MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Been told by numerous people to setup a twitter account for my new bike repair business so i have done! In the tiny amount of characters - htf do i put in my tweet plus @ and #? Am i missinga trick here?
How do i get publicity/people to retweet etc?
@ is when you're messaging someone else on Twitter (usually at the beginning of a tweet) ; # is when you're referring to something trendy, usually at the end of your tweet.
Retweets come from people who are following you (your "fwiends").
I think thats it. I hardly use it cos it's full of shite. I've noticed people just post multiple tweets if they want to say something longer than the allowed number of characters.
Be succinct, and interesting. Using relevant/trending hashtags might make other people see the content I guess. I think it's more about slowly (at first) building up followers though because then it can start to snowball.
Using relevant/trending hashtags might make other people see the content I guess.
Yeah, do people use them when they're searching? Not sure why cos you can search for the same thing without the hashtag and it still finds it.
Hmm looks like a lot of work 🙁 Facebook is more intuitive. what demographic are the main users of twitter??
Get yourself on Instagram instead 🙂
Instagram is already there
Instagram @bikerevive
Facebook and twitter @bikerevivesheffield
website to come www.bikerevivesheffield.co.uk
TBH marketing via S'media is graft, but they integrate fairly well.
I'd stick to the medium you find works best for you (FB is probably easiest) and post FB links to Twitter.
htf do i put in my tweet plus @ and #?
You don't need @ unless you're talking directly to someone. Like, people could write @yourbikeshop and it'd appear in your notifications (and also be publicly visible). Direct messages are private, but you can only do that if you're following each other.
Hashtags are best used when you're wading in to a public argument discussion and everyone's using the same tag. Eg, sporting events with an official hashtag.
How do i get publicity/people to retweet etc?
Be interesting. Follow your friends. Advertise your Twitter address through whatever means you'd normally advertise contact details - website, sign in your shop window, Facebook, business cards, whatever.
It is, depending on the business type & customer demographic though it could be the only advertising a business will ever need! So for some people definitely worth subbing this out to a "social media manager" or whatever they're called who can hit all the SM properly, every day, on your behalfHmm looks like a lot of work
One man band - so i am the SM manager, spanner monkey, receptionist, pay role, ordering, advertising etc 🙂
My sister does social media managing for businesses.
She's told me that optimum posting is 7-10 posts per week. I'd never get anything done!
I'm a sole trader and do everything myself but depending on how busy you get, it can be worth subbing it out.
I don't do Twitter. Never understood it. It's like another language and I find it annoying.
I do Instagram though and as far as I can see, it's actually quite similar in how you construct posts in terms of hashtags and @ signs. I like it the most as it's more visual than other platforms.
I try to tag others on my posts where I can as that can be good for growth. So if I was making a table for Singletrack, I'd say something like,
'Just working on this rad table for @singletrack. Hope they like it. #singletrack #mtb #mountainbiking #there'samagazine?
Something like that.
There are lots of hashtag generator apps/websites out there. Pick a key word and it'll generate hashtags for you, copy and paste into your post.
Facebook doesn't like hashtags though apparently so it's more an insta/Twitter thing.
Twitter seems like a pile of shite, but actually it can be useful if the company actively monitors the account. For example, I had a problem with my Dyson vacuum (yes, I know - the horror!!). I was going to pack it up and take it back to John Lewis, which would have been a ballache, and also have a delay. But I tweeted Dyson and they sent me a new part the same day. Result, which raises the possibility that I will buy Dyson in future, even if the boss is a dick.
... which is a good point in itself.
If you have (and advertise) a Twitter account, people will expect you to respond to queries rather than ignore them. If you plan to have an account for the occasional post and look at it once every three days then it might actually be detrimental. That being the case I'd have "please ring us for queries" or some such on your bio to manage expectations.
Sure you can set up auto replies which ask you to contact via another medium. FB often does that for various companies eg our local VET.
Seen it best described as an online version of toilet graffiti.
