Twitter Lesson: The First Steps to Use Twitter Effectively

The 4 steps to start using Twitter:

Set Up Your Account

This is easy. Use can your personal name but, better, use your property name if you have one. Your Twitter profile name is limited to 15 characters. Think carefully about it: Use a name that relates to what you are and what you are about, and avoid numbers and uncommon abbreviations. You won’t be able to change your name later, and as in the future more and more Twitter access will be on mobile avoid underscores in your user name (it’s an extra step to type in on mobiles).

Upload Your Picture

It’s a good idea to change the default picture with a photo of You or your property, showing you are a real person and not a spambot. Use the same photo across Facebook and Twitter and your own website (and any other social platforms you use) as it’s part of your branding.

Use Your Best Link

If you have a blog, this is the obvious option. It needn’t be the landing/Home Page – you may want to take someone to a page specifically welcoming Twitterers (and so letting them connect onwards).

Write A Bio That’s Interesting

You have 160 characters for this – and the purpose is to tell people what you are going to be twittering about. Don’t be verbose, and use short sentences. Try and engage the reader. Work in some keywords relevant to the people you want to connect with as your keywords will help other people find you. Mention your Facebook Page, if you have one.

 

Here’s a start off list to begin using Twitter as a branding and networking tool, with some promotional actions thrown in.

Follow other owners. Look for ‘vacation rental’ in Tweetdeck or Twellow, there’s quite a lot of them. Or look for Twitter signatures in owner forums. You can also pick up the followers of other owners who are interested in staying in rentals.

 

Tweet about what you are doing. Not what you’re having for dinner, but what interesting things you and the community is doing in and around your rental.

 

Provide links to interesting venues, events and festivals near you. You’ll pick up followers interested in the area where your property is.

 

Provide advice on managing your rental. It will get retweeted.

 

Link to a video. If you have one, put your video tour on You Tube. If short and interesting, it will get traffic. Make sure you show a link back to your website.

 

Tweet about things to do around you. Beaching, hiking, golfing, sailing, spending Easter, olive picking, grape harvesting, bird watching, fishing, spending Christmas, geo-caching, spa’s, and so on. These words will get picked up by others interested in these things.

 

Answer a question. Especially any that relate to something about your area.

 

Use Hashtags. # are a way to track topics and makes sure your tweets have a chance of being seen by your target audience.

 

Follow Travel Writers. Follow them and they will usually follow you in return, especially if they are seeking sources and references for a story. You may end up being front of mind next time they are looking for something to write about.

 

 

So What Do You tweet About?

 

Tell followers what’s happening around you, and in your property.

 

Be consistent, and tweet useful, interesting, information. You can lose followers just as quickly as gaining them if you don’t.

 

Don’t forget that branding is a subtle process that occurs over time.

 

Be patient.  Build your followers over time and you’ll find your traffic builds over time too. As long as you concentrate on making sure all your tweets are of excellent quality and relevant to the experience you’re offering you should find that the traffic tends to take care of itself.

 

Once you’ve joined, make sure you sort your profile out straightaway, post your first tweet, and then start browsing round for like minded people. Once you start following some other people and getting a few followers yourself, you’ve started playing the long game.