How do you find things on Twitter related to your interests or your business? I am often asked this question by companies and individuals wanting to expand their network or to find like-minded people using Twitter. There are a few Twitter applications that provide this service and I will get into those in another post, but first we need to understand how those applications work.
Key Words
Some if not most of the Twitter applications use key words and key phrases as their search function model. If I want to find someone on Twitter who likes to talk about food and wine, I use those two words as key word search terms in the applications. If those search terms are cross-referenced in the person’s or company’s Twitter bio – whether it’s as a wine connoisseur or a wine lover; a food nut or a food critic – using those key words of food and wine in my search means I will find you.
As a cause or a nonprofit organization, you want to be found by people looking for a group with your goals or mission. So your Twitter bio needs to reflect your particular genre or category. If you provide clean drinking water as a cause, make sure your Twitter bio reflects that. If I did a search right now for clean water (or food banks or HIV/AIDS or…) in any of the applications would your company appear in the appropriate results? Many people know my mantra that we live in a Google world, and that we cannot do anything without first consulting and searching Google. The same applies to those wanting to find people on Twitter. How can I find you? What keyword describes what you do? Is that keyword located in your Twitter bio?
If you are asking yourself right now, “What is Twitter?” You can Google it. Leave us a message, we can help.
[...] Key words and phrases are the first things to listen for. In addition, you want to listen for common sense items such as your name, your product name, and key figures in your organization. Listen to the people talking about you, hear what they say, and act on the sentiment of these statements. My advice to non-profits is to be in the forest to hear the tree fall. [...]