Twitter isn’t just for posting witty comments about parenting fails and comments about your favorite TV program. Used correctly Twitter can actually help you network and find the career you’ve been dreaming of. Read on for some tips on making your tweets work for you.
Customize Your Page
Your account should look professional. If you have a professional headshot use it as your profile photo. Make sure you’ve posted a cover image. Do post about your personal life; it gives viewers a more rounded image of you as a whole person. Don’t, however, feel the need to share photos where you have maybe cut loose a little too much. Drunken pictures of spring break have a way of coming back to haunt you. That means you also need to keep track of what your friends and family are posting about you. Make sure you review content in which you are tagged and ask that inappropriate content be removed or at least not tied back to you in any way.
Interact With Your Field
Comment on industry tweets and add your own ideas. Look at what executives like Michael Jusbasche and Aaron Levie do with their pages with posts about industry insights and company announcements. Consider yourself a brand. Use your tweets to toot, or tweet, your own horn. Describe your successes and skills in a natural way. Find a good balance though. Only about 20% of your content should be selling yourself. Remember also that part of professionalism is not using shortened language like ‘U” for “you.” Another way to interact with your industry and gain followers is by live-tweeting when you attend an event. A twist of humor will never go amiss.
A Picture Is Worth 313 Words
According to the Twitter business blog, tweets with images get 313% more engagement. To make sure your photo has the most impact remember to use something colorful that isn’t a stock photo. If there isn’t a photo to go with your post try adding an illustration. Depending on your field you may be able to do before-and-after photos to show your work. Remember to edit out inappropriate text on shirts. If you’re the one taking the pictures remember to work with as much natural light as possible and if you need to zoom in, get physically closer instead of using the zoom feature on your phone so you don’t get grainy pictures.
Limit Your Hashtags
Hashtags can be a great way for people to find you but overusing them is a no-no. Limit your tags to three or four. If you want to know if your hashtags are going to pull in the viewers try using Hashtags.org or Google Trends for trending and popular hashtags. Weird one-offs and tags that are so long they can’t be read aren’t going to help you.
None of this advice will help if you don’t participate in the social aspects of social media. Don’t post something and walk away. Try to respond in a timely manner when someone comments on your posts. Don’t just read industry tweets, respond to them and share them. Only by engaging with your industry will you catch the eye of those in the industry.