Kevin and I recently gave a presentation on beginning social media for business, You’ve Got To Have Friends. There’s a lot more to know than what we were able to cover in the brief session, so I wanted to expand on some Twitter and Facebook hints, tips and jargon here. Feel free to post your questions for me to answer!

Twitter

1. Handles. Your Twitter account name is known as your Twitter “handle” and is referred to with the @ symbol followed by your name. (e.g. @frostmiller)
2. Follow and Followers. You’ll have two lists- the people you follow and the people that follow you. Anyone who follows you will see your tweets.
3. Mentions. When referencing another user in your Tweet you should refer to them by their handle including the @ symbol, so that it automatically becomes a link back to them. They will see that you mentioned them in your tweet and may respond or retweet. Mentions are public for your entire follower list to see.
4. Direct Messages. To send a direct (private) message, you must both follow each other. When you DM a friend, the rest of your followers will not see it. (I don’t think this tactic is very widely used for marketing).
5. Hashtags. A hashtag is created by turning a word or topic into a link by putting a # symbol in front of it. (e.g. #electrician). Anyone who clicks on the hashtag will see all the tweets that use that hashtag, thus people can follow an entire topic or conversation no matter if they follow all of the Tweeters or not.
6. Links. Links to more information in your tweets are key, but they take up a lot of characters. Use a link shortener, like bit.ly, to shorten your link before you add it to your tweet. You’ll also be able to track how many people click on the link.

Facebook

1. It’s All Business. Begin your organization’s Facebook page by setting up a business page as opposed to a personal page. This will allow the page to be available to the public.
2. Likes/Likers. Facebook recently changed the terminology from “fan pages” to pages that you “like” so your Facebook friends will show up as people who like your page.
3. Vanity URLs. After you have 25 likers you can change the generic URL Facebook gives you to your organization name. (e.g. www.facebook.com/frostmillergroup)
4. Comments. You can now use your organization’s Facebook page in the same manner as you would your personal page and comment in your organization’s name on other organizations’ pages. See more about that in my previous blog post, All Social Networks Lead to Your Website (Part II).
5. Stats. Under Page Insights, Facebook provides you with information about your page. See how much interaction your posts are getting—whether people viewed the posts, liked them, or commented on them. You can also learn more about the demographics of your page’s friends.

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