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It’s clear I was not alone when I first registered with Twitter then promptly scarpered!… As a recent poll shows, 36%* of people who join Twitter don’t ever use it! This compares with a measly 7%* of Facebook registrants who adopt the ‘"run away’" strategy....but perhaps these figures shouldn’t be surprising…?

With it’s own jargon, hashtags and 140-character limit, Twitter feels an alien place for the uninitiated and I, for one, found it all rather intimidating at first. In fact, fear and confusion prevailed several times after the first log-in, but I persevered in the belief that it would be worth the effort one day and this is why:

With 232M active monthly users and 200 billion tweets per year it’s clear you’re missing out on lots of opportunities to connect with others and grow your business should you choose to side-step this significant social media platform.

For veterinary and other animal-related businesses it specifically matters due to the high number of engaged animal owners on Twitter and the pets who have their very own profile…. It’s not too much of a leap of the imagination to believe that behind every dog and cat on Twitter is a passionate owner, is it?

So it’s unlikely you’'ll regret taking a deep breath, fastening your seat belt and getting onboard Twitter. Following these 4 simple steps will help you master this online platform - I promise it’'ll be worth it:

Step 1: Set up your Twitter account, add a profile picture and avatar and some basic information about your practice. Then set up your phone so that it links to your Twitter account - install the Twitter app.

Step 2: Don’t panic! Instead, breathe deeply and find some people to follow - the posts of the people/organisations you follow will appear on your news feed (home page) so you can keep-up-to-date with them and their activities.

The quickest way to get started is to locate someone/organisation you’re interested then look at the people they are following. Remember that the more people you follow, the more they are likely to follow you in return so this is a good way of building your own fan base. You’'ll find me by typing @vetpolcommunity or @vetmart4pets in the search box.

Step 3: Spend time familiarising yourself with basic 'Twitter-speak' by reading through numerous posts. Here are some key bits of jargon to get your started:
  • Hashtags are used to categorise information to make it is easy to find, e.g., if you search for #veterinary on Twitter, you’ll find all recent posts which have included #veterinary in the text.
Hashtags are potentially valuable for businesses because they can expose you to a larger audience and help you get found; not just on Twitter but also on Google, where a # search can help you be found by someone interested in the content you are writing about. To find out more about hashtags, CLICK HERE.
  • RT means re-tweet. In hitting the re-tweet button, you are sharing that post with your followers in exactly the same way you might share a post on Facebook (see step 4).
  • #ff means “follow Friday”, a quirky cultural nuance associated only with Twitter: On Friday’s you’'ll find members recommending other members they feel are worth following to their followers. Eg, '“#ff @vetpolcommunity @vetmart4pets”' would be a suggestion to follow me!!
Step 4: Get involved! The ways of doing this are simple and ‘getting involved’ is by far and the best way to really get to grips with Twitter and to understand what it can do for you and your practice:
  • Construct a post of your own, remembering the 140-character rule, …so be creative! Adding eye-catching photo’s and including links can increase interest in your post and make it stand out from the crowd.
  • Re-tweet someone else’s post. You do this by clicking the RT button at the bottom of every post.
  • Engage in a conversation by clicking the reply button on someone else’s post.
So that’'s it really! Follow these 4 simple steps and before you know it you’'ll have learned a lot, connected with many and increased the reach of your business. Voila!

Twitter is an amazing site and it’'s different; whilst your practice Facebook page will probably remain the most important social media platform for your veterinary business, you can increase your online presence significantly by spending some time on Twitter too. #goodluck #itseasierthanyouthink

Post-script: If you’re interested in learning more about increasing your online reach and other veterinary business related topics, speak to your local St Francis Group Territory Manager about The Business Academy. Their seminar series covering marketing, people and finance are very well-received; I’'ve just recorded a series of webcasts to support their seminars, covering everything from using Twitter to promoting services and selling products online.


*Source: Reuters-Ipsos