When it comes to building authority on Twitter, we all struggle a bit. There are a lot of things you can do to create a positive halo around your brand. However, there’s also a lot of confusion about how to go about it. For example, every day we see and hear from various experts about what we should and should do. Our feeds become a cascading waterfall of ideas, opinions, and advice—so much so that it’s often so overwhelming that we decide to give up.
Don’t give up on your brand.
We invited Tony Christensen to teach us a few lessons about building a brand on Twitter and developing authority. Tony is an expert in Facebook Ads. He offers consultation and social media marketing services for small businesses. He’s also a keynote speaker and an overall trove of proven knowledge. Here’s a summary of our chat with Tony.
Guest: Tony Christensen
Topic: Using Twitter to Build Your Authority and Grow Your Personal Brand
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
To build authority is to connect with people in your industry, learn from them, and share your own expertise for them to learn from. It’s establishing yourself as someone worth listening to. By building authority, you also build trust and respect.
A1a: Building authority on Twitter is all about building relationships with industry peers and showcasing your expertise online. When you have authority, people respect your opinions, viewpoints, and advice.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
When you’ve been consciously making efforts to build your authority and trust, you become the go-to person for people when they want something. You become their solution provider whenever they need clarity or help.
A1b: When you're building authority, you're taking steps to be the 1st person that comes to mind when people are thinking about your industry/services/niche.
When people are looking for help on a specific topic, the person they turn to online has built authority. #TwitterSmarer
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
A great example of a person who’s built solid authority is Madalyn herself. Tony said she’s the first person he’d think of asking a Twitter question. She’s built that credibility by offering helpful content in her podcasts, #TwitterSmarter chats, courses, and stage speeches.
A1c: For example, I want to know the latest and greatest about Twitter. @madalynsklar is the first name that comes to mind and the first person I turn to for advice.
She has built authority through her #TwitterSmarter chat, podcast, tweets, courses and speaking. pic.twitter.com/FJSAPdBro5
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Tom pointed out the top 5 elements that authority is based on. Your level of authority relies on your character as a person, your competence, compassion, communication skills, and your commitment to people and your cause. When you have all these elements working for you, you’ll become a natural leader and people will start rallying around you and your solutions.
A1) Authority comes from a balanced dose of personal character, competence, compassion, communication, and commitment. With those five you will draw people to you which, in practical terms, makes you a leader with legitimate authority. #TwitterSmarter
— Tom Reid (@_TomGReid) November 21, 2019
Building authority takes time. You need to be around and available consistently so that people get used to seeing you and your content. Only then will they start expecting your opinions.
There’re many things you can do to be consistent. You can try different ways of sharing, and sharing various types of content. For example, our guest Tony gave the following suggestions:
A2a:
1️⃣ Learn your craft. Look at who is rocking your industry, listen to what they are saying, doing and why. Test their advice. Rinse and repeat with multiple industry experts.
2️⃣ Form your own opinions based on what you have tested. What works for you? ?#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
A2b:
3️⃣ Provide value. Share what you’ve learned, share your experiences. Share REAL results you’ve achieved. Be authentic!
4️⃣ Show your authority with case studies, blogs, podcasts, shows, and features. ???#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
One way of adding value to others’ content is to quote them and include your own observations. That way, not only are you sharing important data with your audience, but you’re also telling them why you care and they should too.
A2c:
Other tips:
1️⃣ Instead of just sharing articles, write what you took away from them or if you have a differing opinion.2️⃣ Create consistent content. Share what’s working for you, the latest updates, answer FAQs, give free downloads, share case studies.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
As Christina added, it’s also important to celebrate the people in your community. They are, after all, you largest audience, and showcasing their work gives you more content ideas while also helping establish a rapport with them.
A2: Provide social proof.
Who have you helped? Where have you been mentioned or had an article published.And most importantly – showcase your community. The people I tend to follow openly help others and highlight their colleagues. #TwitterSmarter
— Christina Garnett (@ThatChristinaG) November 21, 2019
You are your personal brand. It’s made up of how you represent yourself online, what information you share, and how helpful you are. To paraphrase Jeff Bezos, your personal brand is whatever people talk about you when you’re not around. It’s their impression of you.
A3a: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” @JeffBezos#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Tony also added that a personal brand reflects your inner personality—it’s the things you love. And when you build your business around your brand, it can also evolve with the changing times.
