Twitter is an extremely popular and important social media platform. It currently has over 270 million active monthly users who send more than 500 million tweets per day.

Can you even imagine…500 million tweets a day? It is mind-boggling to say the least. (don’t worry, I am not going to advise you to send millions of tweets per day!) If you are still asking yourself whether Twitter is important or not when it comes to your social media presence- the answer is Yes!

Now that you know you need to be more involved on Twitter, here are some excellent tips for building Twitter engagement and gaining followers.

Building Twitter Engagement

Building engagement on any social media site takes time and attention, and Twitter is no different. (Check out this article on Facebook Engagement) Everywhere you look these days you see people interacting with social media. But they are not just blindly following everyone, they only follow brands that they feel offer them something of real value.

There is some confusion as to what exactly engagement means in the social media world.  What engagement means on Twitter is, any time someone reacts to your posts or talks about, or to, you. That is, whenever someone likes, re-tweets, clicks on, or comments on your posts. As well as any time someone responds to you, sends you a message, or mentions you in a tweet.

Include Images in Your Tweets

Now let’s talk about how to build this engagement. One of the best ways to get attention is by using images in your tweets. Sandra Vega from Twitter reports that Tweets that include rich media like images and video’s, get an average of 313% more engagement and over 50% more re-tweets.

Images can include photos, funny memes, inspirational quotes, video’s, or infographics to name a few. Funny and inspirational posts are great for building engagement. Everyone likes to laugh and they feel more inclined to share something that makes them feel happy.

Use Hashtags in Your Tweets

This may seem like redundant advice. I mean it is Twitter, and they did invent the Hashtag! But most people either don’t use hashtags, or worse yet, don’t use them correctly. Hashtags were invented by Twitter as a way to categorize the posts.

The most important thing to remember when using hashtags is not to use too many. Nobody wants to read a post that is all hashtags. It becomes hard to read and looks more like a commercial or sales pitch than real, sincere content. Your followers can see through shallow attempts to get their attention by using a lot of hashtags. The general rule is not more than 3 to 4 hashtags per post.

Include Links in Your Tweets

Now that we have talked about images and hashtags, the third thing you should be including in your tweets is links to articles and websites. Providing something of value to your customers means searching out articles and websites that can help your followers solve a problem or issue they may be having.

Including a link to a credible and authoritative website will not only help your followers, it will help you in many ways. It will help you become more credible and authoritative. This is one of the times when being ‘guilty by association’ is a good thing. It can also help you gain followers.

When your current group shares your tweet, their friends naturally become curious about the company they are re-tweeting. Then they make their way to your page. It is a win-win. Believe it or not, it strengthens their relationship with their friend at the same time it allows them to grow a new relationship with you and your brand.

Navigating the Twittersphere can be confusing, but if you follow these three pieces of advice you will do well. As a matter of fact, Sandra Vega of Twitter says the formula for the perfect Tweet is (Image + Hashtag + link). So get out there and create an engaged following.

If you have any questions or need help with Twitter or any other Social Media Platforms, contact us today!

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