How to Respond to People on Twitter: A Simple Guide for Businesses [Infographic]

Thanks to Twitter, businesses are closer to consumers than ever before. Tweets haven't replaced phone calls and handwritten letters, but they've become a popular way for consumers to vocalize their questions, praise, or complaints -- all in plain view of anyone who can find the conversation online.

But customers don't just expect you to read their tweets about you -- they also expect you to reply. According to charts published on Search Engine Watch, 70% of surveyed Twitter users expect a response from brands they reach out to on Twitter. Of those users, 53% want that response in under an hour. 

It's important to have a solid strategy for responding to tweets so you can keep your customers happy and drive engagement on Twitter. Should you include a link in your response? How much punctuation (?, !) should you use? Are emoticons off the table?

To help inform your Twitter response strategy, LeadSift gathered data on answers to these questions and more, and culminated them into the visual below. Consider this data in the context of your own brand voice and what you know about your buyers' behavior to develop an action plan when responses come rolling in. And hurry -- your customers are waiting.