Whether you are starting your own business or are just thinking about it, chances are you already have a Twitter account. But how about Twitter Lists? And How much do you actually know about them, if anything at all? Often overlooked, Twitter Lists can be a great asset for businesses.  They help you manage Twitter more effectively and certainly have an important role to play when it comes to developing your social media strategy. At first glance, they are simply a way to organise different accounts – you can add a descriptor for each list you create, making it either private (only visible to you) or public (visible to all, notifying accounts as they are added).    But don’t be fooled.

Twitter Lists are much more than that.  And here is why;

They keep you on top of trends

By creating a list of users who regularly share breaking news within your industry, you can keep on top of relevant changes and updates relatively easily – it also means you can react to them efficiently.  

They save you time

It’s virtually impossible to keep pace with Twitter, especially if you are scrolling through an unfiltered feed.  By checking on the feed of each list separately you can absorb the information faster and in digestible chunks – without any clutter.

They help you keep an eye on the competition

Competitor activity is important for many reasons, and Twitter Lists allows you to do this easily and anonymously. Make sure you check what (public) Lists your competitors have as well as which ones they subscribe to!

They facilitate engagement

Consider creating a list made up of loyal customers, participants of Twitter chats, and bloggers who share your content and generally support you. Engaging with them will become much easier once they are grouped together, allowing you to nurture your relationships more effectively. You are also less likely to miss their activity if they are on a List.

They highlight brand awareness and increase followers

Well curated Twitter Lists can attract new followers as well as subscribers to your Lists. You might also find that accounts that you save under your Lists start to follow you too.

They give you a cleaner feed

By keeping track of accounts that are of interest to your business without having to follow them, you can keep your feed much more targeted and relevant to your brand.  

They help you add value to your own customer base

Think about what your business offers its customers.  Now consider the types of information that are of value to them and relevant to your offering. Could you add it to a Twitter List?  For example, if you own a vegetarian cafe you could have a number of public curated Lists covering topics such as seasonal produce, health benefits, recipes, favourite food bloggers, and your own local distributors. By creating lists that carry relevant content to your customers you can increase your followers and engagement.

They can balance your follower ratio

Everyone knows it takes time and effort to grow your Twitter following, but young businesses can initially suffer from showing low follower numbers against very high following ones. You can use Twitter Lists to avoid this.

They can increase your SEO

It is a fact that Google judges your importance according to the type of content you display.  The more high value, high-quality content you have, the more likely they are to link to it and share it themselves. Blog posts, competitions, articles, events, news, interviews, podcasts and images are all part of the content mix. Well defined Twitter Lists can help you identify and curate the best quality content available to add to your own and share it within your feed.

And finally, Twitter lists make you more focused

By consistently creating well-defined Lists, you will find that your engagement will become sharper and you will be less likely to add profiles that don’t fit into your List(s) or business objectives. So, have I managed to convince you yet?  If you are still unsure how to get started here are a few Twitter Lists that you should consider;

• Prospect clients –these are people you want to work with, so best to make it private.
• Competitors – another list you might want to keep private.
• Influencers – these can be businesses, bloggers, industry leaders, or profiles with a strong voice within your sector/area/industry.
• News and Trends – include journalists/bloggers/writers/ Industry bodies who are active in covering relevant themes, events, etc.
• Aspirational brands – personally, I am a big believer in monitoring businesses that inspire you.  They don’t even need to be in the same industry as you, but often following brands you admire can open your own path to try different things.

Now is your turn to give it a go!   Start small, but keep adding, tweaking and streamlining your Lists – just don’t forget to check them regularly, and engage of course! Good luck. If you are a small business owner and you need business advice and training we offer classes in South-London. Check our programmes.

credits:

Pic 1 – Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

Pic 2 – Photo by William Iven on Unsplash