I’m not a big fan of vanilla tips.
When I search online for tips, especially with social media, I find that 90% of what is out there is just rehashed common sense stuff that doesn’t drill down to actionable steps that work.
This is why I’m only sharing tips that I use and know work.
Because, who has the time to spend hours reading through junk?
Yes, you need a decent amount of followers on twitter to have an impact and convert people into buyers But followers aren’t the only hurdle.
You also need your followers to be engaged. Your account needs to have a good level of engagement.
What Is Twitter Engagement?
Engagement means any time someone interacts with your tweet in a measurable way.
Most accounts have little to no engagement.
Jay Baer, recently pointed out that the average engagement rate for a brand on twitter is currently 0.049%. That’s not even half of a percent.
Your work is cut out for you to say the least.
But it’s actually pretty easy work, just a bit tedious.
Here are the current engagement types:
- Retweeting your tweet
- Liking/favoriting your tweet
- Responding to your tweet
- Clicking on the url in the tweet
Now let’s get to work.
Step 1: Raise Your Hand
Listen; unless you are a Kardashian, most people online aren’t seeking you out. You may be the next Houdini, but they have no clue.
I know, it’s insulting, isn’t it?
Well Houdini, you need to get their attention.
Twitter is like being in the third grade. Your teacher will not acknowledge you unless you raise your hand.
So raise your hand.
How does one do that?
You need to seek out and engage with other ACTIVE twitter users.
Step 2: Find The Active Users
You can spot active users by just that, how active they are.
Active users do the following:
- Shout out to other users
- Respond when someone tags them
- Joins in others’ conversations
Here are a few things you can do to find them:
- Your followers: Check out some of your followers and see who has tweets that have comments.
- Hashtags: Search a hashtag and see who has several comments on their tweet.
- Once you find tweets with comments, jump in and start commenting as well. When someone responds, they are an “active”.
As you can see on the tweet below, Marissa, one of my online buddies, posted a FollowFriday tweet and the four people (myself included) who responded would be considered her actives.
Its #FollowFriday >>> 💯 @GirlTalkyMas @CanelaVintage @vinceandsoph @vivafifty @fabiolaofmexico @DaSportzCave @cafeconellastv @danay @Crystal_Domi_ @lulalucymag @Veronique956 @Elizabe90930986 @sweetlifebake @BiculturalFam @latinasmediaweb @MommaofDosTX @shoplatinx @SWAGGERDAD
— Marisa (@MexiMoments) January 26, 2018
Step 3: Lists Are Your Friends
Once you find active users, you will need to keep them in a list so that you can work with them.
Since twitter let’s you create lists, it’s the perfect place to do this.
If you need to learn how to create a list, read this 5-second tutorial.
I create two lists, an “ACTIVES” list and an “ACTIVES Test” list.
Once I spot an active user, I do the following:
- Engage with users who are active.
- If they respond, place them in the “ACTIVES Test” list and continue engaging for a week.
- If they are responsive, move them to the “ACTIVES” list.
- Continue to engage with your ACTIVES every day.
Step 4: Find More Actives
Rinse and repeat.
Continue to find new users who you see being active and follow the steps with your lists.
As you continue to add people, your actives list will grow and your engagement will grow as well.
Here’s another trick I use to find actives. I look at my own followers.
I will post a welcome tweet and tag my newest followers. The ones that respond will go into the ACTIVES Test list and so on.
Nice to meet you. Got any cool wknd plans?@timhinchey@DHPRECORDS@e_undertake@BarefootBudget@IAmJeffEmmerson@FindMyHost@YvesMulkers@MVluxuryhotels@dawnchats@helenchikx@cheekycoder@Appinventiv@lmcook30@NesterTweets@damian_emman@queenofvirtue@TheHardFork_
— Danay Escanaverino @danay.e on #Clubhouse (@danay) January 20, 2018
As you can see, I tagged a bunch of people, but only 6 liked the tweet and 1 re-tweeted it.
Step 5: Housekeeping
Like with every online strategy, you will see results, but the real ones come with some time and effort. Many people will fall off the bandwagon and stop being active.
That’s why you need to do some housekeeping on your list to make sure that anyone who hasn’t been active for a while gets removed.
I usually do this every other month.
As you start to grow your actives list, don’t forget to focus more on your end goal.
If you want to sell, you will need to find active users who are your target. Make sure you do this by using hashtags that you think they would use to search.
That’s it! I told you it was easy.
I also told you it was a bit on the tedious side.
If you want to start building up your actives, add me on twitter and say hello. I’ll always engage back.
Don’t forget sharing is caring!
15 Responses
Twitter is a great platform for connecting with people and brands. I like your actives/active-test list. I keep a biz to watch list which is similar. I also keep lists based on topics.
One of my favorite ways to meet people is through Twitter chats.
I am really trying to up my twitter engagement, so I am going to have to follow these ideas.
I like the way you explained this. I such at twitter and the one social media that seems to work for me is Instagram.
Twitter takes 10x more work than IG. My IG is my best network too. Way less work.
This is a very informative post. I usually get more retweets now than before because I engage more. I want to explore the “list” in twitter. It may help increase my engagements.
I know what you mean. The minute I slip, engagement goes down, so it’s a plant that needs daily watering.
I really appreciate all your tips here! Twitter is something I have had trouble growing so I’m grateful for these ideas to use!
These are great tips for Twitter engagement. I love Twitter and even more now that I get more characters!
I use Twitter Lists a lot – they are a life saver!
I do too! I have way too many, but I use them all.
I learned a lot from this post. I was so confused about how to set up my lists and then how to use them, too. They way you explained it really makes sense. I used to engage on Twitter and I’ve let it slip. I’ll be using your ideas to get back in the game. Thanks!
I used to do Friday Follows every week when I first started on Twitter. Nowadays notsumuch and it definitely shows. Some of these tips are tried and true ways to increase your Twitter engagement and I really need to get back to practicing them. Thanks for the reminder Danay
These are awesome tips! I always find Twitter to be the hardest social media platform to get engagement on. I’ll have to try these tricks and see if I get more bites on my blog posts!
I have really neglected my twitter in favor of other social networks that seem to bring my blog more traffic. I should keep in mind that it should not lead me away from Twitter rather it should inspire me to work that much harder on it. I need to get my plan set and attack Twitter. #WatchOut #ImComing Twitter! lol
Twitter for me is a new field. Never had the patience to engage with it. But your tips seems easy and I think I can try them!
I love using twitter. These are great tips for boosting engagement and making the most of the platform as an influencer! I will be implementing a few of your suggestions for sure!