As the newly appointed social media champion for Appletree ? he says slightly smug ? I came across something that I really wanted to address in my latest blog. Last week I spent a lot of time working on our own Twitter account and our client?s accounts. Whilst going through the various accounts I was shocked to see all twitter feeds were bombarded with business leaders and businesses just blindly tweeting shortened links to their own websites.

Let?s face it, if the majority of your tweets are just bitly links to various pages on your websites then who?s going to follow you? Are you giving a reason to your fellow tweeters to follow you? If you want to build an audience or even keep an audience then you have to use captivating material. Do you think seeing this example tweet 3 times a day will captivate an audience? ?Do you need a #web #designer to design a #website? (Shorten link to designer?s website).? I suggest using creating something a bit more interesting to read. There is nothing wrong with shortened links or even just linking to your own website, but you have to spread it out a bit and show your Twitter audience that you have more to offer than just your web address.

Hastags are a brilliant tool to get people to engage with you and to find out what the masses are talking about. You put Hastags next to your keywords into your tweets. For example ?Are you looking to grow your #business?? The key word in that sentence being business as I want to engage others that either use the hashtag, or that do a search for business related tweets. However you do not want to over use Hastags and use them in every other word, otherwise you will come across as a Twitter spammer. I say use no between 2 and 3 hashtags per tweet.

So what do you tweet about? In your Twitter schedule you could include a few tips about your industry. For example if you were a photographer a tip might be ?How often do you format your memory card? Format it once a month to avoid corrupt files or losing your photos.? This is free friendly advice that shows you have knowledge, but you are not giving away any industry secrets that would effectively loose you money.  I have found that quotes are very successful tweet as they get re-tweeted quite often. Tweet a quote from someone related to your industry or even from a well know entrepreneur.

If you would like any advice or have any questions about twitter, or any other social media platform then please do get in contact with me. Are you on Twitter? Then follows us @topmarketingtip or follow the link to see the Appletree twitter page. Follow us for useful business and marketing tips.