Setting up a Twitter Account

Setting up a Twitter account for your company is relatively easy, but there are a few things to consider before you even get started. First, you should decide if you will use your name, the name of your company, or a brand name owned by your company as your Twitter account handle. Come up with several alternate names in case you can’t get your first choice.

Here are the rest of the steps for signing up to Twitter:

1. Enter your full name, your email address or phone number, date of birth and a password. Your Twitter account is tied to a single email address or number. If you want to have multiple Twitter accounts at some point, you will need to use a different email address for each account. You will have to verify either your email address by email or phone number by SMS in order to use all of Twitter’s features. You can skip adding a phone number if you’d prefer.
2. Next, pick your Twitter username or handle. Your Twitter name should be easy to spell, easy to remember, and above all, in line with the image you want to project professionally.
3. Twitter then prompts you to select topics of interest such as Arts & Culture, Technology & Science, and News.
4. You’ll be prompted to import your contacts from Gmail or Outlook, however, you can skip this if you’d rather not. Next, Twitter presents you with 20 accounts to follow based on the interests you picked and your location. You can accept them or search for other topics and accounts. You can unfollow these at any time.

   Keep in mind that the more people you follow, the more potential for information overload. If you don't have time to read a lot of tweets, be selective about whom you follow. Follow people and companies in keeping with your interests or industry or actual connections or people with whom you’d like to connect and network.

5. The last steps of setting up your Twitter account include adding a photo or graphic for your profile image, a larger one for your Twitter header, choosing a basic color scheme for your account page, and composing a bio up to 160 characters.

   For your profile image, pick something that is clear, such as your company logo or a photo of yourself if you’re the face of the company. Most people prefer to see actual people in profile photos. Cartoon characters and other artistic renderings are also popular. If you are tweeting as a company, people are used to seeing a company logo as a profile image.

   For your account bio, link to your company’s website or any other site in the designated field. Some companies create a Twitter landing page on their company site specifically for visitors from Twitter. A landing page gives you the opportunity to clearly articulate who you are and what you do as well as what actions you want visitors to take such as hire you or buy your products.

To get you started, Twitter gives you two sample tweets, but you should post messages that are reflective of your brand. Before you start tweeting, take time to “listen” first. Read what other people are posting to get a feel for what discussions and topics are popular and trending. You can also view Trending Topics on the left side of a Twitter page on the web or by clicking the magnifying glass icon on the app to access Explore. Tweeting about popular topics on Twitter can increase the visibility of your tweets.

Take your time to learn how to use Twitter properly to get the most out of the network in order to effectively market your business. Plan out some of your tweets to be strategic, but also log in regularly and tweet in the moment, interacting with others and responding to questions and tweets directed at you. Regardless of your tweet timing or style, take care to stay on brand.