A3b: I love what @ChrisDucker teaches about building your brand around YOU.
Share your personality, share what you love, and your brand can adapt and change because you’ve built your business around YOU. ?#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Oh, and the most important thing is to always be nice. Not only is it good manners, but it also affects your personal brand and how people perceive you.
A3c: What do you love? What do you stand for? What is your vibe? How do you act online and in person?
This all makes up your personal brand.
So be nice! ?#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
As Jignesh rightly pointed out, you can have a lot of control over how your personal brand comes through. And so it’s important to realize that you can shape people’s opinion of you. It’s a big responsibility, and you should take it seriously.
A3.
Personal brand is how you promote yourself. It's an impression of an individual based on their expertise,experience, actions and achievements within a community and industry.#TwitterSmarter
— Jignesh Thakkar (@JigneshThakkarV) November 21, 2019
Unless you know who you are and what your goals are, you won’t be able to convey it to the world.
That’s why, as Jack pointed out, it’s important to define your goals.
A4: Setting personal goals + intended audience needs to be step 1 in any personal brand development. Too many jump right into making content without figuring out who they want to see that content, or what their unique take on content is. #TwitterSmarter
— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) November 21, 2019
Then comes the actual action item: building your personal brand. Once you establish your goals, go ahead and showcase them on your profile. Like our guest pointed out, optimize your bio to reflect your personality and intentions. Make sure your profile picture is relevant and resembles the current you. When you’re building a business around your personal brand, you don’t want to represent your older, once-was self.
A4a: The 1st step to building your personal brand on Twitter is to optimize your profile.
Make sure your bio clearly tells what you do, have an updated profile picture, optimize your banner, add your website, have a pinned tweet.
Get your foundation set!#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
After you’ve got the basics right, you can then branch out. Follow industry leaders, engage with them, and learn how best to get the maximum out of your efforts on social media. This way, you’ll also make connections and can establish authority in an area of your expertise.
A4b: After your profile is optimized, start diving into your industry and see what people are saying. ?
Who are the thought leaders? Follow them, learn from them and engage with them when the time is right.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
A personal brand indicates who you are and what you’re interested in. It helps people assess your vibe. When you make it easy for them to see that, it’ll become easier to grow your brand in that realm.
A5a: A personal brand will show who you are, what you’re like and who you help.
The easier people can look at your brand and see that, the easier it will be to build authority. ?#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
To project your interests, aside from sharing your own content, share other relevant people’s content too. Imagine a stranger looking at your profile. When it’s full of topics and discussions that you care most about, it speaks on your behalf.
A5b: When you share content and give your take on the latest industry news, people will go and look at your profile to get a feel for your personal brand.
You’ll want to ensure you have your best foot forward.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
All that said, though, remember that a personal brand shouldn’t be fixed. It’s important that you’re able to change according to demand and trends. As Janice said, beware of getting locked-in.
#Q5 I think a personal brand can definitely increase your authority but it's important not to get "locked-in" to a positioning. The market evolves and to stay relevant you may have to as well. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/TlYCH17vt3
— Janice Mandel (@janicemandel) November 21, 2019
But here’s a wacky idea that might topple all you’ve learnt about personal branding. John reminded us all that even though it’s important to focus on nurturing your brand, it is, after all, about you. So it’s critical to be the authentic you.
I think that's what drives my hatred of the concept. "Building a personal brand" seems cold and clinical to me. Just freakin' be yourself. #TwitterSmarter
— John Cloonan (@johncloonan) November 21, 2019
As crucial as it is to focus on improving your brand on Twitter, it’s also essential that you’re aware of common mistakes.
For example, we all share articles that we enjoy and think our audience will appreciate. However, according to Tony, sharing articles and retweeting posts without adding your own opinion doesn’t add much value. Sure, your audience will like the post you’ve shared, but unless you tell them why you liked it and why they should spend time reading it, it’s not much helpful.
A6a:
Common pitfalls I see:
❌ Sharing articles without adding any of your own opinions/viewpoints.
❌ Spamming people with your sales pitch. ?♂
❌ Tagging TONS of people just to get attention.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Another common mistake a lot of Twitter users, especially novice ones, make is tagging a bunch of unrelated people on a tweet to try and garner more attention. In reality, it only shows immaturity and strips you and your content of reliability.
