tweeting to build a following, asking a generic question like ‘How’s your day going?’ will not foster engagement, Bercovitz said.
While Twitter allows for the casual and conversational, it’s important to “put some thought into the questions you ask and how you ask them,” she advised.
Businesses should decide whether they want to keep things professional or personal and then ask questions that align with their Twitter strategy. “If you’re keeping it professional, stick to questions that pertain to industry-related topics,” said Bercovitz. “If it’s personal, ask questions that invite responses.”
#7. Not Engaging Consistently.
It’s better to be active on Twitter when you have something to say but you don’t want to disappear for weeks at a time and you always want to thank anyone who mentions your brand, according to Bercovitz.
“It’s all over the place in terms of how businesses use Twitter,” she added. “Some have a very small following. With a small following you may be sharing less thought leadership and a little bit more community type posts; more in a casual nature like Facebook.
“With 10,000 followers you might have more original, content-focused tweets. Know your followers, they’re interests and why they are following you.”