X for business

If you've decided that running an X account will benefit your business, set up a profile that communicates your brand. Plan regular, relevant content and interact with your audience.

Choosing your name and customising your profile

Your X handle is your how your business will be identified and you should choose your business name if it is available. Once you've selected your handle, eg @nibusinessinfo, you should customise your profile. This will involve adding your introductory bio, which briefly explains your business.

A bio has a character limit, so it should be to the point. For example, the nibusinessinfo.co.uk X page has the following bio: 'Official online channel for business support, information and advice.'

Complete your profile by adding your company location and web address. You should add a profile picture. This could be your company logo or an individual if it is for a member of staff. Finally you can choose a cover image. You might want to use something that strengthens your brand or represents what your business does.

Get started

When starting out on X you may want to follow like-minded people or organisations. These could be:

• competitors
• suppliers
• other local businesses
• industry experts
• influencers
• customers 

You can also raise awareness of your X channel by including your handle on your website, business literature and email signature.

Posting content

A post on X may consist of up 280 characters of text, an image, GIF, video, poll or link. You may choose to post a few times a week or up to several times a day. It may be useful to create a content plan to help you decide when and what to post. See content marketing. 

Remember to focus on content that your audience will find useful, relevant and engaging. A smaller portion of your posts can be sales-focused with a call to action. It may be worth paying for extra promotion on your sales focused posts.

X's media studio tool [registration required] can help you easily share media content like images and videos.

X interactions

An interaction is when someone engages with your X channel - interactions include:

Follow - someone who follows you on X. Your posts will appear on their timeline.

Repost - when another X user shares one of your posts with their followers. This does not necessarily mean that they are endorsing your content, but it does suggest that you have posted something that is of interest to them and their followers.

Mention - when someone else includes your X name in a post that they send. Mentions could occur if someone is referring to you or asking you a question.

Like - when someone likes your post. This can be an acknowledgment or support of your message. It can be used as a response from a person or organisation that you have mentioned in a post. It is a positive interaction and should be measured in this way.  

There are no set rules for who should be using X, or indeed how to use X. Some digital marketing experts refer to X etiquette but it's about finding out what works for your business. The basic communication elements remain - be polite, be courteous, deliver clear and concise messages, and respond to questions people ask you.

Hashtags

By placing the # symbol at the start of a keyword or phrase you can search for posts relating to it. For example if you are looking for information on starting a business you could search the hashtag #startup.

When you are logged into your X profile you will see the top trending hashtags in real time. These can often be specific to a breaking news story, a celebrity or popular television programme.

Use hashtags in your posts to help them be seen by people interested in a particular topic. You can also start your own hashtags for events and campaigns.

X polls

You can use polls to ask questions to your X audience. Polls allow you to add four answer options. Your poll's duration defaults to 1 day, but you can change this. The minimum amount of time for a poll is 5 minutes, and the maximum is 7 days. How each individual votes in the poll is not shared publicly. 

Using X polls you can increase engagement by letting customers interact and engage with your brand. You can also use the data collected as useful market research.

X Premium

X Premium is a subscription service that anyone can opt-in to. It adds a blue checkmark to your account and offers early access to select features like edit post.