A while ago, there was this exciting rumour flying around that Twitter was up for sale and Salesforce had its eyes set on the little blue bird. But then, the rumour was short lived, when the chief of Salesforce, Marc Benioff announced that they decided to opt out of the deal.
This news, maybe a bit old. But, looking back at how Salesforce has grown through 2016 and 2017 (think Trailhead, think Einstein, think Google), it makes you wonder whether acquiring Twitter could really have been the cherry on the top, or not!?
As a part of the ever-growing Salesforce community, it is still pretty intriguing to me as to what all would have changed, if there was a Twitter-force. Nevertheless, despite the no-go, Twitter still stays strong as one of the favourite social media platform for the 1 mn+ members of the Salesforce Community!
Taking that into account, here’s the first article of a series that I’d like to call “The Social Media Handbook For Trailblazers”. In this part, I’ll be sharing some great tips and tricks that can help you significantly built your personal brand on Twitter within the Salesforce Community.
For ease of understanding, I’ll put them down as a listicle with 15 Tips, that you can also use as a checklist in building your Twitter presence.
Without further ado, let’s jump on to it.
Create a Force-worthy Twitter Bio
Your Twitter bio is simply your resume in 160 characters. It helps you showcase who you are and what you do in the most concise way possible.
While the language you use in your Twitter Bio can be creative, playful and that which fits your personality. It’s always best if you keep your potential followers in mind who would prefer to quickly understand who/what you are.
Some of the best ways to do this would be to:
Tip #1: Creatively boast about yourself.
Include your awards (like being an MVP), your leadership capabilities (like the User Group you assist/lead), your passion and proficiencies (like blogging, apex coding) and your certifications in your Twitter bio.
Tip #2: Give yourself a Salesforcey pseudonym
Create a pseudonym that people can easily recall (for example, SalesforceBen, SteveMoForce, MichealForce, SalesforceAmy).
Tip #3: Showcase yourself as a brand.
Make sure you include a link on your Twitter Bio for your personal branding. This could be your personal blog, Trailhead profile, Success Community profile, LinkedIn profile, or even a published video of any of your sessions/keynotes.
Tip #4: Give a face to the name.
As a face for your bio, you could also add a custom Profile & Cover pic that showcases your Salesforce achievements (Say, your Trailhead badges, certifications, your personal brand, etc.)
Tweeting to the Community 101
There are two things that I love about the Salesforce Tweeps. They are amazing to discuss ideas with, and they love supporting and promoting each other.
As for you newly minted Trailblazers, if you haven’t already started engaging with the Salesforce Tweeps, then don’t just wait, engage!
The Salesforce Community on Twitter loves talking about the latest tech in the domain, CRM news, ideas, predictions, etc. They also can explicitly help you with your doubts and concerns, and in adverse situations, be a helping hand to you and your family. (They are called Salesforce Ohana after all)
So, keep all inhibitions aside, speak and express freely with your tweets, content, and even some wacky gifs and animations.
But wait a second, what are the types of tweets that will help you in engaging with the community?
Here are some examples…
Tip #5: Tweet out photos.
I’m sure you must be trigger-happy whenever you are at a Salesforce event. Post those photos on Twitter and make sure you tag the handle of each person in it.
Tip #6: Ask questions.
Have a question that could be answered by a seasoned Salesforce professional. Then just go ahead and ask.
Tip #7: Promote others.
As a part of the SFDC Community, you already know that #GivingBack is BIG thing for all of us. At times, you could also give back to the community who has helped you by freely promoting them on Twitter. This could include their achievements, publications and even a public acknowledgement of how awesome they are.
Tip #8: Get into conversations.
Is there an interesting conversation happening on your Twitter timeline? Hop on the bandwagon and contribute to it.
Tip #9: Don’t just like the tweet, Retweet.
Twitter is not like Facebook. Lifespan of Tweets are much less compared to Facebook and LinkedIn posts. So, if you really like a tweet from someone, help him/her spread the word by retweeting it.
Curating Tweetable Salesforce Content
The Salesforce tweeps love being up-to-date. With the huge buzz in creating Salesforce content, it’ll be quite easy for your to find a lot of it that is shareable.
As a Trailblazer, your first priority must be to find and curate such content. This not only helps you to be up-to-date, but also will help you brand yourself as a source of good content.
Here are some of the ways to find and curate good Salesforce content to tweet:
Tip #10: Follow Salesforce related hashtags religiously.
You can do this by merely searching relevant hashtags or using third-party tools like Tweetdeck that allows you to set up columns to track tweets based on search terms.
Here are some of the Salesforce hashtags that you should follow – #Salesforce, #Trailblazers, #AwesomeAdmin, #SalesforceDevs, #Trailhead, #ClicksNotCode, #Askforce, #SalesforceDX, #DF18, #SalesforceWorldTour
Tip #11: Automate your tweets before-hand
For obvious reasons, you won’t be able to live tweet 24/7. But that doesn’t mean, you can’t do it. With tools like Buffer and Hootsuite, you can curate and schedule your tweets before-hand at your preferred time.
These tools also allow you to pull feed from your favourite blogs, so that you can quickly find their content. Also, they have browser extensions through which you can schedule tweets right within your browsing screen.
Tip #12: Discover top-content based on keywords
Tools like BuzzSumo empowers you to find the top shared and trending content based on keywords. This will help you find quality, shareable content in a jiffy.
Follow and be Followed
Well, as hopeful as this may seem. Following some to get followed back may not work always. But, following is pretty useful to grab somebody’s attention on Twitter. As for Salesforce’s Twitterverse there are many who should be followed.
Below is a Google sheet that lists some of the best from the Salesforce Community that have already set high standards. They are the Salesforce Influencers from whom you can learn plenty from in building authority.
25 Salesforce Influencers to follow on Twitter, right away!.
Common Twitter Mistakes to Avoid
For starters, the following mistakes are common not just for you Trailblazers, but for everyone who aims at building a personal brand on Twitter. Although not comprehensive, I’ll highlight the ones that must be your mantra while on Twitter.
Tip #13: Avoid burst tweeting.
Many a time, you end up tweeting multiple posts in a single burst and then going quiet for days long. Being sporadic in the way you tweet tends to give the idea that you are not active on Twitter.
Tip #14: Avoid using too many hashtags.
We’ve all been turned off by that guy who uses too many hashtags. Well, it’s Twitter, not Instagram. Keep a check on the hashtags. The Salesforce hashtags mentioned in Tip #10 could help you out in such cases.
Tip #15: Be nice. Don’t spam.
Your intentions may be good. But, this should be a rule across all of your Twitter efforts. No matter how you slice and dice it, spam is spam. Avoid jumping in on irrelevant hashtags, relentlessly mentioning every other person in your feed to draw their attention to your post and marketing anything unhelpful. Be sure to keep your tweets relevant to Salesforce, helpful to your followers, and moreover spam-free.
Have any more tips to add? Let me know in the comments below or tweet out to me @i_mgokul. Happy Tweeting!
Author Bio:
Gokul is the Product Adoption Expert and Marketer at Whatfix. Working actively with the Salesforce Community in 3+ years. He loves writing for the SFDC community and actively participating in discussions on Twitter. You can find the articles he’s written here and reach him on @I_mgokul
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