Next year, Twitter turns 15 years old. This conversational platform is not going away anytime soon.With 500 million tweets sent daily, the aging platform still surpasses Pinterest, Reddit, and Snapchat with 81 million monthly users in the United States (326 million globally). With that in mind, Twitter is a valuable resource for businesses to effectively market and promote themselves digitally. 

Twitter is, in a sense a blog, but with only 280 characters allowed. It was previously 140, but in 2018 they infamously doubled the allowance. Users can share photos, GIFs and videos or even go live and stream video in real time. Similar to Instagram and Facebook, Twitter also has a direct message feature for users to communicate privately. People use Twitter for updates on nearly everything. Whether it be politics, sports, fashion or celebrity news, anything goes on Twitter. If anyone wants to keep their finger on the pulse of any subject, Twitter is likely the best source for fresh information. 

Anyone can make a Twitter account for free  and use it boundlessly without fear of a paywall. This can make Twitter a great low budget method for promotion. Businesses can also take advantage of advertisement opportunities through Twitter Ads. 

Free Ways to Use Twitter for Business:

Tweet!

• This is the most obvious method. Sending out messages and updates through Twitter can be the best way to reach your audience quickly and effectively. Tweeting consistently and generating innovative content on the platform helps stimulate engagement and boost your following. 

Variety is key

• In addition to maintaining a content stream variety is also important. Inserting different videos, photos and links interchangeably can help maintain engagement, but stick to a common theme.  Nobody wants to see the same thing over and over. Avoid straying too far, as your content should still reflect your brand message. Keeping your tweets concise while sticking to a single message per tweet is important. 

Don’t forget your #hashtags!

• Hashtags are everywhere nowadays, but you can thank Twitter for their massive #popularity. People add them to their captions with little thought, but in doing so, they are contributing to a larger conversation. You can create a custom hashtag for your business. Once you establish a custom hashtag, they help generate engagement and trends. To get people interested you need to give people reasons to use these hashtags, whether that is through a challenge or a giveaway.
  • Protip: Use existing hashtags, so people can discover your page through their searches and recommendations. 
  • A method to promote your hashtags, is with influencer partnerships which can boost your content viewership and popularity.

Track your Analytics

• Analytic tools can help you get to know your audience. Your business will recognize what types of tweets garner the most engagement, the demographics of your followers, profile visits, mentions, impressions and more. 

Twitter Cards

• These are a way of including more information in your tweet than the allowed 280 characters. Twitter cards allow for users to view a Youtube video, an article preview, or see a photo on your website without having to leave the Twitter app. They can link directly to your website or app. There are currently five different types. It’s important to note here that creating these cards requires you to make a Twitter Ads account, but you are not required to make a payment.
  • Conversation Cards include built-in Tweet buttons that include a branded hashtag of your choice for your audience to use to spread your brand to their followers. 
  • Website Cards utilize a video or image that also links the viewer to your website if clicked on. 
  • App Cards similarly use a video or photo to link the viewer to your app to play, shop, order. By clicking on the app card the viewer is prompted to download the application or be taken directly to the app if already downloaded.
  • Direct Message Cards provide buttons that either prompt a chatbot that can recite given information for the viewer or send a direct message to  your inbox to be responded to by a real person. 
  • Tweet to Unlock Cards require the viewer to tweet a given hashtag to unlock information in the card (could be anything that one would be incentivized to tweet for). 

Chat with your followers

• Twitter Chat is a free resource that allows users to organize a moderated chat surrounding a chosen hashtag. Not only do chats boost engagement, they also give businesses an opportunity to better understand their audience and answer questions to allow their audience to better understand them. 

Get that verification check

• Getting that little blue check on Twitter is tricky, but once you do, you can stand out and enjoy that extra level of legitimacy to your account. Being verified isn’t essential, but the added credibility builds consumer confidence.. Out of the 1.3 billion accounts that have been created, there are only 215,000 verified accounts.
  • Protip: Don’t worry if your account doesn’t have thousands and thousands of followers. Your number of followers doesn’t impact your ability to get verified. Check out the guidelines to get verified now. 

Always check and answer your DMs

• Direct messages: As a business, you will probably receive questions and comments in your DMs. Don’t ignore these! Responding to direct messages is a great way to maintain a personal connection with your followers and provide support. 

Ways to Use Twitter for Business that Cost Money:

Make a Twitter Ads Account

• First, you need to set up a Twitter Ads Account. It’s totally free and with minimal requirements.
  • The account can’t be brand new or Twitter will hold it in review
  • Your tweets must be public (no protected tweets are allowed and you will have to remove these protections if they are on)
  • The account cannot be suspended or deactivated (you can try reactivating it).

Define your objectives

• Tailor your campaign to your budget and target demographic. 
  • Costs: At this point you have to decide how much you are willing to spend. Twitter has no minimum budget, so you can spend as much or a little as you like. 
    • You’ll be billed per 1,000 impressions, video view, app install, engagement, website click, or follower gained. 
    • Twitter determines the actual cost to you by how much you are willing to bid.
    • After you figure out how much you want to spend, you will choose your ad group, how you want to do your bidding, your target audience and where you want the ads displayed. 

There are also a few types of paid ads on Twitter:

• Promoted Tweets: These tweets look almost identical to regular tweets. The only difference is, they have a little arrow on the bottom that says “Promoted.” Treat them like any other tweet. However, they will autoplay video, be at the top of target users’ timelines and at the top of search results. 
• Promoted Accounts: Much like promoted Tweets, Twitter labels these accounts. Having a promoted account, will target people who don’t already follow you, and will place the account in the “Who to Follow” section. 
• Promoted Trends: This places your brand’s trend at the top of the “Trends for You” section of your targeted audience. Creating a promoted trend is great for jumpstarting the awareness of a Twitter trend you want to start, without all the legwork and difficulty of fighting with algorithms. 
• Automated ads: Possibly the simplest ad solution here, Twitter “Promote Mode” charges a flat rate price of $99 a month. On average, automated ads push your tweet viewership up by 30,000 views a month.

Now you’re ready to start your ad campaign! 

There are many ways to utilize Twitter to promote your business. With no minimum budget required, Twitter is also perfect for smaller businesses who don’t wish to make a large online ad investment or are just getting into digital marketing.  It’s an incredibly versatile platform, and it’s age makes advertising cheaper than some of the newer platforms like TikTok.