Twitter is a fantastic place for businesses to communicate and engage with their followers.

This platform is also an excellent way to keep your audiences updated with any important information or changes that they should be aware of.

Other than an interest in your products and services, users generally follow businesses on this platform because they enjoy your content or they would like to stay in the loop with relevant industry info. (And of course, it doesn't hurt if following a business helps them to spot the odd discount).

But how do you ensure that your posts tick all these boxes?

Find out as media update's Lara Smit compiles a cheat sheet for what you should Tweet.

Here are all the deets:

1. Share your original content

Posting content like blogs or links to your website on social media is one of the best ways to keep your content evergreen and pull in traffic. It's also a fantastic way to produce relevant Tweets that educate followers about your industry and offerings.

But a simple link won't suffice.

Copy
To really pique the interest of your followers, you need to create an attention-grabbing caption that persuades them to give your link a click by telling them:
  • why this content is relevant to them
  • how reading or watching this content will benefit them, and
  • where they can locate this content using a strong call to action.

Twitter has a character limit of only 280 characters though. Therefore it's best to keep your copy concise while still making it punchy enough to interest users.

Hashtags
When sharing original content (or any content) it's also important to remember: Add relevant hashtags. This is to help you distribute it to the right people and enhance its searchability. According to Twitter, it's best to stick with two hashtags per post.

Images
Another hack to consider when posting original content is to add a relevant image.

When it comes to the performance of posts with images versus those without, Twitter stated: "Photos average a 35% boost in Retweets".

So social media managers, there's really no question about it — you need to put your designing hats on and create images.

However, if you're struggling to figure out what your graphics should look like, Twitter advises that you should:
  • Create templates — these should all follow a consistent look and subtly incorporate your branding such as logos and brand colours.
  • Utilise readable fonts — we all love pretty cursive fonts but you should try to use fonts that are neat and have clear readability.
  • Use an alt text — this is a short description for your image to make your images more accessible.
  • Create illustrations — graphs, infographics and other illustrations are an easy and quick way to effectively relay information to users. These illustrations should also make use of branding such as brand colours and logos.
  • Employ various formats — your visuals shouldn't be limited to simple 4x4 images. You should also incorporate videos, carousels and edge-to-edge images.
  • Make original images — stock images on a business page tend to look, well, generic. Try your best to create original images that help your content to stand out.


2. Make relatable posts

Social media is, in essence, a social online space where people want to connect and entertain themselves. Therefore your posts shouldn't be just all business and no play.

Consider incorporating posts into your feed that are:
  • motivating
  • inspirational
  • thought-provoking
  • funny, and
  • all-in-all relatable to people in your industry.
You can do this by creating or resharing industry or work-related memes, quotes and videos. However, if you choose to repost content that you found on a different website or page, remember to always cite your sources by adding in an @handle or name.


3. Reshare interesting content

If you happen to come across an article or blog that you find fascinating, share it on your page and mention the business or thought leader that wrote it. This will allow you to:
  • show your support for other individuals in the industry and perhaps forge good relationships with them
  • share content that is relevant to your audiences
  • access new audiences, and
  • position your business as authoritative as it can spot intriguing content.

Making captions for these reshared posts are just as important as creating captions for your own posts. When sharing a piece you should use your caption to emphasise parts of the piece that you found interesting and give your audiences insight into your own expertise on the subject.

This will assist you in positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry and exhibit your intentions behind sharing this content.

What other types of content would you like businesses to create for Twitter? Let us know in the comments section below.

Want to stay up to date with the latest news? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Now that you've mastered your Tweets, discover what type of content you should create for your Instagram page in our article, Six ways that businesses can keep it 'Reel' on Instagram.
*Image courtesy of Canva