What To Know About Twitter For Professionals
Among all of the spaghetti Twitter has thrown at the wall lately, one feature our fellow social media marketers need to know about is Twitter for Professionals. You’ve likely been prompted to switch your profile over to a Professional account if you’re running some type of business, but you might not have spent some time figuring out what it does or why it matters. Here’s what you need to know:
What is it?
Twitter for Professionals grants you access to advanced features for doing business, whether you’re running a story or creating content. Among other things, you can set up dedicated space on your profile about yourself and your biz, pick topics for suggested Tweets and content, publish a newsletter (learn more about those here), and you can run certain types of ads. In the future you’ll be able to accept money through tips (and Twitter won’t take a cut), offer your very own shop, host free and ticketed online events, and more; it’s all a part of Twitter’s plans to encourage brands to use the platform for revenue and audience-building.
How do I get it?
It’s free to convert your account over, and you’re eligible if:
You haven’t violated Twitter’s User Agreement
You have a fully-completed profile, and
Your identity on your profile is clear (meaning you aren’t representing another person or a brand, and you’re not trying to deceive anyone about your identity)
Make the switch by clicking here, or look in the sidebar of your Twitter profile, or find it in your settings.
Do I really need it?
If you’re using Twitter for work, updating your profile to Professional could boost your credibility a bit with Twitter users. And some Twitter features like Quick Promote are only available with a Professional account. We have a sneaking suspicion that more features will only be available this way in the future, and there’s not too much of a downside to switching your account over just to check things out. And you can always switch back to a Personal account if you really want.
You can also add featured links and information, like your location and hours. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, that’s great! And this saves you space in your Twitter bio for other things.
However, things like suggested Topics… meh. We tried this out ourselves (give us a follow @thegoodlemon) and the suggestions were mostly bland, unrelated to us, and obviously sponsored. It might be a good idea to check it out if you’re aiming to engage with lots of accounts you don’t know already, but it would be better if this were more tailored and useful; LinkedIn is way better at this, we think!
How should I use it?
This is still pretty new, so our recommendation is to spend time getting to know the feature and observe how others might be using it, and take some notes. If you see that a lot of your professional peers have turned on Twitter newsletters or have customized their profiles by selecting a category for their business or themselves, you might want to do the same; there’s always a chance that your audience might come to expect it, and you’ll look like you’re falling behind if you’re the only one not taking part.
But if Twitter isn’t your main platform, consider this a chance to just experiment and learn. Many social platforms are putting out “professional” versions like this; Meta, in particular, has a horrifying, difficult-to-use platform called Meta for Business, for marketers to manage their Facebook and Instagram pages and messages, and a Professional mode for your personal profile too. It’s fully possible that things like analytics and advertising will be solely available through these types of tools and profiles, so stay on top of it!