How to Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts From Your Desktop or Phone
If your social media strategy involves multiple Twitter accounts, you need a simple process for keeping your content organized.
Otherwise you run the risk of posting a message meant for your personal account on your business profile (oops!). Or getting so overwhelmed that you miss opportunities to engage with your customers.
Fortunately, we’ve got step-by-step instructions to make it easier for you to stay on top of all the Twitter accounts you manage.
In this post you’ll learn about:
- Managing multiple Twitter accounts on mobile and desktop
- Adding and removing Twitter accounts
- How to post to multiple Twitter accounts efficiently
Bonus: Download the free strategy guide that reveals how Hootsuite grew our Twitter following to over 8 million users and learn how you can put the tactics to work for your business.
Is there an app for managing multiple Twitter accounts?
Twitter allows you to toggle between up to five accounts. You can do this on a desktop browser or through their mobile app.
You can also use Hootsuite, our social media management platform, to manage multiple Twitter accounts (as well as accounts on more than 35 other social networks) in one dashboard. With this tool, you can view, schedule, and publish content from all your Twitter accounts in the same place, without having to toggle between accounts.
You can even find and edit images for your Tweets in Hootsuite.
To get started, sign up for a Hootsuite account. You can start with a free account, which allows you to manage three profiles, or select a paid plan that fits your needs.
How to switch between multiple accounts on Twitter
Twitter allows you to add and manage up to five accounts.
Step 1: Starting from your Twitter home screen, click the … More button in the right-hand menu, and then the + symbol in the top-right corner of the pop-up menu.
Step 2: Click Add an existing account. Log in to your other accounts, one at a time.
Step 3: To switch between accounts, click the …More button again. You’ll see the profile icons for your other accounts at the top. Click to switch to another account.
How to switch between multiple accounts with the Twitter mobile app
The process for adding multiple Twitter accounts to the app is very similar.
Step 1: Open the app and tap your profile icon in the top-left corner to open the menu.
Step 2: Tap the … icon in the top-right corner, then tap Add an existing account in the pop-up menu.
Step 3: Enter your login details. Once you are logged in, you’ll see your other account icons along the top of the menu.
How to remove one of your Twitter accounts
Now that you know how to add and switch between multiple accounts, the process of removing an account will seem familiar!
To remove a Twitter account on desktop, just toggle to the profile you want to remove and log out. You’ll remain logged into your other accounts.
You can also click the … icon to open up a list of your connected Twitter accounts, and then log out of all of them in one place.
To remove a Twitter account on mobile, tap the … button.
You’ll see a pop-up menu with a list of your connected accounts.
Tap Edit in the top-left corner, then remove your selected accounts.
How to add multiple Twitter accounts to Hootsuite
You can add multiple Twitter accounts as part of your Hootsuite set-up, or you can add them later.
During set up, click on the Twitter icon and sign in to each account you want to add.
Step 1: Click your profile icon in the top-right corner, then select Manage Social Networks.
Step 2: For accounts that only you will manage, click + Private Account. For shared business accounts, scroll down!
Step 3: A pop-up window will open and prompt you to sign into Twitter.
Step 4: Authorize Hootsuite to access your Twitter data by entering your username and password.
Step 5: Repeat the process with your other accounts. You may need to log out on Twitter in your browser after each addition.
Note: Twitter accounts can only be connected to one Hootsuite account. That means if you try to add a network that is “owned” by a colleague or another person, you’ll have to request permission to reclaim it.
How to manage multiple Twitter accounts on desktop (Mac and PC)
Now that you’ve added your accounts, you can organize your Hootsuite dashboard to keep track of all your content by setting up your streams and tabs.
Streams display content in columns, allowing you to monitor things like posts, retweets, mentions, followers, and hashtags.
Tabs organize your streams like individual folders, so you can separate streams by Twitter account or activity.
Step 1: Select the Twitter account you’d like to monitor in your first tab.
Step 2: Customize the content you’d like to see by Adding Streams. You’ll see a menu of options, like My Tweets, Scheduled, Mentions, and more.
Step 3: Add a new tab at the top by clicking the + symbol. Then add the account and Streams you want to monitor to that tab.
Step 4: Give your tabs descriptive names so you can keep track of what you’re monitoring in each one. For multiple Twitter accounts, you probably want to name one tab for each account. Double-click the tab to rename it.
Tip: Direct messages sent to your Twitter accounts will appear in the Inbox, which you can find in the left-hand menu of your Hootsuite dashboard. When you have a new or unread message, the Inbox icon will have a red dot. You can click the Filter button to view specific messages from one of your Twitter accounts.
How to manage multiple Twitter accounts from an iPhone or Android
The Hootsuite app syncs with the desktop version, so you can seamlessly monitor your Twitter activity and engage with your audience from anywhere.
Step 1: Install Hootsuite from the Google Play or App Store and open the mobile app.
Step 2: On the Streams screen, you’ll see your streams listed. Streams are ordered based on how your desktop dashboard is set up. To reorganize streams and tabs, tap Edit at the top, then add, delete or move your streams around.
Step 3: You can add a new stream by searching at the top of the page for an account, hashtag or keyword. This is useful if you’re live-tweeting at a conference or event.
Step 4: Tap Save to add it as a stream. Select the account, then select the tab.
Your new stream will appear with the others. New streams added on mobile will be synced to the Desktop version.