Been told by numerous people to setup a twitter account for my new bike repair business so i have done! In the tiny amount of characters – htf do i put in my tweet plus @ and #? Am i missinga trick here?
How do i get publicity/people to retweet etc?
Are any of those people running genuinely successful small local service businesses?
Another suggestion is to sign up to one of the growing number of neighbourhood forums such as Nextdoor which you can promote your services on and also receive recommendations from previous customers who respond to posts from other people wanting a recommendation for a bike repair service.
Also have you joined all the Facebook groups relating to cycling in your area? The cycling related Facebook groups here in Bristol are full of posts wanting recommendations for bike repairs or services.
I can put you in touch with a freelance social media / copywriter / journalist friend of mine if you want? She specialises in cycling and general "active/outdoors" stuff and she's only just over the hill from Sheffield.
She could at least get you set up, following the right accounts and a few introductory tweets, get the FB, IG and Twitter all linked.
PM me on here if you're interested.
Does putting a '.' in front of the @ still show your tweet to all the person's followers? So @thisperson will show on that individual's timeline but .@thisperson will post your message to the individual's timeline and all their followers timeline as well.
Follow some businesses first, then you can see what sort of output you like and what you don't. I don't follow much but sometimes it's good to see nice stuff that people have done like, I dunno, 'Look at this lovely vintage bike this old gent brought in' or 'fitted these lovely Lauf forks to this Shand' etc rather than 'SALE NOW ON!' etc.
I follow Salsa on Facebook for example, most of their posts are about their sponsored riders doing cool events in great scenery which a) shows their bikes off nicely and b) shows good scenery, riding and event reports. So they're associating interesting posts with their brand and it's a win for me (I get good content) as well as for them (exposure).
Hi Crazylegs i'll be in touch. @molgrips - look at the FB page - i try to post offers but also pics of work done on interesting bikes - like the vintage steel Raleigh road bike for example
@bikerevivesheffield on FB
Had a quick flick through your FB, that looks like exactly the sort of thing I'd expect to see on a Twitter feed. Builds a nice positive picture of your brand by linking in other local businesses, some nice for-sale items, etc. Maybe a couple of extra scenery/riding pics, I like those. Good work tho.
Scenery riding pics - i need to get out on a bike lol 🙂
Just post something like 'Here at bikerevive we love our local trails - share your riding pics and videos here!' I've shared a few pics (of my Salsa) with Salsa and they re-posted them a few weeks later when they were a bit low on content I guess.
Use something like (If it's still about) Tweetdeck to post to all social media the same thing at the same time. That way you don't have to type the same thing 3 times or post the same pic three times, but at least whoever's following you can see the same thing without having to have all platforms.
I would say post once a day, even if it's to show off a product you have.
Use the twitter account to follow no more than about 10 folk/companies relevant to the business, if you need to follow anyone at all. Use a personal account away from this account if you fancy taking a deep dive into the hate/racism/xenophobia on there........you know, Katie Hopkins.
was talking to my wife about tweetdeck last night - great plan!
Instagram is much more effective, people are too lazy to read Twitter. Pictures as the saying goes say a 1000 words
You don't need to post loads of stuff and certainly never ever get into a debate on Twitter - just have a standard copy/paste reply for anything that needs more in-depth interaction (complaints, detailed customer enquries etc).
4 or 5 posts a week is fine, just stuff to show a close up before/after pic of a repair and something like "look what @bikerevivesheffield were able to do for this customer" or a new tool you've got and how you can now service [whatever it is]
If I'm following you on Twitter I don't want dozens of posts a day covering every puncture youve fixed but I'd quite like an interesting / out of the ordinary repair or a particularly unusual bike. Couple that with a "look at this amazing retro bike that came to us today - now all fixed up and ready to ride!" #retro #mtb
A mate does carbon repairs and he posts similar stuff - snapped seatstay now repaired and so on. Also, never ever slag off a brand or component (but then I guess you knew that already!)
@crazy-legs
thanks so much for taking the time and effort to type that up. it is perfect - thank you again