8 Mistakes Your Business May be Making on Twitter

Social media is a great way to engage with potential customers. Over the past few years, Twitter has grown to be one of the most popular websites — not just in social media but across the Internet. With over 250 million active monthly users, Twitter gives you access to a virtually limitless pool of customers.

Today, more and more businesses are using Twitter as a part of their social media marketing campaigns. Many have also seen a significant increase in traffic as a result of their efforts on the site.

As important as social media marketing has become, many companies are still making big mistakes in their Twitter marketing campaigns. While many businesses do a great job of increasing customer engagement and generating leads through the platform, some have actually turned clients away through their tweets/posts. Here are some of the most common example of mistakes businesses are making on Twitter:

1. Never Monitoring

One of the most common mistakes businesses make when they get started on Twitter is not paying enough attention to their account. Twitter is being used for customer service more and more. As a result, consumers are increasingly reaching out to businesses on the site if they have questions or concerns about products/services.

Even if you haven’t rerouted your customer service to social media, users will still expect you to answer their questions. When users direct message or tweet at you, respond as soon as possible. Consumers will likely be annoyed if they don’t hear from you within 24-48 hours.

2. Never Retweeting

Ideally, your feed should have a mix of new and curated content. That means you should post mostly original tweets, but don’t be afraid to retweet as well. Twitter is a social network after all, and retweeting content is a great way to engage with other users. By retweeting, you show you’re actively participating in the conversation about your industry and allow prospects to recognize that you care about others’ opinions.

3. Retweeting Too Much

At the same time, be sure you don’t only retweet. While you may spend hours looking for the perfect quotes to retweet, you can look lazy and unoriginal. Part of the reason you’re using social media is to create your own voice and make your business seem more human. You can’t just do this if you only reuse others’ content. To make sure you don’t retweet excessively, limit yourself to one or two retweets per day.

4. Tweeting the Same Thing Everyday

Tweeting often is important, but not if you always post the same thing. This will bore followers and make your posts come off as spam. Posting the same information all the time is an easy trend to fall into if you’re holding a contest or having a promotion; or if the focus of your business is rather narrow, you may have fewer things to talk and tweet about.

5. Making Tweets Too Long

Twitter gives you 140 characters, but that’s still a lot of content. To get the most out of your tweets, make them as short and sweet as possible to grab the readers’ attention. According to Twitter’s own best practice guide, tweets with 100 or fewer characters get 17% more engagement.

6. Using Too Few or Too Many Hashtags

Hashtags are important for expanding your reach and engaging with the rest of the Twitter community. However, using too many can make your tweet look cluttered or difficult to understand. Tweets with one to three hashtags are fine, but any more than that is pushing the limit. Also, be careful not to use hashtags with too many words. These can be difficult to read since hashtags don’t have punctuation or spaces.

7. Not Using Links

Using links, in terms of ROI, will help you get the most out of your tweets. Linking back to content on your site is excellent for driving traffic and visibility. Also links allow you to make your tweets much shorter while still promoting lengthy content. Similar to hashtags, links can boost your shareability on Twitter and give users the depth that they are looking for once they have found tweets or companies that interest them.

8. Not Tweeting Images

Images are a relatively new feature to Twitter, but they’re a great way to get more attention on your tweets. Tweets with image links receive a lot more attention than those without them. According to Buffer, images can double a tweet’s engagement. This isn’t necessarily saying you should include an image with every tweet, but using them here and there can expand your reach twofold.