We all know the best way to promote ourselves on social media is consistency. But this isn’t always easy, especially when you are a one-man band, running a business (maybe even making the products) then some bright spark tells you that you need to share daily on social media platforms. Using Twitter for business in itself is a full-time job. But with a full-proof strategy and preparation, you can happily run a Twitter feed without having to spend all day looking at it. No, really you can, all you need to know is what to Tweet!
What to Tweet: 21 ways to fill your Twitter feed when you are time poor :
- Auto Share: Install Jetpack or set up Bloglovin so that once you hit publish your content is auto shared on to Twitter (and other platforms too, it’s handy for LinkedIn and Google+).
- Schedule Tweets: I do this on a monthly basis. Old blog content which is still relevant ie. seasonal posts Spring, Summer. Occasions: Valentine’s Day, Easter. Twitter has its own scheduling facility now making it even easier!
- Be Engaging: Post content that makes people want to reply, RT. Questions, statements, opinions, clear images always provoke a reaction. Post a variety of content. If you are just “link dumping” your engagement will be low.
- Join in with Twitter Hours: Once a week make time (usually an hour) to join in with Twitter Hours. Either relevant to your small business/blog such as #handmadehour #folksyhour or even local networking ie. #DorsetHour #HampshireHour etc .. Download a list of UK Twitter Hours – this list is not exhaustive and does not include any regional hours.
- Pin a Tweet: This is really underused on Twitter but it’s a great tool for keeping a tweet you want to be known for at the top of your feed. This works well in a way it encourages people to RT/ engage with this tweet. But it also means any new person coming to your profile will see one of your amazing profound tweets rather than a reply to someone out of context.
- Pin For A Pin: This is quite a popular strategy amongst bloggers. You basically RT each others pinned posts which widens your reach and audience.
- Revive Old Posts Plugin: If you are using a self-hosted WordPress you really should install this plugin. It’s great for people with years and years worth of content. It basically reshares on Twitter old posts. I have mine set for every 2 hours which seems to work well as a Twitter content strategy. Especially when I’m away or it’s the weekend. My feed is still populated. I’ve noticed since using this plugin that my RT’s are up too. Just ensure you exclude posts that are dated (so your 2014 goals might not be useful) have competitions or are events that are no longer relevant and seasonal ones so Christmas Gifts for Bloggers isn’t going to be suitable in March. It looks automated and sloppy. The difference between using this plugin and manually scheduling is you can be more targeted with the manual so I would do a mix of both.
- Use hashtags: Make your content discoverable by adding appropriate hashtags. Search hashtags and see what people are tweeting about in your genre.
- Optimise Your Profile: Sounds super posh but really you need to utilise the features. Have a clear avatar (ideally the one you use on other platforms making you instantly recognisable), use the banner space effectively, have an up to date bio: Top tips to writing a Twitter Bio
- Reconnect with Someone: Been networking recently have a clutch of business cards? Take a few minutes to look them up, follow and say “hi there remember me we met at x,y,z”.
- Lists: Twitter has a great tool whereby you can put people into lists. Short on time just pick a list and RT/comment/reconnect with a few people from a list rather than becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume on your main feed.
- Click to Tweet: Adding “click to tweet” comments in a blog post actively suggests to the reader to tweet this. And do you know what they do! This is a plugin.
- Facebook to Twitter: ( facebook.com/twitter ) I know it can look ugly on Twitter. BUT if you are time poor and you have spent ages scheduling in your Facebook updates then why not let them loose on Twitter too? It will save you having to think of what to Tweet every half hour!
- Say Thank You: Always take a bit of time to respond to any notifications. Thank people for taking the time to RT you.
- Reconnect: Take 5 minutes once a month to go through that pile of business cards on your desk (surely that’s not just me). Reconnect find out what that person has been up to what local events they are attending next.
- Follow new people: Seems like an obvious thing to say but seriously when was the last time you actively searched for people in your niche and followed them? Rather than just following people back. (Follow me! @JoanneDewberry)
- Use Photo Tagging: This can be a great way to share content with others and save characters but try not to be spammy about it by randomly tagging everyone you ever met in images. Amanda, Spiderworking.com has a great step-by-step tutorial on how to tag people in Twitter photos.
- Use Your Readers: Ensure when people tweet your blog content you are tagged in these tweets. So many people have this facility turned off but it’s a great way to see who is sharing your content and to start conversations with others. Go into any blog post and click the tweet button, if your Twitter handle isn’t in the tweet fix it.
- Best Time to Tweet: Make sure you tweet at the optimum time of the day using the free tool Tweriod. Or check through your Twitter analytics to see what kind of tweets get the best response and replicate this.
- Enter Twitter Endorsement Competitions: There seems to be growing popularity in these competitions. So what is one? You basically have a certain period of time once a week to tweet using a specific hashtag and then a number of those people will be RT’d. OK, I realise that doesn’t sound that exciting but there are other perks, including the RT coming from people like Theo Paphitis (his hashtag is #SBS = Small Business Sunday) and Jacqueline Gold (#WOW = Women on Wednesday).
- Shorten URL’s: You only have 280 characters so use them wisely. Using something like bit.ly can be really helpful you can sign up via Twitter and access stats too.
Twitter for business, in my opinion, is a great way to communicate with people within your industry far more than chatting with Joe Public this is better suited to Facebook. I hope you find these tips useful, you can let me know by following or tweeting me @JoanneDewberry.
Found this useful wondering how you can show me your appreciation? Well, there are some ways you can say thanks and support my website: ➡