Twitter For Business: How to Use The Platform to Grow Your Brand

All social media platforms have their unique pros and cons, serving a distinct purpose. Instagram is exceptional for reach, engagement, and brand-building; Facebook acts as great cornerstone location on social media, Pinterest is an eCommerce brand’s selling dream, and YouTube is like an extension of your content marketing.

So what about Twitter?

We’ve found that Twitter has mystified some brands, who seem unsure of how to use it to grow their brand in meaningful ways. Many brands stay in that beginner-level category of Twitter marketing as a result.

The good news is that Twitter absolutely has a place in marketing strategies, you just need to know how to use it correctly.

In this post, we’re going to look at how to incorporate Twitter in business marketing strategies to grow your brand in three straightforward phases.

The 3 Stages of Using Twitter in Business Growth Strategies

There are three core steps you’ll want to follow when you want to incorporate Twitter in business growth strategies designed to help boost brand recognition, followers and your client base. Each one consists of different tips to help you accomplish the goals of each phase.

It only makes sense, of course, to start by optimising your profile.

1. Optimise Your Business’s Twitter Profile

Your profile needs to be in great shape before you start aggressively trying to grow your brand on Twitter. It’s the first thing people will see when they come to your Page, so you want it to look professional, organised, and thorough.

There are really four core elements to consider here.

Choose High-Quality Branded Visuals

Your visuals matter on your Twitter profile, especially in the recent version of Twitter’s interface.

Your profile picture should be the same image you’re using for all your other branded accounts to boost brand recognition, just as you want to keep your brand name consistent across all accounts. In many cases, a logo is a good choice.

You also want to choose a high-quality, branded cover photo, too. This can be images of a product, an industry-relevant graphic design using branded colors, or even a stock photo combined with text to promote a product or service like we have above.

Get Your “About” Section in Order

You’ve got a short about section where you can share where you’re located and what you’re all about.

Fill out every part of this section, making sure that your site sends people either to your home page or a dedicated landing page. Make sure you highlight your value here, too, and explain why people would want to follow you.

Pin a Strong Tweet That Represents You Well

Pinned Tweets are a good way to feature high-quality content that you want to get maximum visibility on. If there’s a resource you worked hard to create, a Tweet that went semi-viral, or even something promoting a recent offering, that’s a good option to consider.

My Twitter has a pinned Tweet featuring a post I wrote about how to build a freelance business; people can see exactly who I am and what I’m about quickly.

Apply for Verification

You know that blue checkmark next to some big-name profiles on Twitter? That’s the well-known, cross-platform signal that this account has been authenticated and verified. You’re official and you’re legit, and it's a big credibility boost.

There’s a caveat to this tip; right now, Twitter has their verification process on pause and there’s no way to request verification at this time. They said they were hoping to launch a new process in “early 2021,” though we haven’t seen it just yet. That being said, keep an eye out, and consider requesting verification when it becomes available again.

2. Create Valuable, Audience-Centred Content

Once your profile is in top shape, you’ll want to start laying the foundation for your profile with strategic content that will appeal to your niche target audience.

There are a few tips we recommend when it comes to helping you determine what your audience wants to see.

Look at High-Performing Content in Your Niche

There’s a great chance that there are plenty of direct and indirect competitors out there who are absolutely crushing it with your target audience. If you’re reworking your strategy for a more brand growth-focused approach.

Take a look at the profiles of brands with audiences similar to yours, and search for hashtags or view overlapping topics. See what content people are responding to, particularly in terms of comments and retweets; these are the highest indicators of quality.

Share Resources & Original Insights

When you want to have people coming to you, it’s important to start sharing valuable information, resources, and insights on your profile.

The above is an excellent example from a Facebook marketer who frequently shares Twitter threads detailing case studies, original research, and actionable strategies for his followers. Remember that the more original the content is, the more shares you’ll get, which is huge for brand building.

Check Your Analytics for Top-Performing Content

As you start sharing more original content of your own on a regular basis, keep a close eye on your Twitter Analytics. This is free to all accounts, and it can help you see which posts are getting the most reach and different types of engagement.

I recommend looking at two things here: Trends that lead to more visibility and trends in content that lead to more shares. You may realize that Twitter-thread-based-resources get the most comments and shares, but that tagging other brands helps most with visibility. Combining the best of both worlds can be a powerful strategy, especially when you treat Twitter like brand research platform.

