When Twitter was first conceived, it was born with the purpose of encouraging a running dialogue and ongoing conversation, or as it is known in the digital marketing world: engagement. Getting people talking about your brand even when you aren’t there to stir the pot is the best way to ensure that your company stays top of mind. However, driving engagement can be difficult at times, particularly if your business doesn’t fall under any particularly “sexy” category such as beauty or fitness. Regardless of your industry or familiarity with Twitter, you can improve your engagement level with a few simple strategies.
Share Tweets
We all want to be validated, so take time to retweet the followers who mention your brand on Twitter. This lets your audience know that you appreciate and value their content. If your business is an extension of your personal brand, you may want to retweet content on your personal account. When choosing which tweets to retweet, try picking content that reflects your brand voice and values. A good litmus test would be to read the potential tweet as if it was nestled in your feed. If it sounds fluid, you know you’ve made a good choice.
Engage on a Personal Level
First and foremost, lending a personal touch to your Twitter account will almost always drive engagement, even if that’s just in the form of a simple “thank you!” Responding to customers who tweet to your account or use your company name as a hashtag shows respect and gratitude, which consumers love. Furthermore, it shows that your brand uses Twitter as it was meant to be used- as a bridge between brands, celebrities, and influencers, and the general public. Lastly, it proves that your company is invested in receiving honest feedback from your followers.
Use Relevant Hashtags
A quirky or clever hashtag campaign is another great way to refresh your brand’s presence on Twitter and elicit reactions and responses. To begin, pick a goal for your campaign. Do you want to receive feedback, garner user-generated content, or simply increase engagement? Once you know what you’re going for, research trending tags to understand what kinds of campaigns would be relevant.
Share Tweets with Utility
Generally speaking, the types of tweets that do best are those that solve a problem or have utility to your followers. By sharing content that will help improve their lives, you’re showing your followers that your company exists to address their concerns. This is an active form of customer service, which, if executed correctly, establishes a level of trust with your audience that is essential to maximizing sales. To understand what types of problems to address, research your followers’ feeds for information on the types of questions they’re asking or the issues they’re facing. If you try to share tweets that relate solely to the utility of your product or service, your sales tactics may end up turning your followers off. It is perfectly acceptable to promote your products, however, it should be done in a calculated (and well spread out) manner.
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