Social media platforms like Twitter have become essential tools for businesses to connect with their customers and build their brands. 

With over 330 million active users, Twitter provides a massive potential audience for businesses to engage with. 

Let's explore how to use Twitter to build your brand in 2023.

Conduct A Twitter Audit

Auditing your existing Twitter account is crucial in building your brand on Twitter in 2023.

Before creating content and engaging with your audience, it's essential to understand your starting point. 

If you have been in business for a while, you likely have an existing Twitter account. And if your current Twitter account hasn't been performing well, it will need an audit and overhaul.

Document

The first step is to document all existing Twitter accounts and who has been responsible for them, including regular Twitter accounts and Twitter Professional accounts, which offer additional features for businesses.

Review

Once you have your list, thoroughly review all the accounts. Use tools like Twitter Analytics to collect information such as the frequency of tweets, engagement rate, and number of followers.

Analyze

Analyzing engagement rate and follower count can give you insights into how your current Twitter strategy is performing. 

You may find that some accounts are performing well while others need improvement.

Tracking engagement rates over time can help you identify trends and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Audit

It's also important to audit brand compliance for existing accounts. Ensure the Twitter handle is consistent with your other social media accounts and that the bio and profile picture are on-brand.

If there are any discrepancies, take the necessary steps to make them consistent across all platforms.

Update

Another thing to look out for is outdated information on your account. 

Check if your header image and pinned tweet are up-to-date and relevant to your marketing efforts. If not, update them to reflect your brand's current messaging and promotions.

Overhaul

Now you have completed your audit; it's time to move on to the overhaul.

Defining your brand's voice is the first and essential step in building your brand on Twitter. Your brand's voice is the personality and tone you want to portray to your followers. 

You may already have a strong TOV for your brand. That's great! A strong tone of voice is necessary on all social media, but on Twitter, businesses are working with a smaller character count to get that TOV across. 

Wendy's is an excellent example of a brand that has nailed its Twitter TOV. Is your tone of voice as strong as theirs? If not – read on. 

Define Your Tone Of Voice (TOV)?

You must define your brand's voice early on so your content and messaging are consistent across all channels. 

Your brand voice should be tailored to your target audience and align with your marketing goals. You should also be authentic and human in your approach to show the personal side of your brand.

To define your brand's voice, start by considering your brand values, personality, and target audience. You can use a brand voice chart to outline the adjectives that best describe your brand and the tone you want to use.

Once you have defined your brand's voice, use it to create engaging content that resonates with your followers.

Create a Twitter Strategy

Once you have defined your brand's voice, it's time to create a Twitter strategy. A Twitter strategy outlines your goals, target audience, content strategy, and metrics to track success.

Start by setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) that align with your overall marketing objectives. These goals should align with your high-level business objectives and be broken down into measurable indicators of success. 

For instance, if you want to drive more traffic to your website, aim to increase your average click-through rate, using your baseline click-through rate from your Twitter audit. This will help you  to set a specific and achievable goal over a reasonable period.

Analyze the Competition

Another important aspect of building a Twitter strategy is analyzing your competition. Review the Twitter accounts of your industry competitors to refine your strategy and identify gaps in their approach that you can fill. 

Consider creating a private Twitter List of your competitors to keep track of their tweets and discussions in real time.

Create Guidelines 

Creating guidelines is essential for keeping your communications clear and consistent on Twitter. 

Your guidelines should include elements of your overall brand style guide and specific details for using Twitter, such as branded hashtags, emoji use, and link formatting. 

You should also plan for how to handle negative comments and criticism on Twitter, as it's inevitable as your account grows. Have a plan for responding to trolls and managing a PR crisis to ensure you are prepared for any situation.

Create a Content Calendar

Twitter requires a steady stream of engaging content to keep your followers interested and engaged with your brand. Creating a content calendar is an integral part of your Twitter strategy.

A content calendar is a schedule that outlines what content you'll be sharing on your Twitter account and when. Planning your content saves you time and stress later on and helps you align your content with your overall marketing goals and target audience.

To create a content calendar, consider how often you want to post on Twitter and at what times. It's important to post consistently and avoid overwhelming your followers with too many tweets. Additionally, you should consider who on your team should approve posts before they go live.

Creating a content calendar can also ensure you share a balanced mix of tweets. The "rule of thirds" is a good guideline: one-third of your tweets should promote your business, one-third should share personal stories, and one-third should be informative insights from experts or influencers.

Remember that your content calendar is not set in stone. You should be flexible and adjust it based on current events or trending topics relevant to your brand.

Analytics To Measure Success

Analytics is a crucial part of any social media strategy, including Twitter. By analyzing metrics like engagement rate, click-through rate, and follower growth, you can gain insights into how well your content performs and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Twitter Analytics provides data on your audience demographics, which tweets perform best, and how many people click links or engage with your content. This information can help you identify trends and adjust your content strategy to align with your goals and target audience.

Without analytics, it's difficult to measure the success of your Twitter strategy and make data-driven decisions. Reviewing and analyzing your metrics can help you stay on track and achieve your goals on the platform.

Build Your Twitter Strategy

Twitter can be a valuable tool for businesses looking to expand their reach and connect with their audience. From building brand awareness to customer engagement, Twitter offers a range of features that can help businesses achieve their marketing and PR goals.

However, it is important to note that we have only scratched the surface of what Twitter offers for business. 

Businesses can use numerous tips and tricks to optimize their Twitter presence, such as utilizing hashtags, engaging with influencers, and running Twitter ads. Business News Daily provides a comprehensive list of Twitter tips for businesses that can be used to improve their Twitter marketing strategies.

Twitter offers a range of resources and tools to help businesses make the most of their Twitter presence. The Twitter for Business website is a great resource that offers helpful tips and case studies from successful businesses that have used Twitter to achieve their marketing and PR goals.

For businesses looking to develop a comprehensive marketing and PR strategy, working with a professional PR agency like Santa Monica Public Relations can be incredibly beneficial. We can help businesses develop a tailored strategy that leverages the power of Twitter and other social media platforms to achieve their marketing and PR goals. Contact us now.