Twitter has become more sophisticated and brands can now use GIFs, story-like threads, and Twitter chats to engage their audience.
If you want to learn how to increase engagement on Twitter, your aim should be to boost engagement on every single tweet you publish.
Building relationships with your target audience is key to growing your presence and increasing revenue. Here are some tips and strategies to help you connect with them:
1. Run viral Twitter contests
One of the best ways to increase Twitter interactions is to run a social media giveaway. People love the idea of getting freebies, and Twitter giveaways have the potential to go viral, reaching hundreds or even thousands of Twitter users.
With RafflePress, you can easily create online contests that will be viral on Twitter. The plugin is packed with features that you need to run a successful Twitter giveaway, and with ready-made actions, you can get participants to tweet a message to enter.
2. Add a Twitter feed to your website
If you place your Twitter feed on your website, it will increase user engagement. Your website’s visitors are already your fans, so they will be more likely to interact with your tweets.
Custom Twitter Feeds Pro allows you to display your Twitter feed on your WordPress site. You can display multiple feeds on the same page or throughout your site.
The Twitter feeds are very customizable. You can select which type of Twitter feed to show, combine multiple types of feeds, select your layout, and there are many design options.
3. Post content your followers’ enjoy most
If people don’t find your content interesting, they won’t bother discussing it. You need to share material on Twitter that your audience will enjoy to get the most clicks, retweets, and likes.
You can learn what type of content your followers enjoy consuming the most by looking at your analytics. Twitter analytics lists your top-performing tweets, which can give you an idea of what works best for your particular audience.
4. Add more value to quality content
Many businesses make the mistake of using Twitter as an advertising platform, which does not generate the intended response. Twitter should be used to create a buzz, not to constantly advertise products.
If you want to increase your audience engagement, you need to create content that is interesting and valuable to them. This is the key to getting them to come back and engage with your posts.
5. Remember to interact with other user’s tweets
It’s important to remember that Twitter is a social media platform, so you need to be active and socialize with other users.
Sometimes, all it takes is to browse your Twitter feed, start conversations around posts that interest you, like, and retweet them so your own network can get involved.
You can use a social media monitor tool to not only keep track of conversations related to your brand, but also to actively participate in those conversations with helpful tips and advice.
Social listening is a tactic you can use to figure out what topics your audience is interested in and make content that is related to it.
6. Attract more clicks with videos
More and more people are choosing to watch videos online instead of reading text or looking at photos. On Twitter, videos are six times more likely to be shared than photos.
Tweets containing videos are more likely to be engaged with than those without.
7. Share a variety of links
Including links to your website in your Twitter posts is the best way to encourage people to engage with them and click through.
While it may be tempting to share only your own content on social media, it’s important to also share content from other sources. This will help you create a well-rounded online presence.
Mention the source of the article you’re tweeting out by using the @ symbol followed by their Twitter handle. That way, they’ll be notified that you’ve shared their content and may even retweet it to their own followers. This can result in more traffic coming your way.
8. And make those links shorter
If you’re using Twitter, it’s a good idea to shorten your links so that you have more room for hashtags, mentions, and other useful information. Plus, your followers don’t need to see the entire URL to click on it. A shortened version will work just as well.
Many social media tools like Buffer, etc, will automatically shorten links when you schedule new content. But if you’re not familiar with them, you can use one of the following URL shorteners:
9. Setup Twitter cards
You should set up Twitter cards on your Twitter account to improve engagement and drive traffic. Twitter cards attach rich media, photos, and videos to tweets.
To add a Twitter card to your site, all you need to do is add a few lines of code to your pages. Then, when people tweet content from those pages, there will be a card attached that is visible to their followers.
To drive more engagement from your tweets, consider adding the following Twitter cards:
- Summary Card – This includes the title, description, and thumbnail of a blog post or page.
- Summary Card with Large Image – Similar to the card above but with a large featured image.
- App Card – A card that includes a direct download to an app.
- Player Card – This card displays video, audio, and media.
10. Boost interactions by curating content
When you share content from other sources, it shows that you understand your topic well enough to find the most interesting information. This, in turn, allows you to positioning yourself as a true expert.
There’s plenty of advantages to curating a collection of great content to share which includes:
- A diverse range of content to keep your Twitter feed relevant and interesting.
- Sharing content from industry leaders increases your credibility, as well as strengthening your reputation.
- Mentioning the source of content you share, gets their attention and prompts them to interact.
- Curated content fills gaps in your content calendar when inspiration fails you.
One way to increase your blog’s visibility, engagement, and traffic is to target influencers in your niche and curate content from them.
11. Create the perfect content mix
It’s tough to decide how much of your personal content to share on your feed compared to content from other sources.
Here’s a guide for the perfect content combination to keep your posts well balanced:
- 5 x Curated Content – Links, images, and videos from other sources relevant to your audience.
- 3 x Created Content – Relevant, quality content you’ve created yourself.
- 2 x Personal Content – Personal comments and fun content to build a personality for your brand.
