One of Twitter’s many underrated features is Lists. We’ve spoken about the value of using Twitter Lists before—here’s the first time, and the second time—but it’s always worth a refresher. After all, Twitter being Twitter constantly update their platform with feature enhancements that most of us may have missed out. That’s why we invited key account strategist, Warwick Brown to talk to us about Twitter Lists.
Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Warwick Brown
Topic: Using Twitter Lists like a pro
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
There are so many things you can track using Twitter Lists. As Warwick explained, start off by making a list of your clients or top customers. That way, you’ll always know what they tweet about, the causes that matter to them, and the issues they face on a day to day basis. This can help you get involved in existing conversations and share your expertise. It’s also a way to meet new clients through existing ones.
A1: Save lists of all your current clients to keep up to date with their announcements. Great way to keep on top of developments in your client's business and join (or start) conversations on topics important to them #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/946JjC9Z5V
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Another more common use case is to make a list of influencers and leaders in your industry. That’ll help stay on top of the latest news and get involved in trends as they happen.
A1a: Create a list of thought leaders in your industry or profession to quickly discover conversations that matter. Great way to connect with others passionate about the same things you are.#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/3BqNQJMc79
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Our guest then shared a handy tip for sales people. Just as you would keep a list of your top clients, do the same with leads and potential clients. This is where private lists work wonderfully. When you create and add someone to a private list, they won’t get a notification. This way, you can silently keep up with a group of people. It’s also a brilliant tactic to observe what your competition is doing.
a1B: If you're in sales, Twitter Lists are a great way to generate business. Create separate (and private) lists of leads and watch for opportunities to help, add value and bring awareness to your solutions. #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/exCBAPVdCV
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Christine shared some more interesting scenarios in which she uses Lists. She’s created a list of people who regularly participate in her Twitter chat so that she can be more involved in their Twitter conversations. She also spoke about making lists of people you want to connect with later on—especially in events, when you’re busy networking and don’t have much time to connect on social media. If you attend a lot of events, online or off, consider making a list for each event to make it easier to recall how and where you met them.
A1.
To track who is speaking at or attending a conference (especially if I’d like to connect with them);
To keep track of how I met someone;
To categorize their expertise;
To keep track of my #ChatAboutBrand community #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/0ergI37BS0— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 12, 2020
Lists are versatile and you can create as many as you want. As our guest suggested, you can use integration options like Zapier to get summaries of your lists, right into your inbox. And if you make separate lists for personal and professional networks, keeping up with conversations becomes so much more easy.
a2: Create separate lists for professional and personal networks. Lists make is easy to stay in touch and you can even get automated digests of list conversations to your inbox with @zapier automations so you never miss a conversation.https://t.co/zYafSNa8x8 #twittersmarter
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Steven mentioned some other great ways to leverage Twitter Lists. For example, aside from using a list to initiate conversations with selective people, you can also share a public list, inviting subscribers or suggestions. If you find a list that you think suits you well, pitch yourself to be added to that list. That’ll put you in a larger group, giving you a reach that’s wider than your network.
A2 – You could
1⃣ exchange lists with other tweeps
2⃣ ask for recommendations to complete a list
3⃣ ask to be included on public lists of tweeps you follow#twittersmarter https://t.co/pkiIHxhC9v— Stephan Hughes (@stephwurking) November 12, 2020
Lists are a great way to engage your leads. For example, as Warwick said, from monitoring your competition and narrowing down potential clients, to tracking people on the fence and converting them, lists can be part of every stage of your business activities.
a3: Find mentors, monitor business trends, find and engage prospects, watch competitors, build brand awareness, qualify leads. You can do it all with Twitter Lists. #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/nyfPlYpL8n
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
He even demonstrated how he’d classify lists, based on his action items: Suspect, Prospect, Approach, Negotiate, Close. And if you keep them private and pin them to your profile where you can see them at a glance, you’re more likely to follow through with your plan and succeed.
a3A: Here's an idea to drive new business sales: create private Twitter Lists for each stage of your sales funnel and pin them to your profile e.g. Suspect, Prospect, Approach, Negotiate, Close. ??#twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/Bd4XTsI4EZ
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Shane also mentioned how lists can be geography specific, helping you reach and engage a large audience without foregoing a region just because of timezones.
A3 By using lists, you're organized in your Twitter efforts so you can hit each demographic each day and not miss anyone by simply scrolling the feed. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/7BDbr9RIW6
— Shane Shaps (@520eastbrands) November 12, 2020
And of course, as Madalyn added, Lists can help you focus on building those relations further, which is essential to increase your credibility. After all, people only buy from those they know, like, and trust.
A3: As mentioned, Twitter Lists can provide a great opportunity to build relationships. At the end of the day, you need to establish the Know, Like, and Trust Factor in order to grow your community and generate sales. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/vXN1747KPQ
— Madalyn Sklar – Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) November 12, 2020
When a child sees something their friend has, they want the same thing. Sometimes, adults are similar.
Subscribing is a way to avoid behaving like kids. If you see someone else’s public list, and like it so much that you want to hear from the users in that list, then you can just subscribe to that list, instead of replicating it.
a4: It's easy to find and follow public Twitter Lists and the great benefit is these have already been curated by someone who cares about the topic. All you have to do is subscribe and dive right into the conversations #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/G4YlRIwdk2
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Marianne put it well: she called it “borrowing” someone else’s list. What’s more, not only does it save you the time, but you can also make a valuable connection with the owner of the list.
