Frequently Asked Questions - Social Media

Sometimes it's necessary to provide a link to a specific tweet, like: https://twitter.com/#!/StadiaStudio/status/144434246038196225. The most common scenario is when you would like someone else to retweet your tweet, so you want to send them to that specific Twitter post.

1. Log into your Twitter account.
2. Locate the Tweet you want to share, either in your timeline or in your list of previous teets.
3. Look for the timestamp (i.e. 1 hour ago) and click it.
4. Your tweet will open in a new window with a unique URL that you can copy and paste as needed.

Now you can direct people to any specific tweet that you want.

If you read a tweet in someone else's Twitter stream and like what that person says, you can retweet it (abbreviated as RT) and share it on your own Twitter stream. To do so, simply add RT and the original poster's Twitter username within your tweet (for example, "RT @susangunelius" would indicate you're retweeting, or republishing, something that I already published on my Twitter stream).

The retweet tag is an unofficial way to provide attribution to the original publisher.

Google has stated that they will soon release a Business feature for their new social network. Expectations are that it will be a brand initiative like Facebook Pages. Businesses should hold off on creating a Google+ account until this new feature is released. However, individuals are strongly encouraged to open their own accounts so that they can begin to become familiar with the new platform.

ReTweeting is a great way to share great posts and articles that you think your followers might be interested in. They will typically start with RT as well as the name of the original poster, like, RT @stadiastudio.

Like your regular posts, you'll want to avoid spamming and not overwhelm your followers with retweets. We recommend a nice mix of original comments, links to articles, and retweets.

Every business is different, so your target audience, and their networks, may vary. That said, it seems like most blog posts should have Facebook, Twitter and Google+ links as of today.

You can use buttons, but widgets that allow your visitor to Like, Tweet or +1 with a single click are generally preferred.

If you're using a Drupal CMS that we implemented for you, ask us to upgrade your Service Links module to take advantage of the latest widgets and links.

There are a variety of tools available, but the one that we've found the most success with so far is HootSuite (http://hootsuite.com). It's free to use unless you need to connect more than 5 social networks, or need to allow multiple users access to be able to post to your accounts.

With HootSuite, you can set up a dashboard through their website that's accessible then from any web browser. There are also iPhone and iPad apps. Once you have an account and have connected your networks, you can monitor activity on your networks in "streams." You can compose new posts and select one or more networks to post the entry to. The best part though, is that you can schedule one or more posts for the future. You can even upload a spreadsheet of messages to be scheduled in advance, leaving you free to go about your business while HootSuite makes sure your social media networks are consistently updated with comments and posts.

If you have a Facebook Page for your small business (and if you don't, please read "Why Do I Need Facebook?"), here are some ideas on content you can post:

1. Company news and announcements
2. New services
3. Pictures of work / clients
4. Pictures of the business / staff
5. Helpful Tips
6. Answer questions
7. Ask questions
8. Links to articles of interest to your fans
9. Links to your blog/article posts
10. Compliments to your clients/fans or partners

You definitely do not have to follow everyone that follows you. However, you should try to follow most of your followers as way to engage with them. Follow them and send them a direct message thanking them for following you. If it turns out that they send out spam or junk tweets, simply unfollow at your convenience.

The answer, of course, is that it depends. Here are some considerations:

• Post Twitter updates regularly enough so that your followers see that you're active and engaging.
• Do not post so often that you might be considered spam.
• You can tweet the same post if you want to, but avoid doing it over and over again in rapid succession. It's better to space it out and also rephrase if you can.
• Try not to be sporadic in your posts. Be consistent in the number of tweets and space them out throughout the day.
• Definitely do not "shotgun" tweets and post a bunch of posts all at once.
• It can help to use a tool like HootSuite to create posts in advance and schedule them to be sent throughout the day/week. You can import posts via spreadsheet and use that to ensure that you're posting regularly and staying on topic.

The hashtag is a tool to link your statement to other similar tweets. As a business, it's a good idea to use hashtags to link new tweets with old tweets on the same topic, like #SocialMedia. Hashtag words are automatically linked as a keyword search in Twitter.

If you already used the phrase in your tweet, it's generally considered bad form to repeat the phrase with a hashtag. You could, however, add a hashtag in front of the phrase within your tweet. Hashtags do not have to always appear at the end.

If you have something to say on a trending topic, be sure to include the hashtag. However, avoid commenting simply because it's a trending topic.

Finally, don't hesitate to include hashtags on some of your other social platforms since savvy users may paste the tag into Twitter and look up your old tweets. #TwiiterTip

One of the interesting businesses that has evolved around Facebook and Twitter is the ability to actually pay for Friends and Followers and Likes. There are aspects to this concept that every business owner should be aware of.

First, be aware that many accounts used in such campaigns are not real. It is easy to create fake Facebook and Twitter accounts and even automatically post random messages to give them the appearance that they're real and active. They aren't, and so their following you provides no benefit whatsoever.

Second, it is not uncommon for these acounts to Like or Follow you, only to unlike or unfollow you some time later.

Third, the entire point of social media is supposed to be interaction and engagement with your friends and followers. If you're paying for Followers, you aren't going to achieve any level of interaction with them. The simple number of followers that you have does not matter to anyone but you.

However, from a marketing standpoint, there is a certain benefit to instantly adding hundreds, perhaps thousands, of potential customers who might hear your social messages. If you purchase Followers with all of the above in mind, and understand that you will gradually lose many that you purchased, and that many aren't real to begin with, then it may still make sense in some instances. It's possible that some of these followers may gain interest in your message or share your messages with their own followers and start to interact with you.

For businesses interested in exploring this avenue, we recommend starting with Twiends, a service that you can use for free. With Twiends, you simply follow others and earn credits (seeds) that are used when other users follow you. Click here for more information. Feel free to reach out to us for additional help or advice.