Twitter is a steady growing social media platform that has a number of uses, anywhere from broadcasting personal messages to friends to creating valuable business connections.Twitter has a lot of potential when it comes to business; therefore, it is important to balance out the personal aspect of twitter versus the professional.
Before I had joined the team at Venture Accelerator Partners I was solely using Twitter for personal purposes; however, once I realized that twitter is in fact a social hub for business I had to adapt my twitter stream in a new way to utilize its full potential. This is not to say that you must completely leave the personal aspect behind. After all everyone is trying to connect with the person behind the brand.
The following are some ways to manage Twitter accounts in a way that is beneficial to both personal and business accounts.
Twitter Handles
Twitter handles are important because it is the first thing that someone sees when viewing your profile. Make sure you have one for your personal account that reflects who you are and what you do. Don’t undermine who and what you do by having a twitter handle that is unprofessional. Avoid using digits in your handle, because it may be difficult to remember. The bottom line is to keep it simple. As for a company page your best bet is going with the name of your company for your twitter handle.
Content
Content can and should be different for each profile. After all, your followers may be following your personal page and your company page for different reasons. However, I do encourage the use of your personal profile to promote your business tweets further. Just make sure to repurpose the content so that it is not too repetitive.
Time Management
Time management is crucial when it comes to managing both a personal and business account. You want to be consistent when it comes to how much you’re posting on each account. For example, if you start managing a company account don’t neglect your personal account. There are tools such as Hootsuite that help you schedule tweets which will help you better manage your time on twitter. This way you arenot constantly checking up on your twitter feed throughout the day.
You may need to put in an added effort to keep up with two accounts (with two potentially differences audience), but it is worth it. Twitter offers a number of advantages, both for personal use and for business, including valuable content and creating meaningful connections.
If you are interested in learning about the value of Twitter and how to use its features effectively you may want to read our “Getting Started with Twitter” white paper.
