How to boost your Twitter results?

Like with every other Social Media, when it comes to Twitter we tend to look for always more followers.

While it isn't a bad thing to have more fans, that shouldn't be your first priority - with Twitter, success doesn't come from having a million followers but from having qualified and engaged followers.

Let me share my strategy with you.

Build you profile

The first step to getting a powerful Twitter account is to build your profile. Compared to LinkedIn or Facebook, it is very quick and simple, so do not spare your efforts. Have a nice banner that works on any device (consider mobile), add a profile photo/logo that is visible even when reduced to its minimum size, make sure your website link is currently displayed and add a short but clear description.

There's no need to over-do it. As long as your profile is clear, attractive and complete, that all you need at this stage. 

Twitter Expert Samantha Kelly (@Tweetinggoddess) recommends:

"Fill in your bio on Twitter….make it look interesting...think…’would I follow me’ Are you going to add value? Are you human? Why should someone follow you? "

 

Build your content

Twitter is all about content. To succeed on Twitter you will need regular, frequent, quality content.

So let's start immediately. Even before you post anything, start thinking about the type of content you are able to generate. Consider the Pareto rule and make 80% of your content about your audience and 20% about yourself.

Start building categories of content and assign them a percentage of distribution. For example:

• industry news - 30%
• practical tips - 30%
• customer interview - 20%
• discount & promotion - 10%
• new features - 10%

Now that you've figured your content editorial, you can start looking into allocating resources to build such content on a regular and frequent basis. Remember, on Twitter, news don't last more than a few seconds. If you wish to catch your readers' attention you will need to post regularly.

Twitter Expert Samantha Kelly (@Tweetinggoddess) recommends:

"Post at the times your audience are most online. I find most are online after the kids go to bed about 9-11pm. Also share others content that is relevant to your audience. Tag the writer of the article as they will be grateful for your help in spreading the word. "

Identify hashtags

When Facebook turned to hashtags, it was initially a disaster. LinkedIn claims that hashtags could help your content get more views, but you could hardly feel the impact and it does not look too professional anyway.

When it comes to Twitter, however, hashtags are important.

Hashtagify can help you with this process - type a keyword you expect to match your industry. For example, "marketing". This tool will show you all the other relevant hashtags people use that you could exploit.

Find the right tags and keep a list somewhere, you should use them in your tweets.

Twitter Expert Samantha Kelly (@Tweetinggoddess) recommends:

"Popular hashtags can also be found on twubs.com. Popular ones I like are #womensinspire on a Tuesday night 10-11pm GMT also #letslivestream and check out #Twittersmarter. "

Think about series

My personal strategy, that I've used across multiple companies and industries, is to build series.

A series is a batch of tweets related to the same topic you can build then distribute according to a regular schedule.

A few examples of relevant series, by industry, that I've constructed in the past:

• hospitality - best places to visit in Hong Kong
• trade shows - tips to better manage your booth
• F&B - these ingredients are good for your health
• logistics - how to reduce your expenses
• marketing - build up your online traffic

Tweets are only 140 characters long, therefore, you cannot tell a long story. Using series, you can break down your content in multiple pieces that you could easily distribute. If your content is valuable, people will come to expect your "Monday tips" or your "Throwback Thursday".

Use growth tools

I strongly discourage you from using ANY growth tool when you start with Twitter. Your account is too fresh and Twitter will ban you quickly if you abuse these systems. You should solely focus on following people within your industry (start with 10 on the first day, then 20, then 30, etc.) and publishing quality content.

Nevertheless, after you've grown your account with a few hundred followers, you can consider adding tools to your strategy, progressively, one at a time.

I personally recommend three of them:

• Crowdfireapp - great to start with and steadily grow your followers base
• Statusbrew - requires a little more work but very efficient once added to your daily routine
• Social Quant - this one only makes sense if you already have over 2,000 followers on Twitter. The two weeks trial is good enough to see what the platform can do for you.

Automate what you can

Twitter is a great social sales tool but it takes a lot of time to be managed efficiently.

Luckily, many things can be automated. You could for example automatically post articles from your blog every Tuesday, tips every Friday or promotions every Saturday.

Once your account is correctly set up and you are confident about the quality of your content, it is time to automate it a little!

You could start looking into solutions such as Buffer or Hootsuite that help you schedule your content. The downside with these solutions is that it is more efficient but still lacks automation.

The best automation tool I've tried to date is Social Unicorn that posts unique content on your behalf according to your own calendar on LinkedIn and Twitter. You upload series of content (say your best tips, your favorite quotes, your most delicious recipes, your nicest testimonials, etc.) and add a few hashtags, mentions, titles, images, etc. The machine mixes it up and regularly posts, on your behalf, unique quality content. You could then have your Monday tips, your Tuesday quote or your Wednesday testimonial posted automatically!

I can help you with this part - get in touch today and I will help you setup your Twitter strategy right from the start and automate part of it to speed up your growth.

Julien Rio.