Top 10 Twitter tricks for social media marketing
Looking to increase brand awareness and engagement on Twitter? Then you’ve come to the right place!
Today I’m going to highlight 10 Twitter tricks to help you reach the right audience on this micro-blogging site. With more than 145 million monetizable users, meaning those who see ads in their feed, Twitter is still a relevant social network for many businesses.
Since its creation in 2006, Twitter has paved the way for social media marketing by being the first to use hashtags and by being a top site to share breaking news and quick bits of information. Over the years, Twitter has adapted to its changing user base by expanding the restricting character limit and creating better filters and features.
Twitter is a network I recommend for most clients, especially those in the B2B space. When used appropriately, the network can help you reach your target audience, reach new audiences, and improve engagement with current customers.
Increase your presence and engagement with these 10 Twitter tricks!
1. Customize your profile
Add some color to your profile and links by selecting a theme or adding your own brand’s colors to the mix. It’s okay to keep the standard blue, I do for both my travel blog and personal Twitter, but if you want to match your branding and give your account some personality, pick a fun theme color to make your account stand out!
2. Create lists
Honestly, lists are one of my favorite features of Twitter! I love being able to sort different accounts into categories, like content marketing, email marketing, social media, writers, etc. It makes it super easy to find content I want to read about instead of scrolling through my home feed hoping to find what I’m looking for.
Need to make a new Twitter list?
- Open your Twitter’s home page and on the left-hand side locate “Lists”
- In the upper right-hand corner click the Plus icon to create a new list
- Give it a name and write a description if you want
- Choose if it’ll be public or private
- As you follow accounts or visit their profile, you can click the three dots on their cover photo and add them to a list
Don’t want to reinvent the wheel? Subscribe to others’ public lists to find perfectly curated content.
3. Watch the competition (without them knowing)
Another great thing about lists is that you can add accounts you’re not even following. So, create a private list and add your competitors to it and see what they tweet about without publicly following them.
This can help you find content marketing topics you should be covering, events you should be attending, and any trending conversations you should be a part of!
4. Add emojis to your tweets
Need to get a certain emotion or tone across and want to add an emoji? No problem! Emojis in tweets are actually a great way to increase engagement and you can add them easily by holding the Control + Command + Space bar to bring up a menu of emojis.
5. Master hashtags
Like keyword optimization for SEO, hashtags quickly took on a life of their own and were misused by marketers who turned them into spam.
The reason behind using them for evil was good as hashtags can help you reach new audiences, manage your brand’s reputation and online conversations, stay up to date with what’s happening or trending at events, and run marketing campaigns.
Like keywords for websites, hashtags are Twitter’s way of indexing tweets and users and making it easy for people to find tweets on things they’re interested in.
To avoid looking like spam, aim to use one to three quality hashtags per post and weave them into your text, instead of tacking them all on at the end. Use brand and conversationally relevant hashtags as well.
6. Add images and GIFs
Need to get around the character limit in a fun way? Add images to your tweet, like a quote or small infographic, to get more bang for your buck.
Using GIFs is a great way to start or join conversations and add some personality to your brand.
7. Pin a tweet
As Twitter is a constant stream of updates it can be hard to get your tweets in front of people at the right time. In fact, it’s said that the half-life of a tweet is only 24 minutes. So, make sure to pin important tweets to the top of your profile to draw more attention to it.
To pin a tweet, click the drop down icon on the top right of the tweet. Click Pin to your profile, then confirm you want to pin that tweet.
8. Embed a tweet
Want your blog readers to know you’re on Twitter? Embed your tweets on your website! You can also embed others’ public tweets too if you’re doing a compilation story.
Not only does this show credibility by linking directly to the source, it’s also better for ADA compliance as screen readers can’t read screenshots or screen captures the same as embedded content.
To embed a tweet:
- Click the drop down menu icon on the top right of the tweet
- Select Embed Tweet
- Copy the embed code or customize the code as needed
- Paste the code into your blog or website page
9. Tweet consistently
I always tell clients that it’s better to be missing from a social network than have a poor presence on it and Twitter is no different. You have to post consistently if you want any traction on your tweets, but you also have to walk the line of posting enough and not bombarding people with tweets.
Space out your posts as many users unfollow accounts that post too frequently in a short time and flood their feeds with their tweets. Leave some room for others to share their posts. Twitter is the network that’s best for frequent posting and most accounts do post multiple times per day, just don’t share all of your content in quick succession.
10. Link to your Twitter account
Make it easy for people to find you on Twitter by having links to your account on your website, on blog posts, in downloadable or gated content, in your emails, and even on other social media channels.
Everyone has their preferred channel to follow brands or certain brands, like I follow Ipsy on Instagram but no other network, and I follow magazine brands on Twitter but nowhere else.
You should also have social share options on your website that automatically tag your Twitter account when people share a page of your website to Twitter.
What other Twitter tricks do you use to improve your reach and engagement? Share your tips in the comments below or start a conversation with me on Twitter!
