#thestruggleisreal when it comes to getting engagement on Twitter.
Even though I’m sure your tweets are incredibly witty, informational and beautiful, getting followers to actually retweet, like, or reply to them is a whole different ball game.
Why is engagement important?
Well, having 100,000 followers is great, but if none of them ever actually interact with your content and read the posts you’re sharing or buy the products you’re marketing, then what’s the point?
Getting a follow is like shaking a hand, but getting engagement is like starting a conversation. Which one does more for both people in the long run?
Lucky for you, there are simple ways you can increase engagement on your Twitter account.
I’ll share my top 7 ways to boost your audience’s chances of interacting with your tweets:
- Using more than words (images, graphics, meme, gifs, videos, etc.)
- Remembering that less is more (no one wants to read a paragraph tweet!)
- Leave a next step (i.e. a tweet version of a call-to-action)
- Pick the right hashtags (#keywords #are #everything)
- Create a poll (people like to share what they know!)
- Retweet, reply & respond (if they reach out to you, return the favor!)
- Schedule with the best times in mind (tweet at the highest times for engagement rates)
Let’s get started!
1. Use visuals whenever possible
Even though Twitter seems like a more “wordy” platform than other sites (like Instagram or Pinterest), Tweets including visuals are proven to perform better.
Studies have shown that adding a visual to a tweet boosts an engagement rate to 5 times higher than one without an image.
In addition, another study found that 82% of Twitter users watch videos and almost all of them discover these videos in their FEEDS > a SEARCH.
That basically means that the average person watches videos that are tweeted by accounts they follow even if they weren’t intentionally searching for a video!
If you can say it in an emoji, video, picture, meme, gif, or graphic, choose the visual route!
2. Keep your tweets short and sweet
While we’re on the subject of using less words, let me also point out that followers are MORE LIKELY to retweet short and simple tweets over lengthy paragraphs.
Keep your tweets short and sweet for maximum impact!
I know Twitter just moved the limit up to 280 words from 140, which is great for personal use, but unnecessary for our marketing purposes.
I recommend keeping your WORDS to the minimum, although the extra space is nice if you need it for disclosures, images (they no longer count as words), or more white space.
A good check on yourself is to stop and think, “Is this a tweet that I would scroll past?” If your sentences are too long, your follower may not stop to read them!
If you need to provide more information, then include a link or summary image rather than adding more words.
In the same line of thinking, it’s not actually good for your account to flood your followers with many daily tweets.
Many people think that a steady stream of constant content will help their brand, but it will only make people unfollow you!
Try to post 1-4 times/day with each of those spaced out throughout the day. Your followers will thank you, and each tweet you do publish will get more attention.
Always go with quality > quantity with your tweets.
If you don’t think you can keep up with a spaced-out posting schedule, try using a scheduler platform like SmarterQueue to help you keep track of everything.
3. Include a “next step”
We often talk about ending posts with a “call to action” — the same is true for tweets, although it looks a bit different.
At the end of every tweet, there should be a “next step” for a follower to engage with.
It could be a request to share the content, or it would be a link, image, or anything else that keeps them clicking.
Here are a couple of different examples of how you can use this skill based on what type of tweet you send:
- Inspirational Quote: “Never give up” Like if you agree!
- Advice/Resources: Pro-tip: We use Tailwind to automatically schedule Pinterest and Twitter posts. What resources do you use for digital marketing? Reply and let us know!
-
Content Share: We interviewed female entrepreneurs about their experiences with social media marketing. Read what they had to say here {link}.
-
Interesting Fact: Did you know significantly less women negotiate their first job salaries than men? Learn more here {link}.
-
Brand Awareness: Do you have a story to share about Lady Boss Blogger? Tell us your experiences by tagging your posts with #ladybossblogger!
- News: Elaine’s Advice Column is now open on LadyBossBlogger.com — retweet to spread the word.
