Recent changes in Facebook’s algorithm mean that your business posts are less likely to show up in newsfeeds. Perhaps it’s time to turn to Twitter?
Make sure you get the set up right. Create a really good biog that signposts to your practice website, have a user name that relates to your practice and create a header image that explains what you are about – don’t be shy about using words as well as images.
Don’t feel you have to tweet about everything. Although higher frequency tweeting will help grow your account more quickly, you don’t need to tweet every few minutes. Some experts recommend 1- 4 times per day; others suggest 15 is the ideal.
It’s okay to re-use content on Twitter as it’s much more fast flowing than Facebook and tweeting the same content at a different time helps you reach a new audience.
Most retweets and engagement happen within an hour of tweeting so experiment to find the best times of the day for your practice.
Content is only half the story on Twitter. You also need to have a follower strategy – follow accounts that are relevant, have great content, or big audiences. But know what kinds of accounts you want to follow and why. You can search for the right people to follow too. Make sure you allocate time to do this as it is critical if you want to grow your account.
Follow people back – sounds obvious doesn’t it? Be aware that some people will unfollow you (often using an automated app) if you don’t follow them back. It’s okay to be selective though.
Twitter is arguably much more social than a Facebook business page and it’s really useful if you want to establish a position within a community – whether that’s the veterinary community or your local town. Be prepared to join in the conversation by retweeting, replying and liking. It’s hard to succeed on Twitter by passively posting content.
Look at what’s trending and piggy back on popular hashtags when they are trending.
Hashtagify is a really useful app that can help you find the most popular hashtags to use when talking about a new topic. Be aware of hashtags associated with days of the week, such as #FridayFeeling or #WednesdayWisdom.
Although twitter has increased its character limit, sometimes you might want to use more words – you can do this by using a word based image that you can create using Canva or another design app.
