For many businesses, the answer will be a simple: yes of course. However, for some people, particularly those who operate as sole traders, the answer might be a bit more complicated.

Is setting up a separate Twitter account really worth the effort when you’ve already got one? We think that in most cases, it’s a good idea to have a separate business profile. Here are some of our reasons:

Reasons to get a separate Twitter account:

You like Twitter

This is a good start because it will make marketing on it much easier. However, if you enjoy being on it, then turning your profile into a business account may cut out a bit of this enjoyment.

Having a personal account and a separate business one means that you can keep doing what you like on your personal one and not sacrifice any seriousness that you might want on your business one.

Keep focus

People who use their personal profile to post about their business run the risk of losing focus for their audience. If someone wants to follow your account for insights into your industry, you ideally want them to come across your profile and immediately know what you’re about.

This is much more difficult if you’re posting about loads of different things. People might not see enough business-related content to warrant a follow.

You may annoy your current audience

If you start posting about business all the time, you risk alienating people who followed you as a friend or because they were interested in the things you say about your personal life or hobbies.

While this might not be a loss if you’re looking to turn it into a business account anyway, it’s worth bearing in mind before you completely change your account focus.

Separate your personal and business lives

If you’re working from home then one of the struggles you’ll no doubt have is in keeping your personal and business lives separate. This important so that you can switch off after working and relax but is difficult if you work from home.

Therefore maintaining any separation between home and business life is going to be a plus. One way to do that is to have separate social media profiles so that you’re not as distracted when you do come to check one.

Different types of Twitter account:

So what angle do you want to go for? Do you want to be corporate or a bit friendlier? This will largely depend on what your audience is like, what tone and approach is more likely to resonate with them and encourage them to engage.

Strictly business

Some accounts are quite clearly business accounts, looking to advertise products or services and engage with customers. While these are popular, the risk with them is to be so salesy no one wants to engage. To strike a better balance, these accounts should try to post industry news, updates and other information that might help their followers.

Personal corporate accounts

These are professional accounts owned by a company but under the names of various staff members. Their bio will feature the company they work for and a job title so it’s clear to their audience who they’re representing.

This is a good way to blend corporate accounts with a personal touch. Just make sure that everyone managing each account is keeping it friendly and professional.

Personal played well

Just because a lot of business have their own separate Twitter account doesn’t mean you definitely have to do the same.

Some people have a unique way of blending both personal and business personas together. This might be the right option for you if you don’t use your personal account that much or if you’re posting the same type of stuff you would on a business one anyway.

These profiles can work particularly well for people who work solo or are in creative fields. It can be a difficult balance to get right so it’s important to set out your aims and primary focus for the account before you go down this route and get lost.

What do you think? Do you need a separate social media profile for your business? Let us know in the comments.