How NOT to Tweet for Your Business

Unless you’ve been living on another planet for the last few years, you know Twitter is blowing up. And not only is it being used for trending news and entertainment, but i’ts proving to be a great marketing tool for all types of businesses.

That said, how should you use it? Well, I think the more important question here would be, how should you NOT use it? The following examples will show you exactly what you shouldn’t do when you’re Tweeting for your business.

  • Get personal—When you’re Tweeting, it’s tempting to get too comfortable with what you say. The platform connects you on friendly terms with lots of people. However, remember you’re representing your business first. Don’t Tweet anything that you wouldn’t want your customers to read. Because they will. And I assure you they don’t want to know about your night last night.
  • Only Tweet about you—Just like you don’t want web copy that reads “me, me, me,” neither do you want Tweets all about yourself. If all you Tweet is your own promotions and links, eventually people will peg you as a selfish Tweeter. Then they’ll unfollow you. No one likes a guy who is only out for himself. You need to add something valuable to the table.
  • Tweet a million times a day—Tweet quality, not quantity. I frequently unfollow people who Tweet enormous amounts a day. Why? Because it ends up feeling like spam. Give me less Tweets that are more interesting. If you overwhelm me, I probably won’t read any of them. It’s too hard to distinguish between the good, the mediocre, and the bad.
  • Tweet inconsistently—As in all aspects of your business, consistency is a must. If you just pop up every few weeks with a Tweet, who is really going to pay attention? You’ll go unnoticed. Marketing should be a daily thing. Make Tweeting part of your daily regimen. Maybe you just want
  • Don’t respond—Twitter is a two way street. It’s not all about you talking. It’s about your customers talking back. And you can’t hold a conversation if you don’t respond. And trust me when I say, if you continually fail to respond, your customers will eventually figure out that they aren’t your number one priority. And they’ll probably be right.

graphic courtesy of: Render PositiveBusiness Guide to the Wonderful World of Twitter

What are some other ways you’ve seen people use Twitter incorrectly for their businesses? Talk about them in the comments section!

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4 comments
  • This is the greatest post I have ever read. Danny Sullivan will cry if he reads this, Matt Cutts will quit his job upon reading this.

    PS: The twittie bird is a great artwork. I bey you personally designed it!

    Journalistic Writing! Superb Artwork! Congrats!

  • Tweeter has definitely become an entirely huge platform not only as you said ‘entertainment’ but for ‘business’ as well. However, there are pros and cons with using media sites such as tweeter to publicize one’s business and those that you have mentioned about what not to tweet are indeed vital to keep business’ integrity intact. Irresponsible tweeting can cause a lot of damage than good.