In our chats, we often talk about the best practices of using Twitter. Since our community members are avid Twitter users, they’re aware of latest developments and they learn from each other a lot.
However, we rarely discuss the mistakes that most of us make on Twitter. Some of these are harmless, small-scale mistakes we can easily rectify. But there are also bigger mistakes that can hurt our overall branding efforts. That’s exactly what we wanted to ask Nika about.
Nika Stewart is a social media strategist and founder of Streambank Media, a social media management agency. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Nika Stewart
Topic: Common Mistakes Blocking Your Twitter Success
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share their thoughts.
There’s no right answer to this one. It depends on your industry, your social media strategy, and how active your community is. That said, it’s also essential that you’re active on Twitter. You want to tweet as often as necessary to encourage conversations without being irrelevant.
A1: You should tweet as often as you can continue to provide value and promote meaningful engagement. Don’t tweet just to tweet, but share your unique brilliance – as often as you can.#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
How much is too much? When you transition from being helpful to tweeting for the sake of tweeting, you’ve gone too far. But as our guest said, it’s hard to overdo it if you’re following the *E* FOURmula. Keep your tweets entertaining, educational, energizing, and engaging, and you’ll do fine.
A1: EVERY tweet you post should be at least one of the following:
? Entertaining
? Educational (to YOUR target audience)
? Energizing (motivational, inspirational)
? Engaging (designed to invite communication and community building)The *E* FOURmula ?#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Eddie shared a smart way to think about posting more. Create three highly-relevant pieces of content and schedule them at three strategic times throughout the day. Just make sure you’re altering the exact phrasing of the copy for each tweet, because Twitter penalizes you when you post too many duplicate tweets.
A1b. I suggest & do this for brands I manage on Twitter. Create 3 unique pieces of content & schedule those at 3 strategic times throughout the day. Now you are only creating 3 pieces of content, however posting 9 times through the day #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/xQqO2Q8BXS
— Eddie Garrison (@EddieGarrison) October 17, 2019
Aside from posting new content, make sure you also regularly respond to mentions, engage in Twitter chats and respond to threads. That way, you’ve got a consistent presence on Twitter.
The obvious mistake is not being prepared for Twitter. As a social platform, Twitter is fast and highly demanding. Without a proper plan, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and burn yourself out.
A2: Most people have great intentions, but life and business get in the way. Without proper preparation, it’s almost impossible to stay consistent for long. #TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Nika also talked about how important it is to be consistent with your messages. Your brand colours, images, custom GIFs, and tone should remain the same throughout.
A2: The most common mistake people make on Twitter is Lack of Consistency. (In our Quiz, we call that being the Accidental Hibernator).
#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/6vZYD5l8Qf
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Here’re a few more mistakes our community members pointed out:
And lastly, as Mrs. Turtlegang said, don’t ever publish a post without proofreading. Although, typos on Twitter chats are, to some extent, excusable.
A2. Typos are dreadful sometimes and can give off the wrong impression. I’ve made a few errors typing SUPER fast during Twitter chats??♀️ …maybe @Twitter will add editing capabilities #TwitterSmarter
— Mrs.Turtlegang (@MrsTurtlegang) October 17, 2019
As she answered to the previous question, Nika emphasized the importance of a social media strategy.
A3: The first thing we all need to do before committing to being consistent is: Create a strategy. Without a strategy, it’s impossible to remain consistent. Everything is haphazard.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/ex4D96BQKh
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
When you have a proper strategy, not only can you avoid surprises, but you also have backup content for when you have nothing else to say. You can also create a content calendar and schedule evergreen posts to go out regularly, so you still have something every day. Use social media tools to schedule, monitor, and simplify your work.
A3: When u have a clear Twitter Strategy, u can enjoy these advantages:
? Direction (everything you do on Twitter is tailored to YOUR goals)
? Measurement (monitoring allows you to fine-tune & improve)
? Efficiency (a Strategy saves you time & stress)AND..#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
(part 2)
A3: ? Consistency! A strategy assures that your tweets are always in line with your brand and goals, and you can say goodby to sporadic posting or big bursts of activity followed by weeks of silence.#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
As Lance said, being consistent becomes easy when you have something of a style guide. Make sure you have a documented brand guidelines and that every one in your team is aware of it.
#TwitterSmarter A3: Keep your brand and twitter messaging consistent by using/creating brand standards. Choose a Stylebook (I use @APStylebook) and use it. Use scheduling tools (@hootsuite).
— Lance A Schart (@LanceASchart) October 17, 2019
Twitter is time-consuming, and it can be a challenge to manage your time effectively. Block out time on your calendar and show up at the same time every day. That helps you build the practice.
Nika gave us four questions we should ask ourselves before creating a Twitter strategy.
What are your goals? What do you want to achieve from your activities on Twitter? Or, in other words, why do you do what you do?
A4:
1 (of 4) What do you want to achieve with your social media efforts?
You may want to increase $$, but to achieve this on Twitter, you need smaller goals along the way:
? increased visibility
? expanded thought leadership
? strong pipeline of prospects#TwitterSmarter— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Who is your target audience? Imagine the type of people you want to attract and engage with. Think about their businesses, their technical expertise, and how you can relate to them.
A4:
2 (of 4) Who is your target audience?
Specifically, who are the people you want to attract to your network? Potential
clients? Partners? Media? Influencers? All of the above?#TwitterSmarter— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
What can you offer your target audience that others can’t? In other words, why should people follow you and engage with you, and not someone else who does the same thing?
A4:
3 (of 4) What value do you offer your target audience?
What is your expertise? What type of content does your target audience want
to see from you?#TwitterSmarter— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
What’s your main message? This covers your core values, ethics, policies, and mission.
