The majority of brands on Twitter today, have no idea how to tweet right to get the results that they need. Simply using a couple of hashtags and scheduling your posts, doesn’t quite do it. So to help you out, we are going to take you through setting up a business profile on Twitter and the strategies that you can use to make sure that your posts are seen and shared.

How to use Twitter to build your brand

It is very important that you establish a presence for your brand on Twitter. Just like on any other platform, the first impression that you create matters. And your Twitter profile is your opportunity to do just this. Every single aspect of the profile should reflect the purpose and the values of your brand. And it should be compelling enough, so that a potential customer will follow you. Here are the steps that you will need to follow: 

The profile and header images that you use 

Always use a profile image that will visually represent your brand. Your profile image should sit really within the small circular space that has been allocated. This should ideally be your logo. This icon will come up with every single post that you tweet. 

The dimensions that are recommended for this are 400 pixels x 400 pixels. On the other hand, the header image that you use should continuously change every so often. This could include images of an upcoming campaign or launch, or it could include shots from a new photoshoot that will resonate with your audience. Whichever route you go, be sure that both these images are clear, come in high resolution, and are also visually consistent. The file formats that can be used are JPG, GIF, and PNG.

The display and account names 

The account name is the one that comes after the @ symbol. This will be unique to you and it will show up in your profile URL as well. It actually is pretty much tied in with anything that you do on your Twitter. The name can contain up to 15 characters and should definitely be directly linked with the name of your brand or business. 

The display name is what will appear directly above the account name. This display name can be changed as you like at any point in time. The best practice is that this too needs to be the name of your brand or your business. It can have up to 50 characters.

Completing your bio 

If you have something of an elevator-pitch, this is the place where you need to include it. You will be allowed 160 characters only, and in this, you pretty much introduce your brand to the world (no pressure there). Remember to use the characters to tell people about what you do, what kind of value you bring and the reason why people should follow you. 

You should also include: 

• A direct link to your website. You should always use a link based on what you want people to see at that point in time. It could be your home page or your About page, but it could also be a landing page for a campaign. 
• Your location. You could just be a completely online-based business, but you should still consider adding the address of your HQ or the founding location. You can also add details of the places that you provide shipping to. This will help you reach out to, and connect with the right followers. 
• If you are running a traditional brick and mortar store, remember to add in the hours of business.

The pinned Tweet 

Essentially your pinned tweet is what you would want your followers to focus on. This could include things like your latest news or a new product or service launch. You can actually leave the pinned tweet up for several months, if it stays relevant. 

Some ways you can use your pinned tweet are:

• Informing customers about a sale or a promotion that is ongoing. You can build the hype by teasing this several days in advance, so that you can create a bit of a buzz. 
• You can use it to announce your latest product launch. Make sure that you play it right to get people excited and that you build momentum. 
• You could also talk about a specific cause or a charity that you are supporting. This could then be used to showcase the philanthropic and humanitarian aspect of your brand, and let people know how you are giving back to your community. 

In order to pin a tweet, all you need to do is to click the down arrow at the very top right corner of your tweet and the select ‘Pin to your profile’.

Once you have set up your Twitter business profile, you’re ready to post some engaging content! So here are some dos and don’ts for your Twitter posts, along with some ideas of post types that will get you engagement.

What to include and avoid when you use Twitter to build your brand

Avoid using too many stock images 

You want to stand out, not get lost in the crowd. When you overuse stock images – especially those which look very generic – your branding and posts will look very cookie-cutter. In the event that you do use stock images, try to work with a designer to customize the images, and modify them to align with your brand. And where possible try to create custom designs and set up photoshoots. You can use the images with a few touch-ups, or incorporate them into your designs as well. 

Get into the habit of creating templates 

If you really want to use Twitter to build your brand, consider creating your own templates. You can work with a designer to create a bunch that you can easily customize as needed according to different post types that you want to tweet. Things like blog previews or a quote from an influencer.

