One of the most common complaints of using social media to promote a business is time. Many businesses become overwhelmed with trying to use social media tools to advertise their products and services. One of the fastest paced networks is Twitter. If you aren’t active, your tweets are likely to get buried alive in the millions posted each day.

Using Twitter doesn’t mean devoting costly hours every day to your social media marketing strategy. Twitter is all about short messages. There is absolutely no reason to actually sit at a computer tweeting all day. You can still increase traffic to your site and awareness of your business in less than 30 minutes a day. It’s all about creating the right presence and managing time effectively.

Create A Professional Social Presence
The entire purpose of Twitter is to seem more approachable and not an ominous business. If you set up your presence, managing your account takes far less time later on. The first step is to use a profile picture of an actual person. Make the photo fun and friendly.

The next step is creating a bio that attracts instead of repels or bores. Your space is limited, but use a very brief business description of 10 words or less. Any remaining space should be used for a fun fact or enticing tidbit about your company. Place as many keywords as possible into your bio so other users can find you.

How you tweet also defines your social presence. Fun, light and appropriate are the keys to a good tweet. Something like “We sell men’s and women’s bikes” is dry and easily overlooked. Eliminate the amount you need to tweet with something more enticing, such as “It’s a great weekend for biking. Get out with friends. Need a bike? We’ve got you covered!”

Create better tweets and they’ll get retweeted, equaling less time on Twitter overall. Better tweets are more interesting and get read. This makes your marketing campaign much more efficient. When people retweet, your message reaches an entirely new audience.

Plan Your Audience
Take the time upfront to determine who you want to market to. Research popular hashtags (keywords beginning with #) in the niche you wish to reach. Place these at the end of each new tweet. Do this for each new marketing campaign. You will reach your target audience faster, equaling more traffic and followers while still saving time later on.