Update: The screenshots and notes on this blog post have been updated as of February 2018.

Twitter can benefit your business with increased networking and marketing opportunities. This may sound like an ideal marketing strategy which requires little monetary investment, but you may be unsure as to how to get started.

Let's get started with the four steps to creating a Twitter for business:

Related: Using Twitter for Business in 2018

Preparing for Set Up

• Decide on a username. Ideally, your username will match your business name exactly. But if your name is taken, include your main service or location in the username. For example, we are on Twitter as @esultants, but if this wasn't available, our next choices would be, @EsultantsWebServices or @EsultantsMN. Your username is the name associated with your profile and your account on Twitter, so choose wisely and make it intuitive.
• Make a list of people to follow. Start with 15-30 people or businesses you would like to “follow,” including industry leaders, customers, inspiring people, or other companies that you want to stay up to date with.

Setting Up the Basics

Choose a password and username for the account. Look beside each field for messages. If a password doesn't comply to the 6-character minimum, or if the username is already taken, Twitter posts a note to the right. Suggested usernames appear at the bottom; clicking one of these available names automatically fills in the username field.

Twitter Business Account Login

1. Go to the Twitter home page, and enter your email and new password. Click Get started.
   
2. Enter your business name as you would like it to appear on your Twitter profile as your Full Name. Click Sign Up.
   
3. Twitter will ask you to enter your phone number. You can add this information and click Next, or click Skip. You can always add this later.
   
4. Enter your username and click Next.
   NOTE: You do have the option to wait and add a username later, but this is required for anyone to tag you, so it's best to do it now before you forget.
   
5. Twitter will redirect you to a welcome page, click Let's go!
   
   
6. Choose a few of your interests in order to receive suggestions for who to follow. Click Continue.
   
7. If you would like to import your email contacts, you can select from your Gmail or Outlook contact lists then click Import contacts. If you'd like to find your friends manually later on, click No thanks.
   
8. Select which suggested accounts you would like to follow. You can follow all the suggestions, none at all, or just a few. You can also search for accounts to follow here. Click Follow & continue.
   NOTE: Follow Esultants for daily social media tips and inspiration :)
   
9. Click Turn on Notifications to receive Twitter alerts even when you're not logged in, or click Not now to receive notifications only in the app.
   
10. Twitter will automatically launch a tour of their features. If you've never used Twitter before, use this as an intro to your tools in the app. When you finish the tour, you'll be redirected to your Twitter home.
    

Optimizing Your Twitter Profile for Business

Optimizing your Twitter profile is the best way to turn Twitter followers into website visitors. To navigate to your profile, click on the gray avatar in the upper right-hand corner, then click Profile from the drop-down menu. From here, click Edit Profile to begin modifying your account settings.

Some companies put links to their Twitter account on their website and include their username on printed literature like business cards. Therefore, it’s important to choose something on-brand and easy to remember. With new accounts, Twitter automatically generates a username from the name provided earlier. With more than 145 million active daily users, Twitter should be a part of your marketing strategy.It’s the fifth most popular social media network, and it’sis a gold mine of customer insights and opportunities to build your brand, drive sales and win fans. I need to deactivate the account of a deceased user. Twitter for business Resources and guides. By using Twitter’s services you agree to our Cookies Use.

Twitter Business Account Sign Up

• Header photo. We recommend using the feature photo on the home page of your website or another simple image. You can include text on the image if you'd like, but keep it to a minimum to avoid overwhelming visitors.
• Profile photo. Upload a high-resolution image of your logo to increase brand recognition across social media platforms.
• Account bio. Write a 160-character elevator speech describing your main business offerings.
• Location. Enter the location of your main office to reach a local audience.
  NOTE: If you are a national company, this doesn’t block people outside of your local area. It simply helps people place you!
• Website link. Copy and paste your homepage URL or the URL to a landing page you're advertising.
• Theme color. Choose a color that matches your branding.
• Your birthday. Enter the date your business was founded. Click the padlock icon to edit who can see this information.

Navigating Twitter

Home Tab

This is where you see the tweets from the people you follow. Reply, retweet, and like other people's content to start building a community!

You can also compose your own tweets here by typing into the What's happening? text box at the top of the page or by clicking Tweet in the upper right-hand corner. Follow Twitter best practices when you tweet.

Moments Tab

The Moments tab features the best stories trending on Twitter. Moments can be categorized by News, Sports, Entertainments, and Fun. If you see moments you'd like to explore, click it to view the entire collection of tweets.

Notification Tab

The notification timeline offers a simple way to see how others on Twitter are interacting with you. You'll be able to see which of your tweets have been liked, the latest retweets of your tweets, tweets directed with replies and mentions, and your new followers.

Message Tab

The Messages tab is the private messaging side of Twitter. You can use direct messages to have private conversations with other Twitter users about tweets and other topics. You can start a private conversation or create a group conversation with anyone who follows you.

Twitter Business Account Cost

Let's get tweeting!

Twitter can be very beneficial for your business’ growth and online presence, but only if you're active on the platform. The best way to gain followers is through regularly posting high-quality content and engaging with other users.

For more tips on how to use Twitter for business, read our blog post Using Twitter for Business in 2018. Or follow us on Twitter where we try to lead by example.

Twitter Business Account

Twitter Business Account Setup

If you would like help managing your Twitter account, check out our social media management programs and talk to us about ongoing and à la carte options.