As you can see, there are many ways that you can ask your audience to engage.
But how will people actually see what you’re posting at all?
Keep reading to learn more!
(See how I just used this skill to get you to keep reading? Mwahahaha)
4. Pick the right hashtags
Hashtags are essential to Twitter life.
It’s how you will get seen by the people who want to engage with people like you!
Although some hashtags seem obvious (like if you’re writing a quote, #quote is a good option), but there’s more to it than meets the eye!
You can use hashtags…
- For branded campaigns
- To reach a certain audience
- To get noticed by certain brands
- To market your content
- And much more!
Here are some great tools you can use to find the right hashtags for every tweet you write. (BTW good news, all the tools below are FREE!)
- For tracking overall trends: Hashtagify.me
- For tracking location-based trends: Trendsmap.com
- For real-time suggestions based on your tweet draft: RiteTag.com
- For hashtag analytics: Keyhole.co
5. Create a poll
Twitter polls are honestly my #1 suggestion for anyone looking to increase engagement fast.
It is SO easy for followers to answer a poll that sometimes I participate in them by accident!
But in all seriousness, we have gotten our HIGHEST ENGAGEMENT EVER from using polls.
We were getting only about 1-2 likes/retweets (if any) on LBB tweets, but the FIRST TIME we created a poll, it got 14 RESPONSES + retweets and likes!
The best polls aren’t the ones that ask what haircut you should get next, they’re polls that PROVIDE VALUE TO A COMMUNITY.
What do I mean by that?
Well, by tapping into a larger community of people in similar situations, you’re encouraging a group of people to interact with each other with your tweet as the platform.
In other words, you’re encouraging people to respond by promising that others will too and that everyone will learn something as a result!
In all of our polls, we asked bloggers + entrepreneurs questions about their highest performing social media marketing platform, which web host they used, what age they become entrepreneurs, what they were looking for help with in their business, etc.
By replying to the poll, our audience knew that with the results and the follow-up, they would be able to see what other people in their career fields were working with and on.
It not only engages a community, but is also helpful to you!
If all your followers are using WordPress, for example, maybe you should be writing posts about how to utilize WordPress features.
If all your followers want help with social media marketing, maybe you should write posts about how to increase engagement!
Let your followers tell you what they are interested in.
6. Retweet, reply & respond to followers
Once you are getting some engagement, you’ll need to keep it going.
The best way to do so is to interact with the followers that engage with you.
- If someone uses your branded hashtag, retweet them.
- If someone comments on one of your tweets, reply.
- If someone DMs you asking a question, respond.
Not only will you make a loyal follower out of that person, but you’ll also encourage others that see you interacting with people to do the same.
There’s a reason that popular brands respond to average people (most often with extreme sass) — it entices others to follow and engage with their accounts!
7. Tweet at the right times
Another super simple way you can increase engagement is to post at the most engaging times!
I know, it seems like common sense, but it can be a hard thing to keep up with on a daily basis.
The 3 best times to post for Twitter, according to a combination of many different sources, are (drumroll please)…
12:00, 3:00, 5:00 (all pm).
note: these stats apply best for those in the US
If those aren’t times that work for you to post every day, I, again, recommend SmarterQueue or another auto-scheduler to help you out.
All these platforms will automatically publish at the best times for your brand and location.
With all these things in mind, I encourage you to go out and engage!
For more awesome advice about social media, blogging, entrepreneurship, and life in general, follow @ladybossblogger on Twitter.
If you want to talk about how much you love this site (we love you too!), then tweet about your experiences and tag it with #ladybossblogger.
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Bethany Peterson is a junior at Wheaton College (IL) studying Interdisciplinary Studies and Journalism with a minor in Spanish. She has worked in blogging for three years first as a staff blogger for 31Women Ministries, and now as an intern with LadyBossBlogger. She serves as Co-Editor in Chief at the Wheaton Record and hopes to go into journalism after graduation.