To tweet or not to tweet, I’ll try and answer your question

Believe me, it’s been my question too, and I’m still looking into it, even after 3 years in the biz. I have taken my quest to google, searching things like, “why is tweeting important for a business”, “should I include a zillion #hashtags”, or even (As I throw my head back and yell) “I just don’t understand what tweeting is all about”.

I will begin by sharing some of what my investigation reveled, in a little 101 tutorial.

Why businesses should have a twitter account

I citing this one right from Twitter themselves “What to tweet”

Firstly, they suggest to keep your tweet short and catchy. If you’re not new to tweeting, then you’ll remember not very long ago, how hard it was sometime conveying your message in 140 character or less. Twitter finally heard the cries of many and has increased it to 280 glorious ones. Also, keep your tweet to one specific topic, don’t try to cram a lot of different info into one. This actually works to your benefit, because it than becomes a new tweet for your followers.

Graphics are good!

Secondly, use eye-catching visual supports, after all, they are the first thing people notice. This means even if you have to throw yourself under the bus for a hot minute, if it’s for a good cause. Twitter adds that a tweet containing a visual element has a rate of three times more likeliness to have engagement, than those that do not.

Personally for me, creating graphics is a lot of fun, and since my kids are grown, I don’t have any more school projects to help with. The satisfaction I get from hand crafting a graphic is exhilarating, and becomes prideful, when it receives the engagement. There are many programs available to use, both that cost and are free. I recommend spending a little time researching your options.

#Hashtags that!

These little guys will help to get your content out farther, especially when you include ones that are trending. Twitter makes it really easy to find them too. All you have to do is log into your feed, and look at the “Trending Now” section, they’ve even added stat’s under them. Prepare yourself for this one, just because it’s trending now, does not mean to continue to use it forever, these can change as fast as the current events do themselves.

Now all of this does not equate to filling your content with a bunch of #hashtags that have nothing to do with your message, however try to add at least one that is relevant. Good ones to use, could be an upcoming events that’s being talked about, or even just an upcoming holiday at the least.

Basically my take away from all of this is, “Yes, it is important to tweet!” I think it is just as important to generate original content, as it is to just do a simple retweet. What you retweet directly impacts the message your conveying, especially when trying to connect with your local community.

As for the #Hashtag, since up to this point, my clients have all been from my hometown, i make it a point to add these two, #ROC and #RochesterNY, both with local meaning. ~Tweet Tweet

Check out the full “What to Tweet” for even more information to get you started on the Twitter path