This great strategy will save you a load of time and your designer will also be able to maintain consistency and branding throughout all of your designs. And it’ll help build up familiarity with your followers. Over time they will instantly be able to identify your templates. And this will encourage them to pause to check out or engage with the posts they connect with most.

Don’t incorporate bland colors 

Always try and incorporate bright colors into your visuals. This will help grab the eye of potential followers. Now, this doesn’t mean you should start using any and all bright colors. Choose from those which are present in your color palette. Or opt for colors which you can use alongside your brand colors for a bit of a pop. 

Your end goal here is to avoid making your posts too bland, or too busy. You want them to be just right. The Spotify Twitter account provides some great inspiration in this area. They manage to keep a consistent, engaging color scheme across their images, GIFs, or videos.

Try to incorporate illustrations 

Using illustrations in your Twitter post designs will give them a lot of character and personality. It can also give you the opportunity to play with fun and vibrant color schemes. If you look at accounts like Trello and Wistia you will see how well they have been pulling off their illustration game. So if you feel like giving illustrations a go, speak to your designers about the types of styles you’d like to explore. And ask them to share their suggestion for what will work well with your branding. 

Now that you have an idea of some dos and don’ts let’s also look at some strategies that can help improve engagement for your brand on Twitter.

Get more engagement when you use Twitter to build your brand

Ask questions from your audience 

If you want to get the most amount of engagement from your audience, ask relevant and engaging questions. The questions shouldn’t be too open ended, and they should be easy to answer. This will get a conversation going. It will also get you more retweets and responses. Look at the example below for an idea of how this type of post could work.

Always add value with the content you create 

You need to keep your buyer personas in mind and design content that is focused on creating connections with your buyers. You should look for ways to educate and entertain your audience instead of always trying to sell them your products or services. Spark and build conversations. Twitter is a platform that was created just for this purpose. When you create your content, see if it can spark conversation. If it does not, think of how you can tweak it.

Make the most out of your visuals

Tweets with images get 150% more retweets than others. So when you design, add videos and images alternatively to your tweets. Make sure that you mix it up between images and videos to keep your audience on their toes. Repetition as far as your branding elements, and using certain templates is great for brand recognition. But posting with different formats can keep things looking fresh and engaging. You can also add GIFs and emojis in there as well to inject some personality into your posts.

GIFs and memes 

On Twitter, short form content is king. This has led many brands to try storytelling through the use of memes and GIFs and we think it is quite ingenious. Especially if humor is something that aligns well with your brand voice.The example above, is one such implementation done by Chipotle. They hopped on the bandwagon of a viral meme and adapted it into a simple text based post.

Share flash sale and promo codes 

You can share promo codes and sales codes on your Twitter profile. This would be made even better if they are only exclusively available to your Twitter followers. This would be a great way to increase not just your engagement levels, but also your sales.

Always promote your blog 

While Twitter is all about short-form content, you should definitely use it to promote your blog. Use designs that are vibrant and that resonate with the title of your blog along with a short but punchy caption. Give the short link to your blog and invite people to take a read through. This will increase traffic not just to your Twitter account but also to whatever platform your blog is hosted on.

Celebrate special occasions with your audience 

Wishing your audience on holidays that they celebrate is a great way to get engagement. Or even sending out a fun message related to a fun day of observance. And yet another special occasion you can mark, is one that you create. Like Sitecore’s Virtual Developer Day (see below). You’ll get people’s attention and you’ll get them responding to or retweeting your post. If you have audiences from around the world, be sure to do some research about which holidays and observances will be most relevant.

Use Twitter to build your brand

A lot of the brands use Twitter today and we are sure that some of your competitors do too. So before you get started with your own, consider seeing how they are positioning themselves.  This will give you better insight into what you should do to connect with your audience, stand out from competitors as well. 

Next, map out how you’d like to present your brand, and what kind of content you’d like to have in your content calendar. This way, once your profile has been set up, you can hit the ground running. Or should we say hit the ground tweeting? 😉