Step 5: You can also tap the Publisher icon to see your scheduled posts and drafts. Tap each message to see more details, edit the post, or delete it.
In the Composer, you can compose your tweets and select which account you’d like to post to. More on that below!
How to post on Twitter to multiple accounts
Composer is the primary method for publishing your tweets in Hootsuite.
Step 1: To start publishing, click New Post at the top of the screen.
Step 2: Select the account you want to tweet from in the Post To field. If you want to post the same tweet to multiple accounts, simply select them all.
Step 3: Add your text. To mention another account, start typing their handle. Hootsuite will auto populate existing Twitter accounts, so you can select the right handle when you see it.
If you add a link, you can choose to shorten the URL.
Tip: Shortening URLs also makes them trackable, so you can see in your Analytics how many people are clicking on your link.
Step 4: Add your media. You can upload files from your computer, or browse assets in the Media Library, which contains free images and GIFs.
Step 5: Double check the preview to make sure everything looks perfect. Hit Save Draft if you want to mull it over.
Step 6: You can Post Now or Schedule for Later to choose the time and date of posting. You can also turn on AutoSchedule, to let Hootsuite select the optimal time to publish.
Step 7: Return to Publisher to view your Drafts and Scheduled posts at a glance. Click Planner view at the top of the screen to see your content laid out in a calendar format. If you see a gap in your content calendar, just click on the empty space in the calendar to add a tweet to it.
You can filter content by Twitter account by clicking on the Networks listed on the sidebar.
You can also click the Content view at the top of the screen to see your drafts and scheduled posts laid out in a list format.
Tip: With some Hootsuite plans, you can use the Bulk Composer to upload a large batch of tweets (up to 350) to any of your Twitter accounts.
If you’re running a campaign or promotion, this can be an effective way to quickly prepare your content for posting.
How to manage multiple business Twitter accounts
If you’re managing professional accounts, Hootsuite has some features that can be especially useful.
Optimizing your streams to keep track of competitors, industry trends and popular hashtags ensures you’ll see the important conversations that impact your business.
The Analytics tab allows you to see at a glance how your accounts are performing, with key metrics on audience engagement and growth over time.
You can see the sentiment of your inbound messages at a glance in your Twitter Reports, or use the Hootsuite Insights tool for greater precision.
If you’re managing business accounts that are shared between multiple teammates, you may benefit from a Team, Business or Enterprise plans, depending on the number of teammates and the other features you want.
Shared accounts are added differently than Private Networks. Instead, you add them by clicking on the Share a Social Network button.
With these plans, you can set different permission levels for team members, and assign messages to different teammates to follow up on. The Hootsuite Inbox makes it easy to keep track of who is responding to each message.
Bonus: Download the free strategy guide that reveals how Hootsuite grew our Twitter following to over 8 million users and learn how you can put the tactics to work for your business.
Get the free guide right now!How to remove a Twitter account from Hootsuite
Step 1: To remove an account, click on your profile icon in the top-right corner, then click Manage Social Networks.
Step 2: Click the gear icon on the Twitter account you want to remove, then select Remove from Hootsuite.
5 tips for managing multiple Twitter accounts
1. Don’t repeat identical tweets
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Duplicating your tweets on a single account, or posting the exact same message on different accounts, saves time and effort—but it has a cost. It risks coming off as spammy or robotic, which can alienate your followers. Twitter doesn’t like it either, and may flag your account as a result.Instead, you can use core messaging and tweak it slightly with different wording, images, or hashtags.
Here are more tips for writing unique messages effectively.
2. Use social listening
Sure, posting is a big part of social media, but so is listening. Don’t get so caught up on sharing your own content that you miss out on important discussions that are relevant to your business. These give you the opportunity to respond to customer concerns, connect with new followers and build your reputation.
In Hootsuite, you can set up dedicated streams to monitor conversations about your business. For instance, you can have a stream for an industry-specific hashtag, or one for your biggest competitor.
Learn more about social listening and how it can help your Twitter strategy.
3. Include images and videos
Did you know tweets with images get up to 313% more engagement?
Adding photos, videos, GIFs, infographics, or illustrations help your tweets stand out and hold your audience’s attention. The Hootsuite Media Library provides hundreds of free images and GIFs that you can edit and add to your tweets.
4. Post at the right times
Timing is important when it comes to engagement. You want to post when your audience is active, and therefore more likely to see and share your content. That means no posting at 3:00am, unless you’re trying to reach vampires or new parents.
We’ve crunched the numbers on the best time to post on Twitter, depending on your business. You can manually schedule your tweets to hit that window, or use the Hootsuite Autoschedule feature to optimize post times for engagement.
But remember, each of your Twitter accounts will attract slightly different audiences, meaning that the best time to post might be different for each account.
5. Track your performance
With Hootsuite Analytics, you can monitor your performance and look for trends and patterns to refine your Twitter strategy. Is one of your Twitter accounts doing better than another? Use analytics to find out why.
Detailed reports can also help you demonstrate your impact, and explain to clients how social strategy helps their business. And measuring your impact will help you manage your time effectively on social. You might even find enough time to start another Twitter account! Have fun!
Manage all your Twitter accounts in one place, alongside your other social channels, using Hootsuite. Schedule posts in advance, engage your followers, and save time!
The post How to Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts From Your Desktop or Phone appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.