Page 165 - Social Media Marketing for Dummies

clicking the Retweet icon that’s below every tweet in your Twitter feed. It’s the
one with the arrows pointing towards each other in a circular fashion. If
someone has tweeted something interesting, and you want to share it with
your own followers, the Retweet icon is the one to use.
» Messages: Through Twitter, you can also send direct messages to specific
users. These messages are seen only by those Twitter users and not by
anyone else. Direct messaging is useful when you want to communicate
directly with a customer in response to something they may have tweeted.
You cannot direct-message people who do not follow you. If you’re in the
Twitter app, just click the envelope icon to view and create messages. The
envelope icon is in the left hand margin of the website.

» Hashtags: The hashtag (pound sign) is used for spontaneous categories by
people who want to participate in a conversation around a specific topic. For
example, during the Super Bowl, people who want to tweet about the game
include #superbowl in their tweet. Then, whenever people search for #super-
bowl, they see all the tweets related to the game even if they don’t follow
some of the people who are tweeting with the hashtag. Clicking a hashtag
allows a user to see all the other tweets related to that category.

» Photos, videos, and more: Twitter has made it easy to attach a photo that
can be seen below your tweet. You just need to click the camera icon when
typing your tweet. If you want to display a video, you can do so as well. Twitter
also allows you to instantly run a poll with your followers or to share a GIF
image or an emoji icon with them. All of these options are right below the
“What’s happening?” box.

A Twitter handle

Taking ownership of your brand on Twitter is very important. Sign up for Twitter
with your brand or company’s name as the Twitter handle. If you’re lucky, no one
has already taken it. Use this account to communicate company or brand news,
special promotions, and product offers; respond to questions; and resolve cus-
tomer service issues.

Should you follow every person who follows you? It’s good Twitter protocol to do
so if you’re looking to build relationships with lots of people. But if your goal is
just customer service, don’t feel the need to follow everyone.

However, when you do consider following someone, watch for spam, bots, and
viruses. They’ve all made their way onto the Twitter platform, and probably the
easiest way to put your account at risk is to follow another account that is then
used to send you links to viruses. So when you choose to follow other people, make
sure that they’re legitimate people and not spambots or virus malware.

CHAPTER 9 Marketing on Twitter 149