10 Tips for Using Twitter Effectively
While not the trendiest of the social media platforms, there are still some good advantages to using Twitter to increase your business exposure. It takes work to be seen and can take some time, but following these 10 simple tips will help make it worth your while.
1. Utilize lists
One of the nice features of Twitter is being able to make lists. These lists can be private or public. If private, then only you can see who you have added to that list. Use this list to follow influencers, sponsors, competitors, etc. Name them for each of the type of list they are, and then click on these lists to see what they are posting.
Public lists are nice when you are trying to show followers other accounts they could follow. We find it very useful to have a public list of all the sponsors and supporters when we are doing managing a Twitter account for an event.
2. Pin important tweets
When you have something key to be shown to your audience, pin it to the top of your feed. This will be the first thing they see when they click through to your twitter feed and will stay there until you unpin it. It works well for things like highlighting an upcoming event or sale, an important notice, or a post you really like.
And it is really easy. See below for where you will find it on your feed.
Now don’t leave it their forever! There is a shelf life so make sure your pinned post is current and unpin it once the message is no longer current.
3. Use one to two hashtags per post
Hashtags started with Twitter and are still an important part of this platform. The trick is finding the happy number within a tweet. Even Twitter suggests to use only one to two hashtags in your posts. You can use your hashtag within a sentence (eg. This is a great #blog about #twitter) or you can write our tweet and put the hashtags at the end (eg. Are you participating in this year’s Victoria Marathon? #runVictoria).
Always make sure your hashtag makes sense for your topic and what you are promoting.
4. Always use a visual, whether an image or a social media preview
The Twitter feed moves quickly. With hundreds of millions of tweets per day being posted, it is best to have a visual with your tweet. A visual, if an effective picture, will stop people while they are scrolling and will hopefully then read your tweet. Getting engagement is key, so in a busy feed, make sure you are giving your tweet the best opportunity to be seen.
5. Mix up the length of your tweets
Twitter started off with a maximum character length for each tweet being 140. But late last year, Twitter moved that to 280 characters. And while this works well for a number of posts, it is still a good idea to mix up your content length and continue to keep some of your tweets under 140. This allows for the full tweet to be seen (rather than having to click on more) and also allows for easy retweeting.
6. Keep following other accounts
When you start up your Twitter account, you follow a whole bunch of people and organizations, but then many people stop there. It is still important to keep following other individuals and businesses to keep your account active and being seen by a new audience.
So take the time to see who is following you and whether you want to be following them back. Or find an influencer or business that you like to follow, and check out who they follow. This is a great way to connect with like-minded businesses.
7. Use quote retweets
It is really easy to just hit retweet and figure you are done for the day. But don’t always hit retweet. Try using “quote retweet” and take the time to write a message that takes some thought and allows followers to see some of your personality too.
8. Make sure your header, profile and bio are up to date
It is amazing how many times we see header images, profile images and bios that are not up to date. Even if you are not on Twitter regularly, at least make sure your profile is up to date. Are you an event that ended in March but you still are talking about the “upcoming event in March”, then you need to switch it out immediately after the event.
9. Post more frequently on Twitter
Unlike Instagram and Facebook, on Twitter you can post more frequently. This is a great way to be able to post a few more times in a day, with the most recent stats saying that the ultimate number being 2-5 tweets per day (after that, engagement goes down), with the best number being three times per day. This has come down quite significantly over the last few years and you will still say many tweeting much more frequently than that.
You can experiment easily with this, so try different numbers and see how your engagement fluctuates.
10. Check your Insights and Adjust your Content
Your insights are really important to pay attention to for a variety of reasons. But mainly, making sure the posts you are putting out on your platform are connecting with your clients/potential clients is key. That is the reason you are doing social media. Review your insights regularly and adjust your content. Did one post get great engagement? Then do more like that post. Are you posting content that is aimed at 65 year old men but yet your insights show your average client is a 30 year old female? You may need to change up your content to connect better with your followers. It is simple to check out your insights, so take time at least twice a month to see how you are doing.
While Twitter is not as popular as it once was, it is still a platform worth looking at for your business. Check and see if your competitors and supporters are on Twitter, and if they are, then get your account set up and start tweeting!
This week’s blog was written by our CEO Tami Tate. A small business owner since 1998, she loves working with entrepreneurs, events and businesses of all sizes on their marketing.
Want monthly tips and marketing ideas? Subscribe to our 365 eNewsletter!