After learning about the basics of Twitter in Part One, you are now ready to learn how to create a Twitter account for your business and how to customise your profile.

How to create your business Twitter account

  1. To create a new account, visit twitter.com.

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  1. Click on ‘Sign Up’ and enter your:
  • Name: use the name of your business
  • Phone number or Email address
  • Date of birth (this isn’t public on your profile)

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  1. When you click “Next” Twitter will give you some options to customize your experience with personalized ads. This personalization can be convenient for seeing what other businesses in your industry are doing for their ads.

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  1. Click “Next” again, and Twitter will allow you to update your information if you need to. Then just click “Sign up” and Twitter will ask you to verify your phone or email.
  2. Verify your email address or phone number by entering the verification code you received and click “Next.”.
  3. Choose your password - at least 6 characters. Record this somewhere so you don’t forget it.

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  1. Upload a profile picture, typically your business logo, and write a short description of your shop (under 160 characters). This will mean that your business is easily identifiable to customers and Twitter users.

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  1. Next, add interests that will help generate your feed with relevant topics. Choose things that are relevant to your business that you can Retweet and share to build up your following.

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  1. Based on the interests that you’ve picked, Twitter will show you some top profiles that you can follow. Select a few that you feel will provide good content for your business account to share and follow. Alternatively, you can search for other users and follow them. It is always helpful to see what other people and businesses are tweeting about. Follow our Twitter pages for Bira and BAGMA to see our latest updates.
  2. Click “Allow notifications” to get notifications when someone follows your business, Retweets your content, direct messages you, and when relevant news is posted.

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Now you have officially signed up for Twitter!

Start displaying your @username on your website, your e-newsletter, shop flyers and e-mail signatures, newsletter, shop flyers and any other marketing materials to encourage people to connect with you on Twitter! 

Let us take you through the next steps to help you set up the rest of your Twitter account.

Customising Your Profile

Fill out your profile’s information

Go to your profile by clicking on your profile photo in the left menu bar. Then select “Edit profile” to update your information:

  • Name— Type in your name as you want it to appear. For example, if you signed up with your first and last name but you want to show your business name instead, you can do that here.
  • Cover photo – add a cover photo that represents best your business’ current activity. This can be an upcoming launch or campaign, or a new photoshoot that show your upcoming products. Update it each quarter to keep things fresh and interesting. Recommended dimensions are 1500x500 pixels.
  • Bio— Add or update the short description of your business. Tell people what you do, what value you bring, and why they should follow you.
  • Location— Add a city or region, even if your presence is purely online. You can add your HQ and/or founding city, or places you ship to. This helps you reach and connect with local followers.
  • Website— Add a link to your website. This is a really important step in order to direct potential customers to the right page on your website.

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You can also personalise your Twitter profile appearance

To do this click the More … button , positioned on the left-hand side of the page and then click the ‘Display’ button from the drop-down menu that appears.          

You can change your font size and the colour of your text when you type a tweet, as well as the background settings of your Twitter feed.

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Now that you’ve set up your Twitter account, keep one eye out for Part Three where you’ll learn top tips for engaging with your customers and industry contacts on Twitter or Subscribe to our Newsletter for the latest updates.

Follow us on our Twitter pages for Bira and BAGMA and don’t forget to tag us in your posts so we can re-share your content!

As a Bira/BAGMA member, you can benefit from Free digital training and 30-day free trial to benchmark your social media performance and help you increase your footfall and sales with our digital partner called Maybe*. For more information, visit our dedicated page for Maybe* 

 

Additional Guidance and Resources