Twitter guide for beginners
Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube are the most frequently used social networks in Bulgaria. Twitter, unfortunately, is lagging behind, but in no way should it be underestimated by businesses.
According to the Global State of Digital report in 2020, reflecting the mood in the digital world for the previous year, more than 320 million people worldwide use Twitter. Politicians, athletes, actors, celebrities use the platform to communicate with the outside world.
The data of a survey conducted in 2019 in Bulgaria shows that the users of the social network are mostly men (65.1%). The average age is 31–45 years, with the youngest (under 18) and adults (over 60) being only 3%. The largest percentage of Bulgarians in the network live in Sofia (66.7%) or in one of the larger cities (19%). It is also interesting to point out that according to statistics, consumers in our country have above-average incomes, have their own, and speak English.
Twitter is one of the fastest channels of communication, allowing businesses to identify and communicate directly with their users. Despite the symbols limit, Twitter allows you to establish yourself as a true authority in your field and attract attention.
Decide what you want
Before you start your business profile on Twitter, think carefully about what you want to achieve. Will you use the platform for sales, for branding, for engaging with your, or for attracting others? You need to ask yourself if you will have the time and resources to respond to customer inquiries and complaints on the platform? Keep in mind that everything that happens on Twitter is very public. So, if someone complains about you, the negative information will reach a very wide range of people, and to deal with the situation, you need to react immediately.
By defining your goal, you will have greater clarity when and what to publish. Create your profile but choose the shortest possible abbreviation of the company name. Twitter has restrictions on the characters you can use, and it won’t be nice to literally eat up from your followers’ character space when they write to you.
Look for followers
This can be one of the most difficult tasks in creating a business profile on this social network. An interesting thing is that the Bulgarian Twitter society defines itself as more elitist than that of TikTok, Facebook, even Youtube. In the “closed” circle, users are “allowed” only after they have proven their uniqueness.
To begin with, identify the profiles with the most followers and follow them. You can write them a personal message, presenting your business very briefly and that you will be happy for them to follow you.
Last but not least, find some lighter, even fun foreign profiles in your field from which you can retweet posts.
Keep a good tone
As much as you want to post only your own content, it will not be bad to occasionally diversify your feed by retweeting interesting posts of other users. Some bolder experts advise you to initially trust the principle that 80 to 20 or 80% of your online activities are likes of posts, responses to followers and retweets, and 20% — your own content. Only after you have gathered a critical mass of fans can you afford to offer them offers, links to take them to your online store, etc.
Use hashtags wisely. Think carefully about your brand, the industry you work in, and the people who would be interested in what you offer them. Follow the so-called Trending section that appears to the right of your homepage. If any of them are related to your business, you can easily use the popular hashtags that are there.
Remember that in order to build a network, you will need to direct your tweets in a really focused way to those who may be interested in what you tell them.
Be careful about the tone you use in your posts.
Witty, serious, playful? If you are a financial institution, it would hardly be appropriate to send playful winks to consumers. The phrases used should correspond to your business, as the discrepancy can be catastrophic.
If your business account is managed by more than one person, then create clear rules for how to communicate with followers.
Remember that Twitter is moving fast, so the great tweet you sent an hour ago, with a link to your amazing blog post, can get lost very quickly. That’s why it’s important to interact with your followers. Don’t post once a week in the hope that someone will see you. Communication on the platform is much more personal.
Last but not least — use images.
As in any other platform, here the images are equal to a thousand words. Show your followers what’s going on behind the scenes of your business, your new product, but not on the store shelf, and while you’re packing it, tell them about your day at the office. This will make them feel closer and build an emotional connection with you.
Choose your time
Studies show that the best time to post on this social network is on Wednesday and Friday at 9 am. Saturdays are the days when you get the least views and likes on your post. In general, Twitter is a “morning” platform and is often referred to by users as the “morning newspaper”. In general, avoid sharing tweets after 8 p.m.
The good examples
One of the strongest Twitter profiles in the Bulgarian online space is that of the mobile operator A1. The company has gathered enough followers to whom it sends carefully measured and accurate content. Among the biggest advantages of this business’ account is the quick reaction of social media professionals when a user turns to them. Thus, people have the impression that A1 experts work for them personally.
Dangerously far away
Unfortunately, government institutions underestimate the ability to communicate with users through Twitter. Although the president, the prime minister, the mayor of the capital have profiles on the network, they do not take advantage of the opportunities of the platform and move dangerously far away from the people who follow them.
In the middle of the year, Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev also created a Twitter account. At first, he was met with distrust by regular users but slowly managed to attract their attention and start communicating with them on a whole new level.