A4:
4 (of 4) What is your / your company's main message?
What is your mantra? What themes do you often preach to clients and prospects? What are your values?#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
And as Damian rightly mentioned, consider segmenting your followers and audience based on geography. This helps you identify what times most of your audience is active, so you can schedule posts strategically and engage with them at a time when they’re most likely to respond.
A4: Segmentation of the audience and an geographic area which needs to be messaged. #TwitterSmarter
— DamianS (@DamianS1) October 17, 2019
The first step, as our guest mentioned, is to make sure you have your strategy in writing. Make an online document or a file on your computer. In the beginning you’ll possibly have just notes and scraps of ideas, but document them nevertheless.
A5: If you are creating a Twitter Strategy for the first time, it’s best to document it in writing (or on your computer). When you have a written Strategy, it is more likely to be followed. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/E0CL7ylAKv
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Having it someplace you can constantly refer to, helps spread the work and makes it easier to incorporate ideas laid out in your strategy. It forces you to stick to the plan.
A5b: Make sure to incorporate your Twitter Strategy into your overall marketing plan. Twitter is one piece of the Marketing Pie ? and you want to be CONSISTENT!#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/E0CL7ylAKv
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
As Rachel said, a great way to learn how to do something is to observe someone you admire. Follow a few accounts that you think are doing a great job and see how they manage their Twitter activities. Learn from them.
A5: First timers: Stalk your favorites (respectfully). Keep an eagle eye on some of your favorite accounts. What are they doing? What do you like? Take notes. Do this for two weeks for 1-3 accounts you love. What can you adapt for yourself? #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/8nGv3npEhJ
— Rachel Wendte (@rkwendte) October 17, 2019
Here’re some other things to consider while creating a strategy for the first time:
When you have a strategy, and you have it in writing, communicating it to your team is just as easy as sharing a link.
A6: Communicating to your team is so much easier when you have a Twitter Strategy. (see how this all works together???) ?#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/ih9AbcqZYc
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Aside from that, make sure that every piece of content on your website and other online media reflects your goals and values. That way, employees and team members naturally learn what you’re all about.
A6: You entire team – the people who help you with your social media AND everyone else on your team – should be aware of your goals. When your goals are documented in writing, the team knows to always go back to your strategy. ?#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/ih9AbcqZYc
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
A6: Your company’s main message – your mantra – should be front and center. Everything that is posted online should always be in alignment with that.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/ih9AbcqZYc
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Our friends from GiveWP shared with us how they communicate with their team members. Because their audience is primarily on Twitter, the platform plays an integral part in their overall marketing strategy. They have also documented their goals, and periodically update their team about how they’re progressing. This makes way for excellent feedback during evaluation and helps extend the strategy in a positive way.
A6: We have a documented overall marketing strategy with Twitter goals included. Then we give updates quarterly on how we're progressing toward annual goals. Twitter is heavily emphasized in our marketing strategy because our audience is mainly here. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/333975IRYd
— GiveWP (@GiveWP) October 17, 2019
An engaging tweet is relatable. Don’t use high-tech industry jargon to look and sound smart. Keep it simple, share what matters to you and your personal opinions, and use everyday language. That way, people will feel more compelled to respond to your tweets.
A7: An engaging tweet speaks in the language of your ideal target client. Don’t make the mistake of speaking in industry jargon to sound smarter. That will only attract more people from your industry – instead of your target clients.#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
A7: An engaging tweet includes YOUR opinion, your thoughts, your take on a topic. Simply sharing other content does not invite engagement. Give your personal summary or opinion on what you are sharing.#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Video is also great. As Nika demonstrated, it showcases the real you, and gives your audience an opportunity to know the person behind the handle. A custom GIF also does the same thing.
As NJWebster reminded us, asking a question or running a poll can also boost your engagement levels.
A7: One which encourages a response. (Especially if you ask people to reply with a GIF or Emoji I've found!) #TwitterSmarter
— NJWebster (@_njwebster) October 17, 2019
Some other ways to make your tweets engaging:
Showcase the real you. People love seeing quirky and authentic content. Don’t be just another corporate brand with defined vocabulary. Let yourself have fun and translate that into your content.
A8: Show of your awesome, unique, quirky, nerdy, weird, fabulous, smart personality!#TwitterSmarter
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
And here’s a great example of how Nika showed off her personality.
A8: I think I’ll answer that #TwitterSmarter question with a video:
(enjoy my musical creation after a few cups of ☕️) pic.twitter.com/NvP8ID0ymO
— Nika Stewart (@NikaStewart) October 17, 2019
Hannah also made an excellent point about respecting your followers. Don’t spam them. Treat them as your community—ask them what they expect from you, understand their needs, and try to solve their problems. Be a helper. That way, you grow your Twitter influence and your followers will look up to you as a valuable resource.
A8 By creating a community and respecting each follower as a person not a number. I think this is very important, tweets at you are potential followers but if you don’t provide them with any meaningful content or interaction, why in the world would they stay? #TwitterSmarter
— Hannah Richards (@actPRHannah) October 17, 2019
That’s all for this week’s chat summary, folks. For more great insights from the chat, check out this Twitter Moment that our chat member Joana put together.
Feel free to tweet out your thoughts and comments to either Madalyn or myself. If you’ve got some time to spare on Thursday, join us at 1 pm for the next #TwitterSmarter chat.
About me, Narmadhaa:
I’m a writer of all things—technical and marketing copy to fill the pocket; haiku and short stories to fill the soul. A social media enthusiast, I’m a member of the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and always happy to take on writing gigs.
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