Twitter Me This…

Guest Blogger: Rachelle Morris, DEMA Membership Marketing & Communications Coordinator

I must confess, I haven’t always been a fan of Twitter. Initially, I took it to be for the ego-maniac; who could possibly think anyone cares what they have to say in 140 characters every 5 minutes? Obviously, that was before I had A CLUE about Twitter and how powerful it can really be.

In my personal life, I have come to realize that Twitter is a source where I often discover “breaking news.” This realization has, in my eyes, made Twitter synonymous with the dissemination of information, and for businesses there is endless potential. Not only does it provide you with a platform where you can tweet all day long with less potential of annoying your followers as compared to say, Facebook, (Twitter followers expect to hear from you throughout the day) but this license to chat away keeps you top-of-mind and relevant.

Much like my Facebook findings, there is a wealth of information on ways to make the most of your Twitter campaign and marketing. Here are of a few tips that I have found to be valuable in DEMA’s Twitter efforts:

1. The 80/20 Rule: Just like I discussed in my previous post about Facebook post content, the 80/20 rule applies to Twitter as well. Remember, the rule suggests that 80% of your posts should be providing valuable content that supports the lifestyle/interests/concerns of your followers while 20% should be promotional. I have even read that on Twitter specifically, your self promotional content should be as low as 5%-10%.
   
   What DEMA is doing: Much like our Facebook page, we try and live by the 80/20 rule by posting valuable business tips, dive news and other information that would be beneficial to our Members and followers while incorporating a bit of Association-specific news to keep everyone updated. Much like our Facebook page, we try and live by the 80/20 rule by posting valuable business tips, dive news and other information that would be beneficial to our Members and followers while incorporating a bit of Association-specific news to keep everyone updated.



2. Be Active! Twitter is very different from Facebook for many reasons, but one of my favorites is because it gives you a license to talk…a lot! Twitter followers expect and probably want to hear from you throughout the day, which means that you have less chance of being that annoying friend I referred to in a previous post. And remember, as soon as you tweet something, there are 5 other tweets that have just pushed yours down the queue. Don’t think that tweeting once a day is going to give you maximum exposure. If you aren’t tweeting multiple times a day, it’s quite possible that your tweets are getting lost.
   
   What DEMA is doing: We aim to post 4-5 times per day. Sometimes we don’t have enough quality information to share and sometimes we have extra. What we find to be important is that we are providing our followers with news and information that is valuable to their business, careers, diving interests, and so on. We aim for a certain number of tweets, but the quality and relativity of the information is just as important to us. We aim to post 4-5 times per day. Sometimes we don’t have enough quality information to share and sometimes we have extra. What we find to be important is that we are providing our followers with news and information that is valuable to their business, careers, diving interests, and so on. We aim for a certain number of tweets, but the quality and relativity of the information is just as important to us.



3. Images, Images, Images: I was surprised to learn from a recent study that images posted on Twitter outperform text messages by 91%. Ninety-one percent! This article also states that image tweets only make up 2.3% of all tweets. It would seem that tweeting images is a hidden gem and posting such could really make you stand out from the rest while providing some pretty engaging content!
   
   What DEMA WILL BE doing: Given this newly discovered information, DEMA will certainly be incorporating additional images into our Twitter line-up. We are already sharing images and visually communicating on other platforms like Given this newly discovered information, DEMA will certainly be incorporating additional images into our Twitter line-up. We are already sharing images and visually communicating on other platforms like Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram but we will begin to share similar content with our Twitter followers as well.

Are you looking to learn more about Twitter and how to set up your business or brand’s page? Consider reviewing this Twitter Guide Book that I’ve found to be a good overall resource to get you started!