TWEET LIKE A BOSS. The Ultimate Guide To Greater. Engagement On Twitter

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1 TWEET LIKE A BOSS The Ultimate Guide To Greater Engagement On Twitter Since it s launch in 2006 it seems we just can t get enough of the 140 character message microblogging service that is Twitter. With over 250 million active monthly users sending over 500 million tweets a day it s really living up to it s own expectations to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers The numbers stack up and with nearly 80% of users accessing Twitter on mobile and a similar percentage of accounts outside the USA it really is a global phenomenon growing at a relentless pace. It s power to communicate messages and ideas hasn t been lost on businesses either with an estimated 83% of marketers saying they use Twitter for business and 72% of Twitter followers of a brand reporting that they re more likely to purchase a product from that brand because of the online relationship they ve already formed. 1

2 Against stats like these it s hard to imagine why anyone in business wouldn t want to spend a great deal more of their time talking to their clients and customers on social media and this guide has been written expressly to help you get more retweets and spread your reach organically and extensively across a huge audience. You ll learn how and when to tweet to gain maximum exposure, the secrets of pictures and hashtags, the optimal length of tweets and the best way to guarantee your followers exponentially spread your message across the Twitterverse. So grab a coffee, tea or a glass of your favourite beverage, pull up a chair and prepare to discover how to Tweet like a Boss with the Ultimate Guide To Getting More Retweets On Twitter. 1. Use Mentions The number one way to get more retweets from your own posts is to mention others in your tweets. You immediately expose your post to a wider audience and your tweet stands a chance Boss The maximum number of other people s twitter handles to include in a tweet for greatest effect is 5. Any more and your retweets will go down of being seen by all that person s followers as well as your own. Don t include more than 5 other Twitter handles and make sure they re relevant to the info you re putting out. It works well if you re acknowledging or thanking a bundle of people in one go for instance. thanks for RTs & faves this week - here s something 4 U :) bit.ly/link2gift 2. Never Start A Tweet With When you start a tweet with your tweet will only be seen by people who follow both you and the person you re mentioning. Far better to start with a simple Hi or other greeting or restructure your tweet so that the person s name is included half way through or at the end. E.G Saw this article and thought it would be of interest to bit.ly/link2article rather saw this article and thought it would be of interest to you bit.ly/link2article You re after maximum exposure so don t restrict your audience. 2

3 3. Use Links It s a fact. Multiple studies confirm that using links within your tweets will result in more retweets. Links add interest, create value, drive traffic and (if you re using the right landing pages) will capture leads. Use a link shortening service like bit.ly and you ll even be able to track traffic through the link which is an added bonus. 4. Play Nicely And Retweet Others What goes around comes around. Call it givers gain or karma when you re generous with your retweets other people are more likely to reciprocate. For the sake of a few seconds, a few times a day, whizzing through your Twitter stream looking for hot tweets to RT you ll be surprised how great a return it can bring. Boss Share the love. It s a fact that the more you give to others the more you get back. Spread a little happiness by retweeting other people s stuff too :) 5. Make Friends And Influence People Get social It s not called social media for nothing. Make sure you respond to messages and replies to your tweets if appropriate. It s good to keep the conversations going. Find reasons to interact with other users specially those who you consider to be influencers in your industry or niche and send them stuff to comment on and share with their followers. 6. Have An Attitude Of Gratitude Saying thank you every now and again works wonders. Even when you group people together in a list thanking them for retweets or favorites. Your followers will appreciate the recognition and it helps foster relationships and further engagement. It works even better if you can point people at a free gift, report or even a link that you ve found interesting or entertaining. I m a great fan of Hugh Macleod s Gaping Void cartoons and make a point every now and again of including links to cartoons I feel appropriate to the people I m thanking. Pictures of puppies have a similar effect on some people but whatever you do make it something that says thank you rather than just pushing people to buy stuff. 3

4 7. Use Hashtags ##### According to a recent report by TrackMaven tweets with hashtags get around.301 retweets, while a tweet with no hashtags receives an average of only.0116 retweets. So USE HASHTAGS Not only will hashtags get you more retweets but they can also help you join or even lead the conversation. Used effectively hashtags are also a great way of tracking conversations particularly when associated with specific products or events. 8. Use Pictures If a picture paints a thousand words then why aren t you using them to supplement the conversation and make your message that much clearer? Trackmaven (them again) report that tweets with images received.404 retweets, compared to.133 with no images and postpreview picture tweets receive retweets on average. Research by Dan Zarella shows that pictures uploaded via pic.twitter.com get 94% more retweets than others and on top of that it s the only way the auto expand tool works. On top of that it s really important you use the correct size images for Twitter to get maximum effect. Don t just go recycling your old Facebook, Instagram or Google+ images but take time to craft images that convey the right message. You can do this using adobe photoshop or illustrator but for a quick and easy route use the online image editors at pic monkey or canva. For a complete low down on image size tips for Google+ and Facebook as well as Twitter the very best place to take a look is at 4

