Understanding the basics of Twitter

So after reading our introduction to the major social media channels you’ve probably (we hope) visited Twitter and registered your organization, with an intuitive userID (that’s your screen name) and a tagline that is interesting and descriptive (that’s your two-line bio).  As well, you’ve listed your website and uploaded an image (ideally, a human face or your logo) to be your avatar. You know that your text-based message is called a tweet and that a tweet can be no more than 140 characters.

Now what?

You might be wondering, Why are we here? It’s not an existential question. We get it. It’s a practical question. You’re wondering about goals.

In a very basic sense, the goal of your Twitter presence is to develop relationships with your community and subsequently draw loyal visitors to your website. To do that, you must interact with users, both within Twitter and on your website. More specifically, your Twitter goal should be unique to your organization, based on your mission statement, your people and/or any upcoming events, campaigns or information you want to promote.

Whatever your goals, interactions on Twitter happen in several ways: #hashtags, @mentions, RTs or retweets and URLs to outside content.

Lost already? Don’t worry. Understanding Twitter is simple. Just read on.
 

@mention

What it is: When you @mention someone else you put the @ symbol before the person or organization’s user name. When someone @mentions you, the person or organization does the same. An @mention is a specific mention of a Twitter user.
Why it’s important: @mentions are like text messages or phone calls. They constitute direct contact with other users, but they’re also public. (Other people can see that you’re speaking to someone directly.) These conversations are important because they are so direct. Never let an @mention go without replying.

retweet (RT)

What it is: A command that tells Twitter to cut-and-paste another user’s message and tweet it from your account (it gives them credit).
Why it’s important: Retweeting shows other users that you like and value their content and want to share it. When your tweets are retweeted, users see that your tweets are important enough to share with a wider network and they take notice. Retweets also help you share your brand identity with the world, without always having to produce new content yourself.

#hashtag

What it is: When you add a number sign before a word, you create a click-able tag that people can follow.
Why it’s important: Using #hashtags allows large groups of people to participate in conversations outside of their usual Twitter stream. Using #hashtags helps build relationships with users you’ve never met before, because when you use the same tags, you demonstrate that you have stuff in common.

URL (in tweet and in profile)

What it is: URLs (links to websites) drive traffic. It’s that simple. Modern websites that include Twitter share buttons help shorten pages’ URLs for easy tweeting.
Why it’s useful: With URLs, you provide content to your audience. You should Tweet URLs that drive traffic to content that you like on the internet, and remember to use URLs to drive traffic to your own website as well.

In recognizing that tweets can (and should) reach the far corners of the web, choose your content with your goals in mind.

Tracking progress

OK. You’ve set your goals. You know the basics, now you need to track your progress. Tracking progress in Twitter isn’t actually very straightforward. The first thing you’re going to want is followers (who doesn’t love popularity?). But a large number of followers isn’t always an indication of Twitter success. Twitter is absolutely plagued by “spammy” followers — that is, accounts exist to push content, to trick people, and those who follow, into clicking irrelevant links just to gain back followers. These sorts of followers are not the sort who will actually read and appreciate your content.

Instead of focusing on the raw numbers of followers, focus on follower engagement. After all, you are trying to deepen relationships with real people. Do people @mention you? Do they ask questions? Do they retweet your content? Do you talk to your followers the way you talk to you friends? These are the sorts of factors to consider when determining your Twitter progress.

This all might sound complicated, but thankfully, there are lots of nerds out there who are creating sites and apps that help. It’s important to stay on top of which sites are offering which services, but as of early 2011, Klout is an easy place to start counting your @mentions and retweets. See where you start and work on building up.

Make sure your Twitter relationships are extending to your organization’s own website. Your analytics reports tell you where visitors come from, so you can tell whether or not Twitter users are clicking your home URLs from your Twitter profile and tweets.

As always, the best way to get a handle on this stuff is to get involved. Join Twitter, start tweeting, and you’ll get the hang of it in no time.