So many Twitter users find it very difficult to get content out on Twitter, which has made some shootings mere spectators rather than participants. Oh sorry they deal with other people’s posts, they are always in the comments section.
Now many individuals on Twitter, from time to time ask questions like
- 1. I have no idea what to tweet.
- 2. How can I develop engaging tweets for my audience?
So many more questions arise every day about what kind of tweets to post, so I came up with a system so people don’t have to wonder what to post anymore.
Listed below are the four (4) types of tweets to guide your tweets:
- · WL — LINKING SITES
- · QQ – QUICK QUESTION
- · IB — BUZZ INDUSTRY
- · WE – THE NETWORK EFFORT
Believe it or not, only one of these four types of tweets should be about YOU, because that’s the number one mistake people make with social media, people use it to talk about themselves, when really, it’s for others.
However, social media is not a BROADCAST tool, it is a CONVERSATION tool, so only one out of every four tweets can be for you, and it’s called WL — (WEBSITE BIRTH).
I choose not to call this type of tweets SP — (SELF-PROMOTION), instead I choose WL — (WEBSITE BIRTH).
Ideally, this type of tweet requires you to attach a link to whatever you’re sharing, whether it’s a blog post, the latest upload on your website, etc.
The point of linking is to get your tweeps somewhere they can engage with you longer.
PROMOTION ITSELF on the other hand it means that tweeps will read whatever you posted, engage with it for about five (5) to ten (10) seconds and then move on to something else, whereas if it’s a link (WL), will link you to a blog post, or link you to something you’ve created.
It’s not always possible to have a link, but try for it, because then tweeps can connect with you or your brand in three minutes instead of ten (10) seconds.
Remember, one out of every four types of tweets, anything about you becomes a WL, “WEBSITE BIRTH” but if you don’t have an external link to yourself, another trick is “THREAD”.
This is meant for engagement only. I use this framework myself and for all my clients I switch the prompts to be BRAND and NON-BRAND.
Me — Here’s a quick question that would be on BRAND for me.
a. What is your favorite social media platform?”
No, that’s very nice, let’s ask a deeper question.
b. “Which social media platform drives you crazy?”
It’s quick and easy and most people have an opinion.
II — Here’s a quick question that would be on Non-BRAND for me.
a. Coffee with tea?
b. Chicken or turkey?
c. How much do you have in your bank account?
In most cases, the answers that come from QUICK QUESTIONS don’t matter, but the point is that you can engage in posts with a question and even your audience on other social media platforms because information travels faster these days.
Another important thing to note is that not every tweet has to be about your brand, you don’t have to be a branding bot, let your tweeps know you’re human too.
Sometimes you talk about things not related to work, career, interests, aspirations…etc. and sometimes you just want to have a conversation to keep it real, and that’s exactly what you can do with QUICK QUESTIONS.
Industry buzz is your opportunity to reinforce the fact that you’re an expert in whatever you’re telling tweeps about your brand.
a. Remind us that you know what’s going on.
b. Remind us that you are aware.
Share audience stats, facts, quick tips, anything that’s simple, actionable, and also reinforces that you know information about whatever you’re doing.
As funny as it sounds, aside from jokes or maybe comedy, this type of tweet tends to be the one that gets the most retweets (viral).
Retweets are important because that’s how you basically get yourself in front of other people’s audiences, and that’s really a key element to growth on social media.
Please note, this doesn’t mean that every single refresh will get you a ton of new followers, but it can, and overall, it’s just helping you build brand awareness.
When someone reads your tweet and says, “Hmmm, I couldn’t have said it better myself” you earn a retweet from that person and anyone who feels the same way.
That’s how it works, that’s the psychology behind it. Therefore, INDUSTRY BUZZ tend to be easier and more common to retweet on Twitter, and so it’s good to mix them into your content schedule.
WE is the most important type of tweet because it’s the whole reason you should be on Twitter, except you’re there for something I can’t explain. Your Twitter presence should be primarily about meeting new people and starting conversations.
You have the power to walk up to someone you don’t know and pay them a compliment. Start a conversation, don’t read from your business card, because that’s what most of us do.
When I say don’t read from your business card, I mean don’t be overly formal, it’s a social media platform not an interview or a business meeting.
Imagine this happening in real life, if you walked up to you at a party and said, “Hi, I’m Damilola, I’m a brand strategist and I can help you with this, this, and that. Your audience would be like “Uh, no, you’re tuning in” your conversation bores them from the start.
Now imagine I come up to you, give you a compliment, you’ll be like “I don’t know you, but thank you“. And that ignites that rapport.
Also, try to think WE (NETWORKING FFORT) in your tweets and I can tell you this because some of my work involves helping people like you build brands, but then part of my work also involves helping public figures, high organizations and celebrities manage their account on social networks. And I’m often in the power to make the decision about what gets retweeted, accepted, favorited replies, or more often, ignored.
And so, I can tell you from the other side of things that if you put the thought in an NE tweet, and you make it easy for that influencer or celebrity to retweet it, they’re not always guaranteed, but they can do it.
For example, if that celebrity has a book that you’ve read, instead of saying “Hey @akinalabi, I enjoyed your book.” This is not great. You can say “Hey @akinalabi, I enjoyed the book and your perspective on entrepreneurship, I feel very inspired.” Something like that might get a retweet, so learn to be different.
More thought is put into it, something specific that shows you’ve done your homework is much more likely, exponentially more likely, to be retweeted. So these are the types of tweets.
We hope you’ll use these strategies moving forward to get active, stay relevant, and stay consistent on Twitter, where you can literally meet some of the most important and interesting people.
Bonus tip:
How often should you tweet, by the way?
This is a difficult question to answer. Sometimes people tweet four times a day, sometimes they tweet 40 times one day. It’s really what’s sustainable for you, that’s the answer, but I tend to think that every person can tweet at least four times one day.
And instead of sending 40 in a day and then zero the next three days it is better to create a system and if I were you I would stay on top of them a week in advance, create content days in advance or better plan your tweets that you can use platforms like Buffer or Hoot Suite. Also, learn to engage with people in real time.
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Thanks for reading… I am Damilola Adeniji, a brand strategist and digital marketing junkie.
You can contact me through:
Facebook AND LinkedIn — Damilola Adeniji
Instagram AND I tweet — @MrDarmi
Thank you.
