Promoting Your Shop With Twitter

If you’re new to Twitter or just looking for some fresh ideas, you’re in the right place!

Twitter is one of the most popular ways for brands to build an audience and stay connected. From starting and joining conversations, to keeping up on what’s happening right now, to connecting with your community, Twitter is a great tool to help you build and promote your business. Getting started is always easier than you think, so let’s get to it.

Tweets are to Twitter what posts are to Instagram or Pins are to Pinterest. A Tweet can include photos, videos, gifs, and links up to 140 characters of text. Short and sweet is the way Twitter operates. Got it? Cool. Now for everything else.

Build community. You’re not just there to make a sale, you should be there to connect with other artists in your field, gain fresh perspectives along with sharing updates and chat to people interested in your work. Follow and use hashtags to grow beyond your bubble, ask and answer questions, and occasionally, sprinkle in a little self-promo. Think of it as growing a community, rather than a following.

Follow and connect. Just like with any other social platform, it’s all about putting yourself out there. No matter what your interests are, you can find and connect with likeminded people on Twitter. From makers to artists to writers to publications to businesses we like, we tend to follow a little bit of everything we love. Going with what feels natural to you is a great way to approach who you follow. And if it turns out you’re not into a particular conversation, no sweat - you can always mute or unfollow.

Engage over curate. Yes, you want to have standards for your feed, but with Twitter, more than most other social platforms, you’re not there to curate a perfectly crafted look. In a way, it’s like a public chatroom, with all the messiness that comes along with it. For a small business owner running everything solo, the casual nature of Twitter can be a nice relief from the demands of highly visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. Its unending newsfeed emphasizes engagement over curation, so focus on conversations.

Tweet away. You heard us - get to Tweetin’! Share an image and quote from a recent interview featured on your blog. Share photos from your recent lookbook and what inspired it. Who in your industry do you admire and why? Share that love. Having a rough day and find an article that lifted your spirit? Tweet it. Share your personality, be yourself, and be human - it’s what makes folks want to connect with you in the first place!

Retweet and converse. See an article you love? Can’t stop watching that one gif? Retweet it! (That’s just Twitter’s word for reposting.) And don’t be afraid to jump into conversations and lend your voice where it feels natural for you, especially to give kudos to someone who made you smile. Again, engaging is key!

Mix it up. Don’t let things get too formulaic - mix up what you share and take full advantage of the flexibility of the platform. Try running a weekly poll. Reply to a customer question with a gif. Tweet short videos of your process. A varied approach will keep the feed more interesting for you and your followers.

Twitter is a busy platform, a newsfeed that is constantly evolving and updating. While it can be hard to keep your Tweets in the mix, don't worry. Depending on how you work, there are a few ways you can integrate Twitter into your workflow. Schedule a few times throughout the day to spend interacting on the platform. If you'd rather set it and forget it, try a tool like [Buffer](https://buffer.com/" target="_blank) or Hootsuite to help you publish Tweets throughout the day. Take some time to figure out what works for you so you can keep the Tweets flowin' freely.

Lastly, if you’re going to put the work into Twitter, make sure you let folks know they can find you there! Include your handle or profile URL on your site, business cards, email signature and anywhere else it feels right.

For more info on getting started with Twitter, check out these articles from Twitter and WIRED. Also, be sure to hit up our marketing and social media guides for more ideas to help you manage promoting your business.