How to Engage and Maintain a Loyal Twitter Following

Build your Profile

If you are just starting out on Twitter, you will have to build your profile. However, if you have had a Twitter account for a while, then it is time for a profile makeover. Make sure you use your real name, picture and location. For your image use what people will recognize your company by. You want people to recognize you so they know that you are a real person. Next, change your description, slogan or caption, so that people know what your company is about. This also allows you to make sure that your profile is keeping with the the fast changing trends. Once your profile has been created or updated, you have to find the right people to follow. It is best to follow people who will follow you back and people that have something in common with your company. While you are following people who will help your business grow, it is best to listen and learn while you try and create your company presence.

Use #’s

Use hash tags so that people can search related content to your tweet. This is how you can help spread your presence throughout the Twitter community because people will be able to take notice in you when you hash tag the same content. Hash tags help you participate in Twitter chats. You can either join an ongoing chat through the hash tag or you can start your own hash tag to get a conversation going. It is beneficial to participate in Twitter chats. You learn new things, meet new users, interact with interested people, gain followers and create buzz for your business.

Engage

The best way to engage and maintain a loyal Twitter following is by making them want to read your tweets. Tweet a few times a day to stay visible, constant and to increase engagement. Offer exclusive content on only one social media platform so then people are forced to go to that specific network. Be intentional with each tweet. Ensure that the content shared has a purpose, meets the needs of your followers, offers new information and is supportive of others. Try to make your tweets exciting, inspiring, funny, useful, and creative with a unique tone to emotionally connect to your audience. However, remember to keep the tweet professional and relevant because people like to relate.  It is always nice to provide special exclusive offers to people who follow you. However, it is also a good strategy to engage potential followers by offering a type of discount for a future purchase if lets say as an example your hundredth follower. Show your audience that you are kept up to date with the new trends and technology. In your tweets, try to include one of these strategies; provide updates, contests, links, question and answers, pictures, videos, Follow Friday, polls, or even surveys. You could also try and plan a campaign weeks in advance to spread the word about something new that is coming. Make sure all information shared is based on fact and research. Also, try to write tweets like you are having a conversation, talk with them, not at them. Consider, spreading your tweets out, it will benefit your account. In the end, you should convey the industries message, not the businesses.

Connect

One of the concepts of Twitter is to connect with your targeted audience, which is your followers. You have to regularly connect to your audience to maintain their loyalty to your account. You must value the content they share with you. Use @mentions, retweet and reply to your audience. Retweet what you find interesting and favourite what you like. The tweets you post should contain customer support, both positive and negative. If there are concerns you can always suggest direct messaging or email for privacy reasons to the customer as well. Although, for the most part, ask questions, provide answers, share knowledge and collect feedback. At least once daily try to respond to mentions and retweets. It is also beneficial to respond and thank everyone. People will either respond or retweet your response to show their friends that you have engaged with them. Fortunately for you, you are not just engaging a single follower, you are engaging a much wider audience. Another way to connect with your targeted audience is by pitching new products and business ideas. Not only does it make you excited for the future products, it makes your customers excited as well. Your tweets should never over connect with your community. Do not include empty promises or try and offer more than what your company or product can do. To maintain a loyalty between followers look for allies in the industry whom you exchange information with regularly and support each other. Maintaining a connection through your tweets is the best way to maintain a loyal twitter following.

Prime Tweeting

The times that you tweet benefits your Twitter following. You have to find the best time to tweet for your business. Tweet when people are available to go on Twitter. However, tweet during work hours because that is usually when people will be coming to your business. Try to avoid tweeting on weekends or late at night because the feed moves too fast then. Post most of your tweets in real time too. Try not to automate. Also, avoid tweeting in a consistent row unless you are at a live event. People usually skip over the next couple of tweets if they are written by the same account. Consider writing your tweets at the same time each day so that people who are trying to get in contact with you on Twitter notice that you are online at consistent times. This assists your account when you are not online all the time so you are not expected to tweet or respond to tweets 24/7.

Trending Cambridge

Trending Cambridge

Trending.Info is excited to announce that we have launched Cambridge, Ontario! Cambridge is located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers near Waterloo. Cambridge happens to be merged with the City of Galt, the towns of Preston, Blair and Hespeler. Cambridge is known for being one of the fastest growing areas in Canada. Cambridge is a great place for shopping, festivals and superb dining. The city has great antique shops, a butterfly conservatory, farmers markets, factory outlets, and even a drive through wildlife park. Through the great diversity of a multicultural mix and the active business community, Cambridge has something for everyone.

"A Grand Night" - Colin Carmichael

Things to Know about Cambridge 

Do you love the outdoors? Cambridge would be a great place to check out. With access to the Grand River and the awesome trails, you could have a great day cycling, canoeing, hiking, etc.

Image from treksinthewild.com

Claudette Millar was the first mayor of Cambridge. She was one of the few mayors to be female. She was also the youngest mayor in Canada at the time, age 35.  

