Nimble Quotes

Inspirational Quotes on Twitter for Your Business

  • How it works
  • Features
  • Pricing
  • What people are saying
  • Get Started
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Sign In
  • Follow Us
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest

December 14, 2015 By Jennifer Kelly Leave a Comment

How Government Agencies can use Twitter

government agencies can use Twitter

 

To some, the idea that government agencies can use Twitter may seem absurd. Tweeting as a government agency, department, agency or official can be daunting when considering the rules and regulations that members are required to adhere to. However  when used strategically, Twitter can be a great way to interact with your public. It can humanize a department, pass across important corporate messages and build an informal yet professional relationship with the people you serve. This article will share some basic ideas of how to overcome some of the initial hurdles to using Twitter as a platform to interact with the general public your government department serves.

What should our department tweet about?

Government departments have plenty of material that can be turned into interesting content for followers to interact with. One of the pieces of advice business are given when they wonder what to tweet about is what questions do you answer to your customers all day? The very same advice can work for a government department. Your department or ministry must have a few dozen frequently asked questions – tweet that information. Of course, include the answers and a link to where your followers can find out more information. Other information can include:

  • News, updates and press releases

Tweeting about news, updates and press releases will ensure that your followers are the first to hear about important on goings in your department and never miss an update. This will give followers interested in your sector a reason to follow you particularly if you share timely information regarding the government department.

  • Exclusives

Exclusive insights are one of the main reasons that a person will follow a business Twitter account. Tweet coverage of official events via text, picture and video and include carefully structured quotes from the members involved when possible. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Periscoped his swearing in ceremony. This exclusive was quite a treat for many who would normally not have that type of access to such an important event.

Approved content for Tweeting

In our conversations with government departments, many tell us they need to get their tweets approved weeks in advance. Certainly this can feel like it defeats the purpose of sharing up-to-the-minute content on Twitter. However, many government agencies have timeless information that will be helpful for weeks, months or years to come.  We’d suggest that the approved tweets could would to your advantage. Once they are approved, you may be able to use them many times. Many companies tweet evergreen or timeless information that will not expire and is helpful no matter if their audience learns of it today or next quarter.

Personnel changes – who tweets now?

Having one person be the ‘face’ of your department, interacting with your followers on Twitter can be an excellent way to establish a human connection. However, what happens when that person gets transferred to another department? Rest assured, this is not just a government challenge. The private sector deals with this too. Community mangers leave, get promoted and change jobs all the time. One idea to work around this issue are – cross training. Have each employee ‘own’ the Twitter account for a week at a time. With proper training, this could be a way where each person in your department experiences the front line interaction with the public. It can be incredibly positive as each department employee may come up with ways to better serve the public since interacting with them. If this is too much of a stretch, appoint one person, and plan for a succession for when this person moves on.

Next steps

These three points just scratch the surface of what government departments have to consider when bringing Twitter and other social media platforms into their organization as a way of interacting with those they serve. Just because it feels a little complicated, doesn’t mean it is impossible. Contact Jennifer Kelly (jen @ newinitiativesmarketing.com – the parent company of Nimble Quotes)  for help on how to integrate Twitter into your government department.

 

NimbleQuotes.com offers users famous inspirational and motivational quotes automatically tweeted to their Twitter accounts.When used in addition to industry and promotional content, it can be a way to get more interactions and followers and connect with your audience. Try today for 30-days free at NimbleQuotes.com. 

 

Filed Under: Help, Inspirational Quotes on Twitter Tagged With: government agencies on Twitter, learn Twitter, Twitter in the government

October 23, 2015 By Jennifer Kelly Leave a Comment

Twitter 101: What is a Hashtag?

What is a hashtag

Twitter is a perfect venue for a small business entrepreneur to reach a wide audience. The best way to do that is by using hashtags. But what if you’re a newcomer to Twitter and don’t know what a hashtag is, much less how it works?

Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything:

Hashtag basics

A hashtag is a keyword marked with a “#” or “hash” sign, hence the name. Twitter keeps track of these hashtags/keywords and groups together tweets that use the same hashtag. Anyone who searches for a specific hashtag will see all tweets that use it.

So if I want people to see my marketing-related tweet, I should include the hashtag #Marketing.

How do I know what hashtag to use?

You have the freedom to create your very own hashtag,  but since you’re trying to market your business you should probably stick with hashtags that already have an audience.

Here are some great ways to find out which hashtags you should be using:

Find what others use. Look for other people on Twitter who are in the same field as you and read their tweets. Chances are they’re using hashtags, too.

tweet10

Find a relevant hashtag, then click on it to see other tweets that have used it, too.

tweet11

Scan through this list and see if the people on it are the right people you want to talk to (i.e. potential customers). If they are, then take note of the hashtag! You can use it later on when you start releasing your own content.

Search bar. Twitter has a search bar that helps you look for things. If you’ve got an idea for a hashtag and you’re not sure other people are using it, type it in here. You’ll be offered several other possible hashtag options. Scan through these and see if they’ve got a significant audience.

tweet12

Trending. Lastly, try looking at “Trending” hashtags. These are the most popular hashtags on Twitter at that very moment. Twitter posts a different list of trends per region (like Toronto), which is fantastic if you want to talk to your local audience.

tweet13

Just be aware that these trends might not be related to your business. That’s okay if you just want to tweet for fun, but be careful about which ones you use for work. Also watch out for hashtags full of competitors. You might be better off looking for another one, if that’s the case.

Still not sure about hashtags? Nimble Quotes comes with default hashtags at the end of each quote to get you into the conversation on Twitter. Sign up for the 30-day free trial today.

Filed Under: Help Tagged With: hashtag, hashtags on Twitter, learn Twitter, twitter 101

  • How it works
  • Features
  • Pricing
  • What people are saying
  • Get Started
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Sign In
  • Follow Us

Copyright © 2023 · New Initiatives Marketing, All Rights Reserved