Here’s something you may not know about the tax industry: it has a strong presence on Twitter. That means that it is quite possible that your competitors are not only on the platform but flourishing there. It also means that there are a lot of conversations you could be joining if you just started listening.
Here are some great ways you can use Twitter effectively.
Stay Informed
Twitter is a great place to get your news fast and stay up on the trending topics. The tax world is tweeting and they’re tweeting the latest headlines. The IRS tweets (from multiple accounts), Accounting Today tweets, and most of the major industry organizations are on Twitter chatting about all things tax.
If you want to get your tax news from multiple sources all in one place, be sure to follow the main players. A great way to do this is to add your favorite industry handles to a list that you can turn to when you want news. This list is also useful for generating content to distribute across social media channels.
Here are a few of our favorite Tax Tweeters:
@taxgirl
@accountingtoday
@JennyIRS
@taxfoundation
@AICPA_JofA
@NJCPA
@IRStaxpros
@SoCalTaxProf
If you don’t want to spend the time creating a list, just follow ours:
https://twitter.com/TaxSchool/lists/tax-accounting-resources
ALSO READ: Six Ways to Stay On Top of Tax Industry News
Keep an Eye on Your Competitors
A great way to keep an eye on the competition is to follow them on Twitter. Following your competition will help you keep tabs on what they’re sharing, the promotions they’re running and give you some insight into what you can be doing better.
If you want to be even sneakier you could add them to a private Twitter list to keep tabs on. You don’t have to follow someone to have them on a list. As long as the Twitter list is private, your competition won’t know that you’re watching.
Schedule Your Tweets
With tools like Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Buffer and SocialOomph, you don’t have to log-on and write tweets daily. You can write multiple tweets ahead of time and schedule them to tweet throughout the week. This saves time, helps you plan what you’re going to tweet, and allows you to tweet multiple times a day.
Listen for opportunities
One of the great things about Twitter is your ability to perform live searches. Go to Search.Twitter.com and enter in a keyword or hashtag to see what’s being said around that topic.
If you use a tool like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck, you can keep streams of different searches to check throughout the day. This will allow you to catch mentions of your company or conversations you might want to join. For example, #ACA (people tweeting about the Affordable Care Act).
Find customers in your area
Want to find, connect with and talk to your target audience? Search location hashtags or keywords to find others in your area, or use the “near you” search feature. You can also find people to follow by looking at who your followers follow or the followers of your competitors.
Interact with the media
A great way to stay on top of local news and start building relationships with journalists is to follow and interact with them on Twitter (there’s another great list opportunity).
Twitter is a great social media platform to use for both listening and growing your reach. Hey, don’t forget to follow us @TaxSchool – we’ve got lots of great tax resources to share!
More Great Reads:
How to Use LinkedIn As A Tax Preparer