Written By: Debbie Hemley

Twitter is a powerful social networking platform and one that has become a go-to choice for businesses of all sizes and industries.

In recent months, Burger King and Jeep’s Twitter accounts were hacked and became the subject of many articles and conversations, online and off. In Jeep’s case, “Hackers replaced the brand’s thumbnail image with a Cadillac emblem, background images were replaced by a photo of men in a car branded with McDonald’s logos, and nonsensical posts began to flow into the account’s news feed.”

As Tanzina Vega and Nicole Perloth write, “The attacks raised questions about how easy it is for accounts to be compromised on Twitter and what brands can do to prevent future attacks.”

Twitter Safety Measures

Joel Gratcyk offers four points regarding how to safeguard your Twitter account:

1. Make a strong password

2. Only authorize trusted apps

3. Don't leave your device logged in and unattended

4. Don't use open Wi-fi without protection

Twitter Password Guidelines As Joel says, there are no guarantees on security but the password hints below from StrongPasswordGenerator.com should help keep you safe.

They suggest the following guidelines for creating strong passwords:

• at least 15 characters

• has lowercase letters

• has numbers

• has symbols

• is not like your previous passwords

• is not your name

• is not your login

• is not your friend's name

• is not a dictionary word

• is not a common name

• is not a keyword pattern (such as qwerty, asdfghjkl, or 12345678)

Twitter: Onwards and Upwards

It’s not always easy for a business to rebound after hacking episodes such as the ones experienced by Jeep and Burger King, nor is it easy for the public to forget. (I should add that both have done a terrific job.) And, for businesses who might have been on the fence about creating a presence on Twitter, they may feel especially wary now.  But, Twitter’s positives are too great to dismiss—namely, cost-effective, far-reaching ways to engage in two-way conversations with prospects, customers, and others in the auto industry. By practicing the kind of safety suggestions discussed above, you should be able to focus your attention on the ways Twitter can help serve your business.

Ways to Use Twitter Let’s take a look at some effective Twitter messaging tactics along with examples of tweets:

1. Share company news

2. Announce new product features

3. Provide customer support

4. Offer your perspective

5. Promote special offers

6. Share links to articles you recommend

7. Post jobs

8. Integrate with Facebook and collect customer photos with a call to action

9. Share a product video

10. Congratulate customer on new purchase

11. And, last but not least, mix-up the type of content you post

How are you using Twitter? What type of messages work best for your auto dealership? Let us know in the comments below.

Now that you're thinking about your social media execution, how are you doing responding to your Internet leads? If you'd like to improve your Internet close ratio to 20% or more, consider attending our upcoming Internet lead management training in Dallas next month, presented by Automotive Internet Management. Click the link below or call 866.756.2620 to learn more!