1. Introduction to Twitter
& how to use it
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

2. Setting Up Your Account
Sign up @ www.twitter.com
• My Twitter Name: choose something relevant to your profile.
@Scotsman_Iain @ScotOnSunday @ScotsmanDigital
• My Profile: say who you are and what you do.
• My Avatar: remember you are human!
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

3. @MyTwitterName
Choose something relevant to your profile.
• This is important! Be sensible with your Twitter name as changing it
later on down the line will lose you credibility and followers.
• My name is @Scotsman_Iain, why? My name is Iain and I work for The
Scotsman!
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

4. My Profile
Say who you are and what you do.
• It is important to have relevant info on your profile. Keep it simple. Say
who you are and what you do.
• @Scotsman_Iain
“Work East Lothian, Dumfries & Galloway and Scottish Borders for The
Scotsman & Scotland on Sunday newspapers. Will RT all things
Scottish!!”
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

5. My Avatar
Remember you are human!
• Your avatar should not be a cartoon or logo (unless general business
account). PEOLE WANT TO SEE YOU!!
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

6. How To Use Twitter
• What should I Tweet?
• Useful Jargon
• Twittiquette
• Who to Follow/Follow back
• Block and Report
• Lists
• Direct Messaging
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

7. What should I Tweet?
• Anything you want...
• Remember, Twitter is a “social” networking site!
• Share stories with your followers, show an interest in their interests
(even if it bores the hell out of you), become their friends.
• Today’s friend could be tomorrow’s client.
• Do remember to KEEP IT CLEAN! All Twitter accounts should maintain
the same corporate policy as any other correspondence. Whilst sharing
personal information is important, common sense must prevail.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

8. Tweets...
tweets
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

9. Useful Jargon
RE Tweet (RT)
Re-tweeting is a way to
massively increase the reach of
content.
You may have only a few
hundred followers but one of
your tweets could be re-
tweeted by 10 people all with a
few hundred followers each.
Suddenly thousands of people
are reading your Tweet.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

10. Useful Jargon
Trending #
(hash tag)
“Trending” is an important part of Twitter. You may have heard this term on TV and
Radio. If there is a topic that large numbers of people are talking about, the way to
ensure your opinions, comments are read by more than those that follow you is by
trending your Tweets. E.g. #LondonRiots.
You can start trends yourself to encourage your followers to share your Tweets with
others you may not have access to. This could be to generate attention to a future
supplement, feature or event etc.
E.g. I started #EastLothianGolfFeature and as a direct result made 2 sales into the
feature I otherwise would not have had.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

11. Useful Jargon
Follow Friday #FF
Friday is a worldwide Twitter day to give a
shout out to your favourite tweeps! Those
that you think others should follow.
Is a bit of fun but is without doubt very
important for increasing your following.
DO NOT FORGET #ff day, people get offended
when they give you a shout out and you don’t
acknowledge it or reciprocate.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

12. Twittiquette
• Be Polite. Answer Back if someone
tweets you (tweeps are real people).
• Don’t feel you have to follow people
back.
• Feel free to un-follow someone If they
direct messaged you a spam or a sales
pitch.
• Ignore Trolls (or as they say “Don’t Feed
the Trolls”)
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

13. Who to Follow/Follow back
• Use your judgement. Whilst you want
to increase your following you need
to remember what you are doing and
why you are on Twitter.
• You don’t need to know who can
make you a millionaire in 1 year or
who can give you tens of thousands of
new followers!!
• Social Media “Gods”, SEO “Gurus”,
Marketing “Experts” etc are of no use
to you.
• Still follow randoms though to
maintain your own numbers.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

14. Block and Report
• Spamming happens ALL the
time!
• If you get spammed, block and
report the account, simple.
Same goes with abusive or
unnecessary tweets.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

15. Direct Messaging
• DO NOT SPAM OR PITCH on direct
messaging!
• Focus on a soft sell, compliments
work well.
• Keep one on one business private.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

16. Lists
Lists are a great tool to cut out
the Tweets that don’t interest
you.
Rather than un-follow people
and risk cutting your own
followers, you can list those
who you wish to actually
follow.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

17. Twitter Tips
• Being human is OK!!
• Try to vary your tweets, one sales tweet to one reply or RT.
• Ideal ratio is 1 sales tweet in 6 Tweets.
• Keep tweets and tweets with links short if possible. Using the full 140 character
limit has much less chance of being RT’d (Re-Tweeted), If someone has RT’d your
tweet, it’s polite to thank them.
• Keep your follower/followee ratios inline, equal followers to followees is fine,
following many more people than following back is not! Not following enough
people back is also not recommended (People are less likely to follow you if they
think you might not follow them back.
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

18. Important Twitter Tools
Either of these apps will make your life so much easier. They both
display Twitter so you can clearly see what is going on in your Timeline,
your mentions and your direct messages.
www.tweetdeck.com www.hootsuite.com
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

19. Summary
Twitter is a commitment but not one to fear.
It is a Twitter misconception that you have to be “on” all the time. It’s
ok to reply later, it’s nothing but sales people/chit chat on Twitter. As
long as you are active a few times a week that is fine. Any longer than
that and you run the risk of people un-following you and alienating
yourself. To increase your profile on Twitter you must engage with your
community.
Liken Twitter to a singles club you have gone out to. If you sit at the bar
all night and speak only to the barman then the chances of you pulling
are virtually zero. You have to work the room and get yourself noticed,
only then will you get what you want out of it!
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012

20. Summary
From a direct sales perspective, Twitter is a perfect tool to engage with
the area you represent.
Build a community starting with your active clients and lapsed clients.
Follow those who they follow, Tweet about the successes of those who
advertise with you so to generate intrigue and curiosity with those that
don’t.
Build a rapport/relationship with potential new business by RT’ing their
stories and engaging them in general chit chat. This will build a trust and
credibility between you and them which will in turn increase the
chances of them becoming an active client.
Happy Tweeting :)
Iain Fenwick – Twitter Induction - 2012