I often get asked the same question: “How can a person or a business successfully manage their Twitter page?” And while you might think that other platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are rising in popularity, Twitter actually remains one of the main players in the social media sphere, just take a look at how Hillary and Trump are using it religiously. Below are my five golden tips for your Twitter magic.
- Your content is everything (I can’t stress this enough)
Quality content is truly the only way you will gain a loyal following and increase the probability of having viral posts. I’m not saying that you have to be a genius to accomplish that, just choose content that interests your target audience. My sincere advice here would be to set up an editorial calendar for the dates and topics of your Twitter posts.
- Mix it up (never be too serious)
As I’ve mentioned above, your content is everything. That being said, you have to keep in mind to publish informational hard news and other light-hearted tweets. Informative links are important, however let’s face it, we can’t spend the whole day clicking on links and reading lengthy articles. So that’s why sometimes publishing an eye-catching photo can draw the right attention of your followers and others. And why not try to re-Tweet some of the posts of your clients or business partners? Remember that Twitter is an open source of communication, and you should never be the only one providing all the information.
- Interact with your followers (don’t be a snob)
I know that some brands, especially in the luxury industry, prefer to keep a distant non-responsive relationship with their followers. I mean do you really expect the Chanel team to Tweet you back? But for those of us who are not Chanel yet, interacting with our followers is a must. Interaction means sending them a direct message, responding to your followers’ Tweets or simply generously hitting the like button. This will encourage your followers to constantly communicate with your page and develop a closer relationship with you. Simply said, just follow the same basic rules of human relations and it will pay off.
Do you really expect the Chanel team to Tweet you back? For those of us who are not Chanel yet, interacting with our followers is a must.
- Stay away from automation (you are not a robot)
While Twitter has restricted some automated features, some other tools like sending impersonalised direct messages or prescheduled Tweets eliminate the human factor I was talking about above. For instance, nothing annoys me more than having to delete all the automated messages I receive on a daily basis. I don’t even bother to read them anymore! So either say it in the moment, or just don’t.
- Use the right hashtags (#DontUseEndlessHashtagsThatNoOneReallyCaresAbout)
Over the years on social media, many long names and terms have been reduced to fewer letters. For example, #GPMonaco is used thousands of times more than, let’s say, #GrandPrixMonteCarlo. So always use smaller texts after your hashtags, and keep the number of your hashtags between 1 and 3 in every Tweet. Beyond this count, the hashtags will become irritating and distracting to your readers in a text that is only composed of 140 characters.
In conclusion, these five tips are for people/businesses that have already set up a clear strategy for their Twitter page following a deep analysis of their target audience. In my opinion, this is the hardest step, and that’s where the expertise of consultants and social media agencies is often required. And remember that having a weak Twitter page could kill your brand, also sometimes not having a Twitter page at all might be the right strategy.