A4: It means you can effectively "borrow" a list that someone else has already created.#TwitterSmarter
— Marianne Avery | Social Media Manager (@sociallymaz) November 12, 2020
As Ginny added, it makes the owner feel validated, a feeling you will get in return when someone subscribes to your lists. That’s why we use social media, isn’t it? Sometimes, it’s the vanity metrics that keep us going.
A4 it's a great feeling when others subscribe to your lists, as it validates your choice and selection
(I know this is a vanity matrix but it still feels good!) #TwitterSmarter— Ginny #ItIsWhatItIs (@Gini_L) November 12, 2020
Warwick shared two of his favorite tools. One: Inoreader. As he said, it creates a reader-friendly layout of your lists so you can easily keep up with conversations across your lists.
A5: @Inoreader is my favourite app that turns Twitter Lists into a magazine. Create a feed for each list and browse the tweets for articles that interest you. You can also save and tag favourites and make notes within the app – so very powerful #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/Uy77Nyqkfm
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
He also assured us that Inoreader has an excellent free version as well—if you want to check it out.
You get plenty for free and it's a small fee to upgrade for extras if you need them. I was on the free plan for years.
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Warwick’s second recommendation is of course, the crowd favorite, TweetDeck. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’ll be a game changer—especially when it comes to monitoring lists. It has an easy-to-grasp column layout that behaves just as the native Twitter feed—it instantly displays new tweets without needing to refresh the page.
A5A: @TweetDeck is an amazing way to monitor your lists. Add your favourite lists as columns and then use the tweet content filters to find relevant or popular conversations and the people you want to talk to #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/S80lwGPKIR
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Jake told us about Vicariously, an app that many in our community hadn’t heard of before. The tool allows you to create Twitter lists based on other people’s followers. Go on, give it a go: vicariously.io
A5: I love @getvicarious.
It allows you to slice and dice lists based on other Twitter users.
I create private lists based on who someone else follows to kind of get a "sneak peek" into what their feed looks like. Helps generate ideas!#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/rXTGwFJcLN
— JZ ? Jake Zachariah (@jzjakez) November 12, 2020
Similarly, HootSuite and Flipboard work well with Twitter Lists as well.
It doesn’t matter if you haven’t pinned lists so far (I hadn’t), but it’s definitely worth doing so now. It’s a great way to organize your lists, both for yourself and for others who visit your profile. Have a look at the example our guest shared—you can even customize the appearance with a good image and strong CTAs, and you’ll have converted a normal list into a high-functioning engagement magnet.
A6: The ability to pin and re-order lists allows you to quickly navigate to conversations important to you. Customise the headers to give them visual appeal or share a message (and it makes list look great in a tweet too) #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/cIaD6X65ng
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Jim shared another great tip as well: you can organize and prioritize lists for specific devices. For example, as Jim said, you can highlight mobile-specific lists only on the mobile, while the generic ones can show up first when someone access your profile on their computer.
A6. Pinned lists don't carry over between devices, so you can have up to 5 pinned lists that are different depending on where you are accessing Twitter from.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/O9ax89kltC
— Jim Fuhs #LaunchYourLive (@FuhsionMktg) November 12, 2020
Headers on Twitter Lists are a lot like banners and header images on Facebook or LinkedIn pages. You can customize the header for each list separately, with any image, text, and illustrations you think is relevant.
a7: You can get super-creative with headers. Use them like you would a banner for your Twitter or LinkedIn Profile or Facebook Pages. Add visual elements to intrigue subscribers or tell your story. #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/pdeaDLzSdG
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
As Kelly suggested, on your header, you can also highlight a specific member or influencer who’s part of the list, as a way to entice more people into subscribing. You can even shuffle the spotlight to make it fun and more inviting.
A7: It would be fun to use them to highlight a different person from each list that everyone should follow (especially if it's a really large list) or something noteworthy that someone is doing that is part of the list. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/UPirDNllK9
— Kelly Kostanesky (@kmmkcomm) November 12, 2020
Adding to that, Drew from GiveWP also suggested how nonprofits can use the header to promote their causes. For instance, if a nonprofit creates a list of their regular donors, the header image for that specific list could include little notes from those donors about what the cause means to them. It’s a nice and compelling way to reiterate your message.
A7: #nonprofits can customize their list headers as an extension of their organization’s storytelling. Especially effective when the list is populated with powerful voices for a cause. #TwitterSmarter
— GiveWP (@GiveWP) November 12, 2020
When you’re aware of what lists you’re on, it’s easier for you to engage in conversations. There’s much less noise, as Warwick told us, and you can easily filter out your feed and jump into urgent matters first.
A8: You can pick up on conversations that are a matter of urgency. So much easier to socially listen with lists because all the noise is gone #twittersmarter pic.twitter.com/bhca7HC6XY
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) November 12, 2020
Kathy added that the publicity can be valuable. When you realize that someone’s added you to their list, you should always acknowledge it. By adding you to a list, they’ve endorsed your content, in a way, and categorized you with a bunch of others who are similar to you. In other words, they’ve handed you a list of new contacts—make use of it!
A8. It can benefit your biz, #brand, add #publicity -u can retweet the post that you've been added. Take a look at who else is on the list too. Great to add followers, #engage with fellow peers or new vertical alliances. #Twittersmarter
— Kathy Van Duzer, M.A. (@katwife) November 12, 2020
Well folks, that’s all from me this week. Thanks for reading, and for more great insights from our chat with Warwick, take a look at this Twitter Moment that Joana put together. And if you’ve got some time to spare on Thursday, join us at 1pm ET for our next #TwitterSmarter chat.
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write 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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