Twitter & Instagram Basics for Business

Twitter & InstagramBasics for Business

Agenda

Today you’ll learn how to Set up your Twitter & Instagram accounts &

profiles Post, reply, retweet, follow others, etc. Start building a following Understand the “language” of Twitter & Instagram Save time with management tools/apps Take your Twitter & Instagram presence to the

next level

Download this slide deck at http://bit.ly/mccctwitterinstagram

Q&A

Questions? Ask Bruce.


Like a cocktail party at a trade show:

You’re there to make new business connections, NOT to be a pushy salesperson.

Talk to people, demonstrate your expertise, but DO NOT

be “salesy”

Why Twitter? What is it?

Why Twitter?


Why Twitter? What is it?

Why Twitter?


Just like networking “in real life”, building relationships and trust takes time.

Get to know your followers by conversing with them regularly.

At the same time, demonstrate your expertise and build thought leadership by sharing useful

information.

Build Relationships

Concepts


Go to Twitter.com

Getting Started

Sign Up


Username (i.e. “handle”) = 20 characters

Make it easy to remember & related to your brand

Avoid numbers, dashes, underscores

Your Twitter URL will be http://Twitter.com/YourUsername

Usernames

Choose a Username


If your desired name is taken, consider adding state or company abbreviation instead of numbers, i.e. “GreenVisionNJ” or “GreenVisionInc” instead of “GreenVision1”

Usernames

Choose a Username


Fill Out Profile

ProfileUpload a photo NO EGGS!Add location, website & bioDO NOT connect to Facebook


NO Cross-Posting!

NO Posting Tweets to FB!

Tweets on Facebook look weird & unprofessional


How to Follow Others

Following 101 Use search box at

top to search for companies you know/like

Click on the “Accounts” tab

Click “Follow” or click on company name to preview their profileDownload this slide deck at http://bit.ly/mccctwitterinstagram

Find People to Follow

Watch your stream for conversations. Follow the people they are talking to.

Go to websites of prospects or companies that fit your target market. Look for a Twitter icon.

Use Twitter’s “Find Friends” (searches your contacts) and “Who to Follow” features


Who to Follow

Look for replies in a person’s stream. That tells you whether they are conversational or not. Follow conversational people.


Following Updates

After Following…

Updates from users you follow appear in your “feed” or “stream”


How to Tweet

Send a Tweet

Will be seen by your followers and/or anyone who visits your profile page.


Conversing 101

How to Reply

Hover over a tweet

Click “reply”

Type response after username


Visibility of Replies

Who Sees A Reply? The user you replied to

Any other users whose usernames are included

Anyone who is following the both of you will see the reply in their stream

All others will only see your replies if they go to your profile


Read Your Replies

Who Replied to Me?

Replies start with username


Reply to Tweets

Reply to Replies Click “Reply”

Type in response after username


Reply Privately

Direct Messages

Direct messages are private messages between two parties


Mentions

What is a Mention? Mentions are when

a username is inserted in a tweet somewhere other than the beginning

Unlike replies, mentions are seen by all of your followers

Your mentions are found under the “Notifications” tab

Reply to all of them!Download this slide deck at http://bit.ly/mccctwitterinstagram

Retweets

What is a Retweet?

A retweet is when someone “re-shares” your tweet

People retweet to redistribute useful info to their followers

Also used as a way of saying “I agree!”

Reply to all of them!


Manners

Remember Your Manners! Reply to all Mentions & Retweets

with at least a “thank you”


Hashtags

Hashtags• A hashtag is a word (or words with no spaces)

with the number sign (#) in front. I.e. #Quickbooks

• Hashtags are hyperlinked (clickable)

• Click on a hashtag to view all conversations with that tag


Hashtags

How to Use Hashtags• Search for a hashtag in the search box

• Use the results to find relevant people to follow

• Use the results to “jump in” on conversations or start them by replying to the tweets you found

• Add hashtags to your tweets (sparingly) to help relevant people to find & converse with you


Hashtags

Hashtags in Action


Build Your Following

Post about your new Twitter account on other social media platforms

Include a link on biz cards & in email sigs

Converse, Converse, Converse!The more you converse on Twitter, the more followers you will get.


Build Your Following

Build following gradually to maintain a good ratio”

Any Twitter user can follow up to 2,000 other Twitter accounts without restriction.

Once you hit 2,000, the number you can follow depends on how many people follow you.