12. Add humor with GIFs and memes
GIFs and motion graphics are popular around holidays and for topics that are trending. The movement grabs attention in an otherwise static Twitter feed.
13. Find a unique and compelling brand voice
Brand voice is the soul of your social media presence It’s crucial to establish your brand’s voice on social media. Before setting up your Twitter account, do some research on your audience, brand vision, and messaging. Your brand’s voice is the foundation of your social media presence.
14. Complete your Twitter profile
Search engines like Google can search your Twitter profile. Make sure it has:
- A high-quality profile photo
- Relevant tags, keywords and location information
- A bit of personality
Follow PlayStation’s lead by creating variations of your name, using a branded profile image, and adding your location.
15. Get verified
Twitter has resumed verifying accounts after taking a break from doing so in 2017.
If an account has a blue tick, it means that the account is run by a legitimate entity.
The purpose of the verification process is to prevent fraudulent and imitation accounts from becoming popular on the platform.
If people know you’re genuine, they’ll be more likely to follow you.
16. Post visual content
97% of people on Twitter focus on visuals instead of text or emojis. Try using:
- Images
- Videos
- Memes
- GIFs
- Infographics
- Graphic quotes
17. Learn what makes a good tweet
To create content that stands out on social media, you need to have a good understanding of both the art and science of creating such content. The art part is mostly a matter of feeling, while the science part can be expressed in a handy list.
According to Twitter, the best performing tweets:
- Contain 1-2 hashtags
- Are conversational
- Are short and sweet (Tweets under 140 characters still perform best)
- Use visual content
- Are tested using analytics and tweaked
- Respond to current events and trending conversations
The Trends section of Twitter’s Explore tab lets you see what topics and hashtags are trending on Twitter.
18. Post at the right time
Hootsuite’s research indicates that the best time to tweet is 8am on Mondays and Thursdays. So if you’re just getting started, your best bet is to post regularly at these times.
Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature can be used to find the optimal posting times for current and potential new followers after 30 days.
19. Embrace new features
Monitor Twitter’s postings to stay up to date on new functionalities. Are you already familiar with Spaces, Twitter’s live audio chat feature introduced in 2021? If not, you could miss out on the latest promotional opportunities for brands.
To stay up to date on Twitter’s latest launches and upcoming features, follow @Twitter on Twitter. Coming soon are features like Spaces (Twitter’s answer to TikTok’s visual replies) and Tweet Takes.
20. Use hashtags
Hashtags on Twitter make your posts searchable to users who don’t already follow your brand, making it a quick way to access new viewers and wider audiences.
According to Twitter, you should add 1-2 hashtags to each tweet to make them relevant. If possible, try to link them to a wider trend like #FridayVibes.
21. Use emojis
Winking face emojis can help your tweets get seen because they are visually appealing to people.
Using emojis in your tweets makes them more likely to be seen by your followers, which will help you gain more followers.
22. Create Twitter threads
If the story you want to tell is too long to fit in a 280-character tweet, you should start a Twitter thread.
Threads are created when a user clicks the “add another tweet” button in the composer. Threads are sequences of tweets connected in series. Twitter marks threads with numbers, for example 1/6, 2/6, 3/6. Threads are created when a user clicks the “add another tweet” button.
People love stories because they provide multiple opportunities to be seen.
Select the plus icon to create a thread. Twitter will add the numbering automatically once you publish.
23. Engage, engage, engage
One of the best ways to build followers when you’re new to Twitter is to consistently engage on the platform. That means:
- Engaging with your existing followers (answering comments, messages, etc.)
- Tracking your brand mentions and responding to them
- Keeping an eye on retweets and commenting on them
- Posting comments on the posts of non-competitor accounts in your niche
- Liking posts regularly, i.e. every day
If you’re looking to increase your visibility on Twitter, engagement is key. The algorithm favors active accounts, so the more you tweet, like, and retweet, the more likely you are to show up in people’s feeds. Plus, engagement also keeps your followers coming back for more, and exposes you to new audiences who follow similar accounts.
A social media dashboard like Hootsuite can be helpful for managing all your social media engagement in one place. This can include direct messages, mentions, and comments.
24. Use Twitter lists
Don’t worry if the idea of managing all that engagement on Twitter gives you a headache. You can use Twitter lists to help you out.
Twitter lists are a great way to organize the people you follow into groups. This can help you better manage your time spent on Twitter.
You could create lists of:
- Competitors
- Consistent retweeters
- Customers or clients
- Brand advocates
- Important topics
- News sources
- Industry influencers
- Twitter chat participants
- Prospects and leads
25. Take part in Twitter chats
If you want to reach more people on Twitter, try joining a Twitter chat. These chats are public conversations about a specific topic. This is a great way to get more exposure for your account.
The conversations happen at a specific time that is set in advance, and people can follow along with a special hashtag for that chat.
You should search for relevant chats by following accounts in your niche, and then post comments to the chat using the designated hashtag. This will ensure that you are seen by potential customers who are interested in what you have to say.