21 Tips to Make the Most of Twitter

 2015 is Authorpreneur Almanac year. 

Join me in my 365 Adventures in Writing and Entrepreneurship...

I never thought I'd say this...

 Twitter is my favourite social media tool (as an authorpreneur)

I love Pinterest - mostly for the sheer joy of virtual hoarding without filling my house with junk - but when it comes to connecting, and finding great content, Twitter works for me.

There are plenty of people out there professing to be Social Media experts. I'm not one of them, but I have learned a lot and built a solid following of lovely people.

Here are my 21 tips to make the most of Twitter:

1) You have 140 character - use them wisely, think before you Tweet.

2) Don't use all 140 characters, leave some free so it can be Retweeted (100 characters is ideal).

3) Avoid text speak. At best you look unprofessional, at worst the Tweet is unreadable for anyone over the age of 14.

4) Always include one hashtag (#) in every Tweet.

5) Make sure the # you use is relevant. 

Useful #'s for writers:

#AmWriting
#AmEditing
#Writing
#WriteTip
#WritingPrompt
#BookGiveaway
#SelfPub
#WriterWednesday
 

6) Avoid using more than 2 #'s in a Tweet. Too many uses up valuable characters and it's more difficult to read.

7) There is a 80/20 rule with Twitter. 80% content sharing and engaging, 20% self promotion. I often have fellow authors follow me on Twitter and when I get a new follower I check out their timeline and say thank you by Retweeting something of theirs. It amazes (and infuriates me), how many authors Twitter feeds are just; 'buy my book' copy-paste-repeat. Boring.

8) Don't spam. Studies show Tweeting 2 to 3 times a day at regular intervals will reach 30% of your followers. Don't Tweet multiple times in an hour on the same thing - it's annoying seeing the same thing pop up in your feed over and over, people will stop following you.

9) Post your own and share other people's content regularly but avoid filling your feed with retweets. Boring. Followers want to hear from you too.

10) Be organised. Social media can take over if you're not organised about it. It's easy to waste hours mindlessly looking at stuff. Dip in regularly but make use of tools such as Hootesuite, to schedule content and keep your interactions regular and consistent. A Twitter feed that churns out loads of stuff one day then goes quiet for weeks isn't worth following.

11) Know your audience. Who do you want to attract? Follow and share things that appeal to your core audience. 

12) Where is your audience? If it's another country, think about the time difference and schedule posts when they are watching.

13) Always shorten URL's using a tool like Bitly. It saves characters and you can also monitor the analytics to see who's clicking your links and where they are. This is useful for points 11 & 12.

14) Customize hashtag's. For example; I created #'s for my books: #BronzeBox, #SolomonsSecrets, #GabrielsGame. It's a useful way to monitor your popular content and a quick way for people to share and search it.

15) Use capital letters in multi-word #'s. They're easier to read - i.e.: #solomonssecrets becomes #SolomonsSecrets

16) If you want to build a relationship with someone, regularly Retweet them and they'll start to notice you, then strike up a conversation.

17) Respond quickly. If someone contacts you, be courteous and get back to them promptly.

18) Thank new followers but don't be tempted to use an auto thank you or send them promotional material - that's just rude. #FF or #FollowFriday is a useful social convention to use when thanking people.

19) Images are more likely to be Retweeted than text - use them where appropriate.

20) As the number of accounts you follow grows, organise them into lists. You can then dip into shorter feeds with curated content, instead of having a long cluttered feed that updates every few seconds before you have time to read it. 

21) Lastly, but most importantly. Be nice! No one likes a hater. Tweet: The key to 'social media' is being social 

Say nice things about other people and they'll say nice things about you - the people who like you will do the promoting for you.

There is always more to learn - I've just discovered how to embed my Twitter feed into my website. Here it is:


Tweets by @TomCatDesigns

What tips would you add?

Happy Tweeting!
#GetInvolved