How to keep your Twitter followers engaged and entertained #SocialMediaTips @SleepSavvyMag

BY JULIE A. PALM

At this point, you’re probably on Twitter. You might even be using it for your store. But do you ever wonder exactly what you should be tweeting to your followers? Are you worried about tweeting too much? Too little? Is your effort haphazard?

Make it easier on yourself and set up a Twitter calendar—you can find templates online: On Tuesdays, tweet a sleep tip; on Thursdays, tweet about a weekend sale. If you’re new to Twitter, a calendar can help you get in the habit of tweeting regularly and make you feel more comfortable. Even if you’ve been using Twitter for a while, a calendar helps ensure a consistent presence, which is important on all types of social media.

Here are some tweetable ideas for your store:

# Promote your next sale.

# Promote an upcoming store event.

# Share a sleep tip.

# Tout a new product.

# Tweet something interesting about retailing or the mattress industry. (Sleep Savvy’s Snooze section is full of great tweetable stuff.)

# Share a positive review from a customer.

# Retweet something interesting from an industry publication or association. (Sleep Savvy, its sister publication BedTimes, the International Sleep Products Association and ISPA’s Better Sleep Council all tweet. Follow them.)

# Highlight something exciting—personally or professionally—about your staff. (Your sales manager finished first in a marathon or maybe a happy customer sent your delivery team brownies.)

# Promote an upcoming community event.

# Retweet news from bedding brands you carry.

# Announce special offers.

# Tweet an inspirational or amusing quote.

Remember, mix it up. Your followers will lose interest if you tweet nothing but store promotions.

Basic rules of the Twitter road

@  Keep tweets to 140 characters. It doesn’t look cool when your tweets cut off midthought.

@  Include photos and videos. Twitter users interact (comment, retweet, etc.) twice as often with tweets that include images.

@  Download the app. Twitter is an up-to-the-minute medium. Installing it on your smartphone makes it easy to tweet at any time.

@  Use hashtags liberally. Clever, relevant and trending hashtags help people find and share your tweets.