Image from http://www.cambridgeweb.net/historical.html 

Cambridge has 99 parks, 140+ sports field and golf courses, over 365 ha of parkland, and 70+ km of urban and nature trails.

Image from Cambridge Recreation Centres

Rob Ducey was born and raised in Cambridge. He was the first baseball player from Ontario to go play for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Image from Blue Jay Hunter by Ian Hunter

The Cambridge farmers market is the third oldest in the country. All the vendors come from within a 100 km radius. The market has a variety of fruits, vegetables, cheese, baked goods and more (yummy). Recently, Cambridge farmer’s market was rated in the top 10 of markets in the country by Best Health magazine.

Image from Healthy Choice Wellness Blog

Cambridge’s location is great for businesses. It is ideal for trade and marketing across North America. Cambridge is apart of the industrial centre.

Image from cambridge.ca

In 1784, Galt was included in an area that was granted to the Six Nation Indians by the British Crown. A first nations land developer, William Dickson named the area Galt after a Scottish novelist and the Commissioner of the Canada company, John Galt. Galt covers the largest portion of Cambridge on the southern side. It was once the largest town in this area before Kitchener.

Image from kings highway.ca

Preston was once identified as “sleepy German town”. This was due to the fact that Preston began in the 1800s when German speaking Mennonites from Pennsylvania wanted to acquire the land. John Erb and his family were one of the first settlers to arrive. HIs family started sawmills and gristmills along the banks of the river. This attracted many artisans, tradesmen and craftsmen. Significantly, the mills also attracted young German immigrants who just arrived in North America.

Image from Virtual Reference Library 

Blairs name was given to the village around 1858 in honour of Adam Johnston Fergusson-Blair. He was the judge of the first Wellington District and colonel in the local militia.

Image from Waterloo Region Museum

Preston and Blair are located on the western side of Cambridge.

Before the name Hespeler, the town was once named New Hope until Mr. Hespeler bought the land. Hespeler is higher up in the eastern part of Cambridge. Hespeler successfully attracted new businesses after World War II but the population somehow stayed the same.

Image from Canada Rail

Information retrieved from:
http://www.cambridge.ca
http://www.visitcambridgeontario.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge,_Ontario

Tweets should be about Social Interaction

Tweeting should not have to be a duty, whether you are tweeting for your business or for personal reasons. Tweets should be about social interaction. The goal for your tweets are to make them fun, interesting and useful for your audience.

Twitter is a very broad online community. It allows you to connect to people all over the world. Twitter gives you the opportunity to meet potential clients. When you first start out on Twitter make sure you follow users who you believe will help benefit your account. Find an audience that you want to target. Make them aware that you are first starting out on Twitter and you want to be apart of the social interaction they are offering. You must interact throughout Twitter so people know that you are interested in them. It is also beneficial to set goals and to know where your tweets are headed so you can manage the progress of your account.

The art of tweeting only takes practice. You should be aware that to have a useful tweet, all 140 characters that are available do not have to be used. It is best to make sure that there is room for other users to add a RT (retweet), username or comment back to your tweet to create conversation. Your tweet should create a buzz for social interaction between you and your audience. When creating a tweet it is also best to use a hashtag where people can search the same hashtag. This allows them to become apart of a new, interested online community based off of the hashtag you created in your tweet. Make sure you listen and respond to the desires of your followers. Engage them in conversation. Constantly praise the retweets and follows that are given to you. Nevertheless, make sure you engage your audience on a daily basis. Even though it is not, the social interaction that tweeting offers allows you and your audience to have a one on one relationship. By creating useful  tweets, you are creating your own online community that is interested in what you have to tweet.

Something to remember is that, tweets are live. They flow through newsfeeds at a very fast pace and can be turned on or off. Nowadays, people are always on the go and want information faster than it can be delivered. Usually, people on Twitter only scan their feeds, so it should be quick and informative. Although it should be interesting enough so that they will finish reading. Capture the little moments, share oddities and interpret experiences so that your audience can see that you are a real person tweeting live.

Users on Twitter are attracted to original text. They enjoy viewing content that they have not seen before. Having produced successful content also makes your Twitter account feel worthy because you are getting your messages out into the online community. However, if there are times where original content does not seem appropriate, you can always retweet other tweets to keep your feed flowing.

Tweeting is supposed to be fun and informative. In your tweets, provide people with knowledge about things you are interested in. Potentially, you could learn something new about yourself or your business. You can make a success for yourself or your company by allowing the user who could be a customer to feel pleased and satisfied with the knowledge you have quickly shared. People will reward you. They will keep coming back to your site and mention your success, which allows all of their followers to see your beneficial tweets as well. It allows for numerous numbers of people to notice you and potentially take interest in you or your business all at once. You want people to see that you are excited about what you are tweeting so that they will become excited too. It is also fun when you have something new and exciting to share and your targeted audience takes pride in what you have accomplished. Sharing experiences, creating conversation and making connections is what makes tweeting a fun, useful experience.