Twitter is a wildly popular social media platform, with over 300 million users. Knowing how to use Twitter to help your business is a skill that is valuable for all business owners. However, it can be tricky to learn all about handles and hashtags, and how to use them. Lucky for you, we broke it all down, and made it a bit easier to get the hang of:
Handles:
“Handle” is the Twitter word for “username”. When someone asks for your Twitter handle, they are asking for the username you use, so they can find you. Your Twitter handle will begin with the @ sign. For example, FreshLime’s Twitter handle is: @FreshLime_inc. Try to create a handle for yourself that is your business name, or something very similar. Having your handle be something random will be confusing and hard to find for your customers.
Hashtags:
Hashtags are not exclusive to Twitter, so if you’ve used them on other platforms (i.e: Facebook & Instagram), you know the deal! For those of you who haven’t used hashtags, they are a great tool to help you be found online, and for the right things. What I mean is, a hashtag is way to display a topic of conversation or participate in a larger linked discussion (examples are: #FreshLime, #SmallBusiness, #Marketing). A hashtag is a tool that helps other users to find your tweets, based on specific topics. You can also click on a hashtag to see all the tweets that mention it. The really cool thing about hashtags, is people who aren’t even following you can find your page by clicking on a hashtag that you have mentioned. When using hashtags, keep them relevant to your business!
Trending:
‘Trending’ is the word Twitter users use when referring to tweets that have become very popular, or are about topics that are currently trending online. These trends can be based upon users you follow, and you can even specify a location when looking for trending news! This is a great way to find hot topics in your area, and also try to become trending yourself. According to Twitter’s FAQ page, “Trends are determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow, your interests, and your location. This algorithm identifies topics that are popular now, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help you discover the hottest emerging topics of discussion on Twitter.”
If you’re not already on Twitter for your business, now is the time to join! Refer back to these hints about how to use handles and hashtags, and just what trending means, and you will be ready to start tweeting!
For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, subscribe to the FreshLime Newsletter here. Connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. And last of all, if any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!