Twitter’s open to the whole world and if you use it for your marketing can be extremely beneficial in getting your business message out there.

Not to be overly negative, there’s a flip side too. With each Tweet you send you put your company reputation on the line and as we all know in business, a business rises and falls on its reputation. So, we’ve compiled a list of great tips to help you protect your reputation and avoid issues.

Remember to Verify

Lies tend to spread a lot faster than the truth and this is especially true on Twitter, where a celebrity ‘dies’ each and every day only to be magically resurrected when they get control of their account back.

The point is, if you want your business to be deemed a source of reliable information then you will need to validate and verify each and every story is true. A problem a lot of businesses tend to fall into is retweeting without reading the article in full, let alone verifying it. Just because others in your field are retweeting something doesn’t mean you should follow suit. To gain trust you need to be accurate.
Nurture

A big cause of backlash is selling before your nurture a connection. If you want people to follow and take interest in your brand you need to sell your brand to your followers before you sell your product.

Use Twitter to make a long term relationship possible. This can be done by sharing useful content, helping people out, advising in conversations and doing what it takes to make a relationship. Don’t just rush in there with all your sales guns blazing – it won’t do your reputation any good.

Customers Require Respect

Responds promptly to people on Twitter or else you’ll face the consequences and maybe even the wrath of an angry mob. Twitter is a lot more time sensitive than email and completely public. Answer queries and acknowledge senders the moment you see it and follow up with answer’s to queries as soon as possible. Anything more than an hour during working hours is just not ideal.

Consistency

Social media is about consistency. There’s little or no point in tweeting 10 times one day and then not for two weeks. These patterns of interaction are somewhat similar to spitting into the wind. Plan to be frequent when posting. There’s no excuse to be honest. Sites such as Buffer and Hootsuite mean you can schedule and share tweet automatically with little or no effort at all. At FuseWave we believe that slow and steady is always better than plenty and seldom.

However, be aware that scheduling all the time can hurt reputation. It is fine when you’re in a rush, but people want to feel a connection and the best way to do that is to tweet live.

Avoid scheduling in the form of direct messages to thank followers, time sensitive updates, or the same tweet at the same time each day or week. Also, avoid synchronising other social media posts with your Twitter – it looks spammy and lazy and won’t help you at all.

Don’t Run

Twitter is as infamous for its trolls and moaning as it is for its marketing. So, if your Tweet comes under scrutiny, don’t just delete it. Evaluate the Tweet and if it has merit take it on the chin, while if it’s trolling debunk it. Deleting tends to be negative, so:

• Respond
• Stay positive
• Be honest and factual
• If you’re wrong – apologise

Dealing well with issues like these is what separates good and bad businesses online.

Conclusion

Twitter is a fantastic resource and of huge potential, though also has a few pitfalls. Follow these tips and you will go a long part of the way to keep your reputation intact.