Sometimes we want advice for the right now of life. We want stuff we can do today and immediately see results from, not have to wait three weeks to see if it’s taking effect. With that in mind, below are ten things you can do on Twitter today to make a difference and help grow your audience and following. Its bite-sized action chunks for your Wednesday.
Got a spoon?
1. Schedule your tweeting: For most of us, checking Twitter is part of our routine. We do it first thing in the morning, after lunch and maybe again for a few minutes in the afternoon. And this is why scheduling your tweets when you know your audience is there and waiting is such a good idea. “Scheduling” your tweets may simply mean picking which times of the day you’ll be around for conversation and making an appointment with yourself or it may mean using a tool like HootSuite to help you automatically tweet instead of doing it manually. Either way, what’s important is that you’re engaging with your fans when they’re waiting to be engaged with.
2. Find some cool followers: Why not make some new friends today? Use a tool like FollowerWonk, take ten minutes, and find five new people to follow. These can be people who are in your area, share a common passion, or who you see tweeting about your competitors. Follow them and say hello. Say nothing about what you do or the products you sell and just start a conversation like a regular person. Sounds crazy, right? It’s really not. That’s how relationships form.
3. Know your audience: It’s important to know who your target audience is on Twitter so you can be sure to share information/content that they’re interested in. If your audience is known for being an expert on a particular subject, then you don’t want to tweet beginner tutorials or too many How Tos at them. Or, conversely, if they’re just learning how to speak a new language, you don’t want to go too far over their head about conversational Spanish. By taking the time to create a developed user profile for your audience, it can help you tweet information that is relevant to their interests and wants.
4. Share news: Are you subscribed to any blogs or RSS feeds to help you stay up to date on important information related to your niche? If yes, share one piece of content today that really made you think, made you angry, or made you want to take some sort of action. If you’re not already subscribed, use a feed reader like Google Reader to help you stay up to date on your favorite blogs and always have something tweet-worthy to share with your audience.
5. Solve a problem: After lunch take another few minutes and perform some Twitter searches. Search for things like[keyword phrase + problem] or [help + keyword] to find people talking about a problem that your business can solve. Once you find the tweets, share a relevant link or a resource with them that may help with them with their problem. Or, if you don’t have an answer yourself, retweet their message and see if anyone else in your network can help.
6. Tweet tips: Boost your credibility among your followings by tweeting tips today related to your industry. Share tools, resource sites, helpful followers, ideas, strategies or anything else you think will be helpful to someone in your niche.
7. Tweet your goods more than once: One fatal mistake many SMBs make is that they tweet their content the moment they publish it…and then they never tweet it again. If you’ve just created something awesome, don’t be afraid to tweet it 2-3 times over the course of the day to help get as many eyeballs on it as possible. Most people don’t stay glued to their Twitter stream the entire day, they’re only checking in
Those are seven things anyone can do right now, today, to make a difference in their tweeting strategy and increase engagement. So…what are you waiting for? 😉
I really liked the desktop version of Tweetdeck because it could schedule tweets, but the Chrome extension doesn’t have that ability (that I can tell). #sadpanda
Great post! This is the simplest post with Twitter tips I’ve seen yet 🙂 I really really like #5 and #7. Thanks!
Great points were covered by the author which was really helpful for the people who don’t know all the information about the twitter…
Thad P
Thanks for the great Twitter tip list. I am amazed at people who are afraid of tweeting too many times, and they are in sales!
Rita Marshall
I’m just getting the hang of “tweeting goods more than once”. Besides 2 – 3 times a day, what about every few weeks or so?
I agree with all of these tips except #7.
If you are going to leave the same message, make it slightly different. If I see the exact same tweets or series of tweets from the same handle over the course of a day or even a few days, I unfollow.
I feel like if you can’t think of anything original to say, it’s not worth my time to read it.
My suggestion would be to leave a few days between sending the same tweet if you do it at all.
Lisa: Great tips to take into account. I will show the post to some people who are interested in starting with Twitter.
Robert: Have you read Scott Stratten’s book, Unmarketing? He has written some insightful things regarding automation of your social media actitvities.
Lisa Bhella
I like Hootsuite, and scheduling is important, but make sure you respond to @mentions, and thank others for retweets promptly. Don’t give the hard sell too often. Mind your manners! 🙂
Jennifer Rai
Thank you for the great tips. I especially found the idea of problem-solving a great strategy to build instant relationships. That would be a good start off to start building a community around your business.