It's hard to believe that Twitter is barely seven years old. Launched in July of 2006, Twitter rapidly became one of the solid foundations for international social media. Its impact on culture, 
politics, and media is off the charts. Businesses need to find ways to harness this impact and build revenue from it. Twitter, as one of the big three in social media, deserves a large chunk of your social media strategy. Here are a couple of easy approaches that you can take now to see a spike in your involvement in the Twitterverse.
Follow the Competition
What are others in your industry tweeting about? Remember that Twitter is all about what's happening NOW, so search for the trending topics and keywords that can get the right kind of attention. It's also an easy way to get material for blogs.
Know When to Tweet
Optimize a posting schedule. Every business will have some variation on results, but two general rules of thumb are worth applying. Then, test the results.
- 1 to 3 pm for clicks Mon - Thurs
- 4 to 5 pm for Retweets on Fridays
Use Hashtags Judiciously
Don't force trending hashtags; only use them if they are beneficial to your tweet. Nothing can turn off a Twitter follower, especially a potential customer, like an inappropriate use of a hashtag just for attention.
Speak with One Voice
Twitter is public, so it reflects your brand's image. You can be funny, you can be unique, but you must always be professional. You mustn't ever send a mixed message from your company's official Twitter site.
Be Polite
Respond when people tweet about you, and include their Twitter handles Favorite and retweet messages of praise, and be sure to thank kindness with a public response. You should also quickly respond to any criticism with respectful professionalism. If it begins to veer into something negative, move quickly to take the discussion private.
Keep it Short
Yes, you only have 140 characters to work with, but make an effort to stay within 120 '- 130 characters. This allows for a retweet and a possible comment!
Use Bit.ly
Twitter will shorten any URL you may embed in your Tweet, but you won't know if anyone has actually followed the link unless you use Bit.ly. Bit.ly makes it much easier to share its links on Twitter than anywhere else. We also suggest putting links in the middle of your tweet, rather than at the beginning or end of your message. You'll be surprised how much easier it is to notice the link.
Be visual
Visual content always makes the message more compelling and appealing. Always directly upload photos to Twitter, rather than make someone download an app, like Instagram, in order to see it. Also, don't forget that a gif is the visual equivalent of a tweet.
Do you have secrets to Twitter success that you'd like to share? What has, or hasn't worked for your business? We'd love to hear from you.