If you’re new to Twitter or just a beginner, you may find all of the symbols used in Tweets to be a foreign language to you. It can look very intimidating and confusing. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you what all of these symbols mean and how you can use these for rental marketing.
You’ll be Tweeting like a pro in no time.
@replies
When you use an ‘@’ symbol in your Tweet, you’re mentioning someone within your message. Use the ‘@’ symbol followed by the person’s username (Ex. @RentJuice).
Your Tweet will be shared with that user by being added to their timeline (the series of sequential Tweets you see on your homepage). Using @username in a Tweet will show up in your timeline for your followers to see and will also appear on the mentioned user’s personal timeline.
Use the @username when you want to communicate with a specific person with information that you wouldn’t mind being shared with everyone else. For example, “@cathysmith Thanks for stopping by at our open house! We’ll have another one next week.”
DM (Direct Message)
Similar to Facebook’s messaging feature, direct messages are private messages between users. Your message will be sent from you to the other user, and won’t be viewed publicly. You can find this function when you click the person-silhouette on the user’s profile.
Use direct messages when you want to send private information to a potential renter. For example, if you want to send your personal contact information like your phone number, e-mail address or the address of your property listing. Send private information to prospective renters through direct messages. However, don’t send confidential information this way.
# (Hashtags)
Hashtags are a way for Tweets to be organized. Think of it as a label to a manila folder. If your folder says, “Renters Wanting to Move,” everything in that folder will be related to that topic. Hashtags work in a similar function.
When people post a “#” followed by a topic (which has no spaces), you can read all the topics written about it. For example, when people are at a conference, the organizers at the event will tell you to use a specific hashtag for any questions (InmanNews uses #AgentReboot for their one-day conference). To read all the Tweets about a specific hashtag, type it into the search up on the top of your Twitter screen.
There are hashtags out there that involve moving. For example, search hashtags like #needtomove or #wanttomove to find people who are itching to leave their current living situation. Use advanced Twitter search techniques to learn how to further filter these Tweets and get localized search results.