3. Focus on Engagement & Reach to Boost Brand Recognition

At this phase of the brand-building process on Twitter, you have solid content filling up your now-complete profile and you’re ready to take more proactive steps for intensive brand growth.

You’ve set the stage for positive brand perception, so now it’s time to up the engagement and reach strategies so you can connect with more users and work towards building standout brand recognition.

You don’t have to use all of the following strategies, but they all have the potential to be effective.

Host Twitter Chats

Twitter chats have the potential to pick up a lot of steam quickly. Your brand will “host” the chat, where you ask questions labelled in numeric order, which users can then respond to. The entire point is to generate a conversation.

For best results with Twitter chats, do the following:

Create a hashtag for the chat and ask guests to include it in all their answers
Promote it in advance
Consider hosting a regular chat, like once a week or once a month, about different topics in your field of expertise; people may start to tune in and become regulars

Twitter chat for business growth strategy

Go Live

Live video is big on Twitter, just as you’d expect from other platforms. That being said, brands overall don’t go Live on Twitter as often as they do on Facebook or Instagram, so it can really give you an edge here by helping you stand out. It can also get a bump in visibility because it has media attached, which can capture users’ attention compared to plain-text Tweets.

If you need a few ideas for Live broadcasts, the following are all good options:

Interviews with an influencer
Big brand announcements
Live tutorials where users can ask questions as you go

Engage with Trending Topics

Trending topics are big on Twitter. The platform naturally lends itself to short, news-worthy, sound-byte-style Tweets. What’s new and relevant right now has always performed well on the platform, so taking time to check in about trending topics on a regular basis is a great way to get in front of more users and drive more engagement simultaneously.

Let’s look at an example. Jimmy Fallon’s #WhyImSingle hashtag got picked up and was a trending topic recently. Brands with a sense of humor have plenty of room to use this. Dating apps, for example, could be all over this, but a bakery offering cooking classes could also suggest that someone may be single because they’re lacking culinary skills. It’s goofy, it’s fun, and it can catch users’ attention if it gets noticed.

Work with Other Brands

Teaming up with other brands who have an overlapping audience is always a reliable social media marketing strategy. It helps you expand your reach to a bigger audience who may not have heard of you yet, and it also gives you both a big boost in trustworthiness since you’re vouching for each other.

Look for brands who have similar audiences to yours, and see what you can do together.

You could:

Host a contest together
Create a resource together that you cross-promote
Agree to share each other’s content regularly with your own audiences
Tag each other and recommend each other on the platform

Use Relevant Hashtags

Plenty of businesses who are focused on growing their reach and their brands on Twitter spend time carefully choosing which two or three hashtags they want to use for their posts.

Hashtags should be strategic, because they can help put you in front of your audience if you get it right. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

Branded hashtags are great to boost brand recognition in theory, but they rarely help you expand your reach until other users pick them up and use it themselves; don’t rely exclusively on a branded hashtag strategy
Trending hashtags are always good to include when you have the chance and when your content is relevant

Consider using a hashtag research tool like Hashtagify to find new high-volume terms that could give your brand the reach you need to get in front of more users.

Host Twitter Contests

If you want to get a major burst of reach, engagement, and new impressions very quickly, Twitter contests can help you get those results.

They’re short-lived, which is important to note, but they can provide long-term results.

Twitter contests often ask users to follow the brand, retweet the contest post or leave a comment under the tweet, and potentially to sign up on a contest landing page created with tools like Wishpond or Shortstack. You can also ask users to share UGC, to caption a picture, or to guess an answer to a question.

Bonus: Become a Twitter expert with an in-depth course

Download the course brochure of our Twitter Marketing course and learn all there is to know on this platform.

Final Thoughts

While Twitter may not be as flashy as other platforms at a first (or admittedly second) glance, plenty of brands have stayed on the platform long-term because they’ve gotten great results.

And when you need a quick boost, remember that Twitter Ads are also an option to get more eyes on your content fast. It’s not free, but the system is similar to Facebook’s and comes with the option to have the Tweets of your choice promoted in your target audiences’ feeds.

If you incorporate the right strategies for Twitter in your business marketing efforts, there’s plenty of room to propel your business forward with extended visibility, higher engagement, and increasing brand recognition.

Ana Gotter

Social Media Marketing Specialist

Ana is a strategic content marketer specialising in business, finance, and marketing writing, though she's worked across a range of industries. She works from her home in Orlando with her three dogs.