80 % of Twitter users communicate about brands in their social network. In January 2014, 99% of users looked at a minimum of 1 brand in their newsfeed, according to the current study by ARF “Discovering the Value of Earned Audiences — How Twitter Expressions Activate Consumers”. However, brands are not only an integral part of Twitter conversations, but these conversations also trigger direct actions. More than half of the users (54 %) respond to brand names in tweets, e.g. by visiting the brand website (23%), the Twitter profile of the brand (20 %) or through a retweet (18%). According to the study, this makes Twitter a very effective communication tool for brands. We have compiled three tips for you to use Twitter as an Effective Branding Communication Tool
1. Give the Brand a New Face
Users, who interact with brands via Twitter, do not expect smooth advertising messages, but personal and authentic conversations. To achieve this, brands must understand Twitter as a dialogue medium and not as an additional push channel for marketing messages. In order to further underline the “human aspect” behind Twitter communication, we recommend that you give your Twitter profile a face, e.g. in the form of an avatar or testimonial instead of “only” a brand logo.
2. Use a Convincing Twitter Bio
A Twitter bio is a short informative text below the profile image. Many brands use bios to describe the company, brand or their products. However, for the user, it is more important to know about what the brand communicates on Twitter and to be able to decide whether the brand could make an interesting dialogue partner. In most cases, the user will already be familiar with the brand. A further introduction would therefore be unnecessary. Instead, you should briefly name the topics, the brand tweets about.
3. Add Call-to-action
The Twitter bio is the first a user sees when he visits the brand’s Twitter profile. The bio should not only inform about the topical focus of the communication, but also activate the user via a call-to-action. The call-to-action can motivate to an action in Twitter. “Become a follower now”, “Say your opinion at hashtag xyz”. However, it can also lead away from Twitter via a shortlink, e.g. to a newsletter subscription. A simple link to the company or brand website should be avoided.