Need about 80% follower-to-following ratio


Twitter Tools

Tools to UseManagement TweetDeck Hootsuite SproutSocial (my

favorite)

Clean Up ManageFlitte

r Twit Cleaner


Twitter Tools

Tools to Avoid TrueTwit validation Paper.li auto-tweets

Tools to Use Sparingly Triberr Unfollowing monitors like “Who

Unfollowed Me”


Next Level

Take it To the Next Level! Participate in TweetChats Start & manage a TweetChat Hold Twitter contests Trade show or other live event

tweeting Build topic-specific lists Watch your metrics & continuously

improve them (i.e. engagement ratio)


Next Level

Engagement Ratio Number of reply tweets divided

by number of non-reply tweets multiplied by 100.

Resulting percentage is engagement ratio. Should be as high as possible.


Why Instagram? What is it?

Why Instagram?


Instagram is a mobile photo-sharing app For brands, it’s all about “brand

storytelling” Show off your products

▪ Especially pretty ones or yummy ones! Show your company in action For personal branding, let business contacts

have a controlled glimpse into your personal life

Why Instagram? What is it?

Why Instagram?


Not just for kids anymore! But most users are still under 34

There are over 300 million monthly active users

There have been over 20 billion photos shared

Instagrammers share 70 million (plus) photos and videos each day

Limitations

Why Instagram?


Can only use from mobile device Pictures only – no links!

Except for one link in your profile to your website

Individual posts can’t have links

Instagram users like to follow their favorite

brands to keep up with what’s new

Concepts


• Latest product releases/styles

• This week’s menu specials

They also follow accounts for visual appreciation and inspiration

Photography Art Beauty/Fashion

(hairstyle & makeup ides) DIY Ideas

(Interior design, Landscaping etc.) Humor

Concepts


Instagram is easiest for B2C, but can work well for B2B alsoSome good examples of B2B

brands on Instagram are:

For B2B

Concepts


IBMHootsuiteMailchimpInfusionsoftCBREIntelFedEx

MicrosoftSalesforceStaples

Patti Singer of Follow Me Social Media Consulting

helps Morris Brick & Stone

(@morrisbrickstone), a local B2B

company, show off how their products

are used by the landscape

contractors they sell to

Local B2B Example

Concepts


Without the ability to share links to articles, thought

leadership can be hard to establish on Instagram.

Consider sharing your wisdom by making quote images with

a tool like Quozio, BeHappy.me, or Pinwords.

Another Option For B2B

Concepts


Install the mobile app

Sign up for an account

Getting Started

Sign Up


Username = 30 characters

Make it easy to remember & related to your brand

Avoid numbers, dashes, underscores

Your Instagram URL will be http://Instagram.com/YourUsername

Usernames

Choose a Username


If your desired name is taken, consider adding state or company abbreviation instead of numbers, i.e. “GreenVisionNJ” or “GreenVisionInc” instead of “GreenVision1”

Usernames

Choose a Username


Hashtags

Hashtags• A hashtag is a word (or words with no spaces)

with the number sign (#) in front. I.e. #Quickbooks

• Hashtags are hyperlinked (clickable)

• Click on or search for a hashtag to view all photos with that tag


Hashtags

How to Use Hashtags• Search for a hashtag in the search box

• Use the results to find relevant people to follow

• Use the results to “jump in” on conversations or start them by replying to the tweets you found

• Add hashtags to your photos (sparingly) to help relevant people to find & converse with you


How to Follow Others

Following 101 Use search feature to search for companies

you know/like Use tag search feature to search for and follow

users posting about your topic Connect to Facebook to find FB friends Connect to phone contacts Follow back people who follow you


Following Updates

After Following…

Updates from users you follow appear in your “feed” or “stream”


Engaging

Engage Like and comment on items in your feed

Like and comment on hashtags related to your brand/product/service

Repost photos of people using your products/service (ALWAYS ASK FOR PERMISSION & GIVE CREDIT)


Sharing

Share a Photo• Will be seen by your followers and/or

anyone who visits your profile page or follows the hashtags you add to it

• Can take photo through the app or upload a preexisting photo to the app


Engaging

Engage Reply to comments (tagging

the @username of the person you’re talking to)


Tips

NO Syncing

Posts to

Twitter!


Twitter Tools

Tools to UseManagement Instagram app is best Latergramme for

scheduling But still need to post

via mobile Regrann for reposting

Measurement IconoSquare

(formerly Statigram)


Next Level

Take it To the Next Level! Hashtag-based

contests/giveaways Combined

Facebook/Instagram photo contests

Custom graphics


Questions???


Marketing

Twitter & Instagram Basics for Business