I started using Twitter back in 2010. I was fourteen, so it’s safe to assume that my tweets were not substantial. What else would you expect from a 14-year-old’s tweets than angst and spammed tweet to singers? I was the absolute worst (still am), but I guess my constant tweeting about musical artists and YouTube content creators resonated with some people because, before I knew it, I had 1000 followers in less than two years. And then that quickly grew to 2000 in the next seven months. A few years later, my content changed, but I had reached over 6000 and was completely surprised.

Looking back, I now realize how crucial Twitter can be for a person’s online presence. Through hashtags and engaging with people, teenage-me managed to reach thousands of people. My current Twitter account, MusicandYouTube (let’s not even talk about how terrible the username is because I refuse to change it, at this point) practically became my brand. People knew me more for my username than anything else. My Twitter growth is easily minuscule compared to the thousands and millions of followers other people have, but it’s a lot when you consider that 6000 people can fill up the equivalent of almost two Loew’s Theatres. TWO.

Twitter is easily one of the most important and most useful social media platforms today. You have text, photos, and videos being seen and shared by millions of people in real-time. Talking to Lynn recently, I noticed she doesn’t use Twitter to its fullest potential. In fact, many local businesses don’t, and I see that as a huge problem. There’s so much that can be shared outside of photos on Instagram or 10-second Snapchat videos, so why not do it all?

Here are things you need to keep in mind when using Twitter for your brand:

Interactions

Twitter is all based on interactions – tweets, retweets, quote-tweets, and likes are the core of Twitter’s interface. If you want to expand your Twitter presence, you need to interact with other people and engage in conversations with the people you follow or who follow you. I was a loser and tweeted people constantly, but through time, I ended up meeting a lot of great people, and it was an interesting experience. People will get to know you and your brand as you interact with them and make it a point to reply to their tweets.

Consistency

Keeping up with your presence on Twitter, or anywhere online, is crucial to maintaining a following. If you want people to continue being involved and interested in your content, you have to be consistent with your content. I brought this up with Lynn the other day and noticed she started tweeting more. Before this, her Twitter account was only links to blog posts and a few rants here and there. I can’t lie; it wasn’t the most interesting account to follow. By tweeting more often and addressing different topics, people are more likely to be interested in your content and want to keep up with what you’re saying. So don’t forget to tweet!

Hashtags

For the love of all that exists in this world, please use hashtags if you want to expand your presence online and get your tweets seen outside of the followers you have. Hashtags are just as relevant on Twitter as they are on Instagram, and they’re an important part of expanding your brand. When you’re contributing to a conversation on Twitter, whether you’re live-tweeting while watching a show or putting in your two cents on the debate, use the hashtags to really get involved and interact with other people who are having the same conversation.

Polls and Moments

Twitter moments and polls are fairly new but are the easiest ways to get any type of interaction from people. Moments are the listicles of Twitter: you get the whole story from just a few tweets and photos. You can learn how to create Moments on Twitter, but it’s pretty simple to get through.

With polls, you can get your followers involved with your content (which is, after all, the point of all this). Need help trying to decide what colors to pick for your merch? Want to know what type of content your followers are more interested in seeing? Want to know where your followers stand on certain social issues? The possibilities are truly endless, and you can have your followers vote to get their input.

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TL;DR – Need a quick run-through? Here’s a checklist of what you need to do to use Twitter at its utmost potential:

• Be consistent. Tweet often.
• Engage with other people. Interact with your followers.
• Use hashtags, especially when you’re adding to a conversation.
• Create polls to get your followers involved.
• Use Moments, to sum up everything related to your brand or a specific topic.