Social media sites are the go-to place. Whether you’re in politics, a tech start-up, or you’re an entrepreneur, you belong on the crazy train if you aren’t taking full advantage of what social media can offer your brand.

If you are any kind of a societal human, you have at least one social account. But are you on the second most popular social media site in the world? The one that is responsible for everything from the mundane, to the revelatory? It’s had a role in toppling dictatorships, maybe it helped land your dream job, or perhaps it has allowed you to see what your favorite celebrity is making for dinner. Whatever your cause, Twitter has been there, and it aint going anywhere!

We’ve compiled the do’s and don’ts, the wrongs and rights, the must-know tips for your Twitter marketing strategy. No notes needed; here is your cheat sheet.

#Don’t #Over #Hashtag It

Ah, the adored hashtag. We joke about it at times, but we joke because we unashamedly love it. We love it, maybe too much. Granted, it is an excellent tool to open up a specific topic to the entire Twitter-sphere (and beyond), but there must be a limit. It is tempting, but over hashtag-ing tweets can make your brand appear unorganized and juvenile.  Plus, the proof is in the tweeting: tweets with 1-2 hashtags get 21% higher average engagement, while tweets with 3 or more hashtags get 17% less engagement.

Choose the beloved symbols wisely and incorporate an already trending hashtag.  Want to set the trend yourself? Create your own company branded symbol.

Keep Tweets Short

Twitter demands 140 characters or less because it’s just the right amount before the reader will likely become uninterested. When it comes to social media marketing, ‘short and sweet’ reigns supreme. For your readers’ sake, make it a habit to keep a tweet under 125 characters.

Tweet Time

It’s 3am, do you know where your twitter followers are? Keep in mind the best times to tweet. If many of your followers are from California, it’s likely not best to tweet at 3am. Choose prime times, otherwise your tweet won’t be seen for hours and will fall to the bottom of follower feeds. When are people most likely to be rummaging through their Twitter feed? Lunchtime? Late evening? Use Twitter Analytics to find those peak times.

Engage!

Don’t auto schedule tweets and think you’re done. Stick around a while, wait for replies, and then respond. Not only do tweet-ers want to feel heard, but they also want to know there’s an actual conscious human on the other end.

Need the perfect example?  The hotel mogul Hyatt has a Twitter account dedicated to “make a difference for our guests everyday.”  The one account, @HyattConcierge handles all concierge requests, complaints, and complements of 535 properties in 47 countries.  Now that is dedication!

Participate in Tweet Chats

Tweet chats are the birthplace of hashtags on Twitter.  These chats not only open group discussions to like-minded brands and followers, but they also are the perfect way to engage your brand with your market, current audience, and target audience.

Participate in a weekly on-going tweet chat, or take the reins and host your own.  Either way, let your followers know, your brand cares about, what they care about.


Add Personality

Injecting brand personality into company tweets breeds life into an otherwise generic post.  There are over a billion registered Twitter users; that is a lot of voices to compete with.  Infuse personality to distinguish yourself from other users, but more importantly business competitors.

Mind Your Manners

Like Mom always said, ‘please and thank you go a long way.’ Thank followers for sharing blog posts, for becoming a follower, and for retweeting.  Twitter is a micro-blogging platform: it is fueled by stranger-to-stranger connection, in hopes it will turn into a follower to follower connection. Strengthen that connection with a welcome!

Twitter is continually growing by the day, and its marketing uses are constantly evolving. The aspect of Twitter that sets itself apart from other social platform giants, is that it allows brands to develop new strategies as you begin to mature your brand’s following.  Keep it strategic, evaluate the process, and you soon won’t need a Twitter cheat sheet.