Starting out on Twitter
This tips may seem obvious to some but to a novice tweeter like myself who in hindsight lacked a plan or purpose for how he was going to use Twitter they were not all that obvious. There are some lessons I learnt along the way along with the realization of how important a plan is in deciding how you are going to use social media platforms like Twitter (including time you want to spend on social media) and how it then fits in with your overall personal brand. There are some tips and lessons learnt along the way, from things I tried as well as resources/articles I had read about Twitter from social media experts.
1. Start following others…
It may seem obvious but you need to actually follow those people, organisations and causes etc. that you find interesting or want to actively engage with. Take some time to look at other Twitter users/organisations/companies who have similar interests to you or just like what they have got to say. Try following at least 20-30 Twitter accounts every day for 2 weeks and watch your followers grow. Keep repeating every month to increase your following even more.
2. Automate Tweets
You cant be on Twitter 24/7 so its a good idea to set up scheduled Tweets along with manual tweets when you see something you like or want to share. I am sure there is an optimal amount of tweets you should send daily with experts suggesting around 10-12 times a day, but that said it depends if you are adding value or just telling your followers what you had for breakfast. Twitter has a limit to the number of tweets you can send in one day: 2400, for more Twitter FAQs click here.
- roundteam.co/ – automate re-tweets (they recently changed the free plans so you can only set up 1 automated re-tweet) as well as sending some tweets from the app such as the amount of new followers you have.
- buffer.com – automate the scheduling of tweets
- tweepsmap.com – automate the scheduling of tweets, as well as sending some tweets from the app such as the amount of new followers you have (including a map of the countries where the new followers are located, see below). The free version allows up 10 scheduled tweets
- www.tweetjukebox.com automate the scheduling of tweets, also give you some classic quote you can re tweet. The free version allows up 5 scheduled tweets
- www.socialoomph.com
- hootsuite.com/
3. Trending Twitter hashtags
Another way to increase engagement, followers and to stay up to date is to look at what is trending on Twitter, and where possible, start tweeting using the correct hash-tags (e.g. recently we had #Brexit, #Euro2016Final, #USOpen). In my job I am also fortunate enough to be able to attend quite a few conferences, seminars and other vendor events where I am actively engaging with the event hash-tag(s) and re-tweeting content from other like-minded Tweeters
4. Engage your followers
I use a tool called: commun.it (the free version) where it enables you to thank new followers or those who re-tweeted my tweets. Commun.it allows you to respond in bulk rather that on a per tweet basis. You can of course, also like or re-tweet tweets manually from those you are following, again it shows that you are actively engaging with your followers, this will also lead to growing your following.
5. Sharing yours or others content
Useful resources and articles
Hope this helps? any more advice please leave comments below….