If you’re a social company, there’s a strong chance that you’re active on Twitter. And while having a Twitter presence and following are the first steps to success, it’s engagement that’s going to be your pot of gold at the end of the Twitter rainbow. Let’s face it, having an “impressive” number of followers is ultimately pointless if they aren’t interacting with your brand.
So, how exactly does one create a thriving and engaging Twitter presence? We turned to Jackie Jordahl, a digital marketing expert with Heinz Marketing, to give the top 5 best practices for successful engagement on Twitter..
1. Start and engage in conversation
It’s easy to get comfortable with simply posting content to your Twitter feed, but it takes more than that to connect with your audience. Every tweet on your feed is a new opportunity to engage. When someone is tweeting about an event, jump in! If someone mentions you in a Tweet, thank them. Post questions to generate conversation. Don’t be afraid to comment and engage.
2. Tweet more than once a day
Twitter is the fastest moving social channel in terms of newsfeeds. Something you post at 9 am will be “old news” by 3 pm. Needless to say, posting at least three times per day is the best way to stay in front of your audience.
3. Think of what your audience would want to read
Part of developing a successful social strategy is being aware that all of your content should be directed towards your audience and what they care about. Many companies make the mistake of posting about what interests them and their product, however this deters from being seen as an industry thought-leader. When you serve up information and content related to your customers’ needs and interests, they’ll come to think of you as a thought-leader, someone that knows the business and cares about the customer.
4. Share timely articles
A pet peeve of mine is coming across a post with a link to an article from 2010. Unless the information is incredible you shouldn’t post or retweet articles that are over a year old. I’m always looking for articles that are current, that day or week, but if I find something awesome that’s a few months old, I’ll share it. Just remember, if you find something that’s older than a few weeks, make sure the content is still relevant. For example, social media articles and best practices from last year are probably not the same as they are this year.
5. #Think #before #you #hashtag
Hashtags get used and abused in the Twittersphere. It’s important to understand what a hashtag is and how to use it correctly. For example, don’t use too many hashtags in your post (i.e. #sun #summer #schoolsout #fun). The overuse of hashtags screams, “I don’t know what I’m doing”. When used properly, hashtags can add visibility to your Tweet after it’s posted and link your brand to conversations around a particular topic.
A big thanks to Jackie for taking the time to give us her top 5 best practices for engaging on Twitter. Hopefully these tips inspire you to start interacting and reaching out to other fellow Twitter users. To learn how you can manage your Twitter presence with Hootsuite and further improve your engagement strategy, check out part one of our interview with Jackie!