5 9. Time It Right Research says that tweeting on a Sunday or late evening are the optimum times for increasing your chances of getting a retweet. Consider using hootsuite or hootlet to schedule your tweets for maximum impact. If you re targeting mums for instance late night or Sunday evenings works really well as it s about the only time they get to themselves :) 10. Time Zones One of the beauties of the internet is that it never sleeps. There s always someone somewhere on the other side of the world doing the opposite to you. Getting up when you re going to bed or eating dinner when you re sitting down to breakfast. If your market is international or your subject is of universal interest pay attention to the opportunities this affords to schedule tweets for maximum impact in different parts of the world. You could be spreading your message in New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo and London as easily as you might talk to your next door neighbour. Boss People love numbers. Whether statistics, measurement, descriptions or just plain bragging about how many ice creams you can eat. 11.Include Numbers In Your Tweets Again those clever people at TrackMaven have discovered that, where relevant, tweets containing numbers get tweeted 17% more often than those without. If you have statistics relating to your brand or product use them, they add authority and help your reader understand your message. 12.USE CAPITAL LETTERS Tweets in all caps receive more retweets (.8 v,.147) They can also annoy the hell out of your readers so please use sparingly but do use them for EMPHASIS for instance because unfortunately Twitter doesn t allow you to use bold text. Good Tweet - You look AWESOME tonight Bad Tweet - HEY@JANE YOU LOOK AWESOME TONIGHT 5

6 13. Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic Accentuate the positive. Nobody likes a sourpuss least of all when they re pouring their misery all over the Twitterverse. Conversely using exclamation marks and showing some emotion in your tweets can actually increase the likelihood of getting retweets In fact, using 6 exclamation marks produces around retweets, while using 9 results in around retweets Emoticons also help emphasise your message and increase the likelihood of a retweet even more :) 14. Focus On Your Readers Interests It should be a fundamental requirement that you focus on your readers rather than yourself but far too many Tweeters focus on themselves and big up their own presence. Tweets that contain a self-reference are typically retweeted less than those that don t so focus on delivering value and being useful to your audience and above all do not make it all about YOU. While we re on the subject of topic it should come as no surprise that Tweeters who focus on popular and current content get more retweets than those who tweet about more obscure matters such as the contents of their catalogues or brochure. News, instructional tweets, entertainment and opinion will always do better than constantly harping on about your products or services. Boss When asking for a RT Spell It Out. Spelling out retweet, as opposed to RT, gets you more RT s. How about that 15. Ask And It Shall Be Done Just ask nicely and an amazing number of people will give you a retweet just because you asked It really is that simple but so many people for one reason or another are disinclined to do so. It works even better if you ask politely. Write this down and tape it to your wall or your phone Please retweet 16.Talk About Twitter People are more likely to retweet if your post mentions Twitter, as opposed to another social network. The people most likely to retweet are the ones who feel most comfortable on Twitter. You ll only upset them if you banging on about Facebook or Google+ all the time rather than give them more of what they want. It s good to talk about Twitter on Twitter. 6

7 17. Top Secret Most Retweeted Words Well actually they re not that much of a secret and shouldn't come as too much of a surprise but the top 20 most retweeted words in order are apparently >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So I guess you might stand a pretty good chance of getting a retweet with a post like Check out my new blog post for 10 great free Social Media tips. How to help retweets on Twitter. Use Please Retweet not Please RT :) 18. Optimise Your Tweet Length According to Buddy Media, 100 characters is the engagement sweet spot for a tweet. If you are looking for retweets, you will want to make sure your tweet isn t so long that people will need to edit it before retweeting so maybe settle on something between 80 and 100 characters to leave space for further Twitter handles to be included in subsequent tweets 19. Mind Where You Put Your Links You should give good consideration to where your link (if any) appears. Experts reckon somewhere about 90% of the way through so it doesn t get truncated in a retweet is about the best place to include a link and don t forget of course my earlier advice about using a bit.ly link or similar to make your link shorter and trackable. Boss The Top 20 Most Retweeted Words 1. You 2. Twitter 3. Please 4. Retweet 5. Post 6. Blog 7. Social 8. Free 9. Media 10. Help 11. Please RT 12. Great 13. Social Media Follow 16. How to 17. Top 18. Blog post 19. Check out 20. New blog post 20. Tweet Great Content It should go without saying really that you should always tweet GREAT content. In a world full of mediocrity it s a lot easier to be successful if you make the effort to stand out. You should always be thinking about what your audience wants and needs and create content to serve them. This will not only increase your chances of being retweeted enormously but will also increase the number of readers clicking on links contained within your tweets to follow up on your subsequent calls to action. There really is no excuse for poor content. If you re unsure of your own capability to write interesting material then find someone to do it for you. They don t need to take over your entire Twitter activity, the personal touch still works best but it pays to take time to get it right first. Remember, first impressions count and Twitter is a highly visible place to be making mistakes. Done well your influence will spread way beyond your immediate reach. Boss 7

8 What Next? At Tin Digital we pride ourselves on helping business owners and professionals just like you make the most of their time on every kind of social media. We not only help individuals and companies build a following but more importantly we help them find new business and maximise existing clients and customers. We provide complete done for services in social media marketing and advertising and coaching and training that s second to none. If you d like a free no obligation appraisal of your social media presence and potential why not drop me a line or give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you Happy Tweeting :) mike@tindigital.com