A6b:
How to avoid these:
✅ Share your takeaways from shared articles. Create your own content.✅ Give VALUE instead of sell to build your authority. Pitch at the RIGHT time. “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” @garyvee would say.
✅ Tag relevant people, no one else!#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
As Tim said, because Twitter is so diverse and contains and endless stream of differing thoughts, it’s too easy to stray away from who you are as a brand. It’s common to get dragged into the moment and forget what you stand for. Be aware of that.
A6: Be careful if your brand diverges from who you are too much; nothing kills a brand faster than a feeling it’s fake. #TwitterSmarter
— Tim Lewis @Stoneham Press #indieAuthorChat (@StonehamPress) November 21, 2019
Here’re a few other pitfalls our community members pointed out:
A lot of social media experts recommend making your own GIFs. Not only is it a great way to showcase your uniqueness but it’s also an unexpected surprise for your audience.
A7a:
At @smexaminer’s Social Media Marketing World, I remember @andrewandpete said to create your own GIFs. I can’t recommend this enough! #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/ccwS8wHUyn
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
In the long run, as Tony said, your custom GIFs will become a medium for people to recognize you by.
A7b:
After the conference, I went home and batch-created a few. It’s a great way to QUICKLY have people recognize you and get a feel for your brand.
Here is an oldie, but a goodie I made before…#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/u4gm417lem
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Tony even has a guide on how you can go about creating custom GIFs. Check it out here.
A7c:
Want to learn how to make GIFs for Twitter? Check out my video here that explains the process:https://t.co/Ww4PCzLnx3#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
As a social media consultant himself, Tony had a lot more advice to share. He often tweets about common issues his clients face. Not only does this educate his audience, but it also proves his experience in the matter. And if you’re new to Twitter, or are exploring a previously unknown industry, acknowledge it and start sharing things you learn on the way. It’ll help others like yourself.
A7d:
Other ways to stand out:
– Share what you’re experiencing. I love to share common problems I see my clients dealing with and how to avoid them.– Trying to build authority in a new industry? Share that you’re new and share what you learn along the way. ?#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
One of the most important things you should do is be confident. Take a stand—don’t be afraid to make bold statements. It’s a powerful way to show people you know what you’re talking about.
A7e:
Make bold statements and take a stand! ?
I did this recently talking about a common client issue I see: https://t.co/FHPVPthpc5
It garnered 26,000+ impressions and led to over 140 people looking at my Twitter profile. ?#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Here are a few more ideas our community members shared:
And of course, while doing all that, don’t forget the big picture, your primary goal: provide value.
A7f: Focus on helping people and providing VALUE.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that Madalyn is a Twitter rockstar. Tony agrees.
A8a: @MadalynSklar and the #TwitterSmarter chat! I’ve learned so much from Madalyn and can’t recommend her enough!
She provides an incredible amount of value to the community.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
If you have any questions at all about using Twitter and getting the most out of it, just browse through Madalyn’s website. Check out her courses. Or tag her on Twitter. She’ll always respond with helpful information.
A8b:
Fun Fact: Madalyn was the 1st person I looked up to that reached out to me when I was starting to build my personal brand.
Thank you @MadalynSklar!#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/qKgnDLX8ZQ
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Tony also suggested looking up relevant keywords and following people who engage most on those keywords. Buzzsumo is a great tool for identifying topics and influencers for your industry.
A8c:
Search relevant keywords, topics, and hashtags to see the top-performing tweets and people in your industry.
I’d also recommend searching @buzzsumo for your industry keywords to see what influencers it shows. Follow them to see what’s working for them.#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
However, as you observe and learn from others, don’t let all that change or alter your personality. It’s important to be your authentic self on Twitter.
A8d: Leverage resources and thought leaders in your industry.
But don't copy their personal brand.
Do it your way!
Be you.
Be authentic.
Be consistent.
You got this! ?#TwitterSmarter
— Tony Christensen (@tonydoesads) November 21, 2019
Here are a few more resources for you to check out.
And of course, don’t forget the #TwitterSmarter hashtag!
Well, that’s all folks. If you’d like to read more great insights from our chat, take a look at this Twitter Moment our volunteer team member, Joana Rita Sousa, put together.
Feel for to join us on Thursdays at 1pm ET for our regular #TwitterSmarter chat. Just not this week though—Happy Thanksgiving, America!
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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