Twitter is an incredibly valuable tool for creating and maintaining a social network. It’s a great place to meet people, from potential business associates to new friends, but it can be difficult to get the hang of when you’re just getting started.
Twitter is deceptively simple to use. You can only type up to 140 characters, so it’s easy to think that it should be simple, but anyone who has tried knows that building a great, functioning social media network is more involved than that.
If you’ve ever wanted to get into Twitter but just had trouble figuring out all the moving parts, these tips might help you finally become a Twitter aficionado.
Interact With Others
A lot of people love tweeting but tend to fall into the trap of just using it as a sort of status update like you might on Facebook. While some people appreciate this, it won’t help when you’re trying to build influence, make connections, and grow your number of followers.
The easiest and best way to start to build your social media platform is to engage others. If you see someone tweet about something you’re interested in, feel free to comment even if you don’t know them already. Twitter is a public space, and people are there to talk.
By having more one-on-one or even group discussions on Twitter, you increase your visibility and the likelihood that more people will notice you. In addition, people want to follow users who are active and social.
Use Hashtags
There are a lot of jokes to be made about the abundant use of hashtags on Twitter, but the fact is, they’re very useful tools.
Some hashtags act as a place for people to drop commentary and leave, but others act as informal chat rooms on Twitter and are a great place to make connections and have conversations.
Find a few hashtags that are relevant to your interests. Take a look at them every now and then and join in on the conversation when you can. If you’re going to be promoting a blog, website, or anything else, hashtags are also a great tool to get your link seen by more people.
If you want to share that great new piece you wrote about a Fantasy book, for instance, you might put the “#Fantasy” or “#AmReading” tags in your tweet. This way you’ll expand your social media reach quicker.
Format Your Tweets Properly
If you’re going to be promoting any sites on Twitter, it’s important to make sure you format your tweets to have the greatest effect possible.
When someone shares your tweet (or “retweets” it), they may add commentary and the 140 character limit could cause some of your original text to get cut out. Because of this, you should try to keep any links in the center of a tweet rather than at the end.
Use tags early if you can, as well, that way if your link is retweeted, it will also appear in the hashtags again for a whole new group of people to see.
Tweet More Than Just Promotional Information
Twitter is a great business tool, but using it as only a means to an end is a good way to get people to tune you out. If they know all you post are links promoting your work, they’ll start to ignore you.
It’s best to inject a little variety into what you say. Share your thoughts on twitter and help people get to know you so they can establish a real connection, increasing the likelihood that they’ll click on whatever you link later.
Link Your Accounts
One of the great things you can do with Twitter is link it to other social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Tumblr. What you link it to is going to depend on what you want to do and what works best for your situation, but you should be aware of this great feature.
By linking your accounts, you’ll be able to save yourself time. If you regularly make updates to a Facebook page, for instance, but then don’t know what to say on Twitter, linking the two will allow you to easily keep both accounts active.
In addition, linking your various pages in these ways will help direct people to your accounts on other social media sites, allowing you to use Twitter as a central hub for your digital identity.
Tweet Each Day
Lastly, all of this knowledge would be for nothing if your Twitter account isn’t active enough. If you’re only posting once every few days, you’re going to have a harder time building momentum.
Set a goal for yourself every day, even if it’s just that you’ll post five updates per day. It won’t take long, it’ll keep you active, and the more you use it and become familiar with it, the more comfortable you’ll be.
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