Are you having conversations on Twitter? Or do you feel like talking to yourself? To get the most out of Twitter, you need to use its engagement capabilities.

We have listed these actionable techniques that you can start doing now to get your followers and industry influencers talking on Twitter.

Reply

Engagement is a two way street. It is not very different from a real life conversation, only this one is taking place on a screen and there is a 140 character limit. Other than that, the rules of a polite exchange apply. Keep up with a conversation especially if you have started them.

Make sure to reply to tweets and questions that need them. I’m saying ‘need’ because if you have been on Twitter for a bit, you will notice that there are some mentions that you don’t need to respond to. Twitter is a wonderful business tool but as your following grows, you’ll notice that you will receive some spam mentions and replies. Keep your focus towards tweets that matter.

Use 110 characters or less

When you are using all of your 140 characters, your tweets may be too long. Shorter tweets are easier for your followers to share. When tweets are too long a follower would need to edit or shorten your tweet just for them to add their commentary or question. On a fast paced platform like Twitter, who has the time for that? 30 free characters should give your audience enough characters to tag you and to write their own input.

Tweet times and tweet days

Twitter studies have determined the daytime hours to be the best time to get engagement on Twitter. There is a 30% increase in engagement during these times. It is between 8AM to 7PM that most Twitter users are most active. You can also use your social media management platforms to see when you get the most Retweets, favorites, Replies or Mentions. Make sure to adjust your Twitter post scheduling accordingly. This is especially important when your target audience is at a different time zones that you. For example, if you are tweeting from the Philippines and your target market is Sydney (which is 2 hours ahead) or New York (12 hours behind), make sure your tweets are published during the peak times.

According to Salesforce,” When brands tweet during “busy hours” (8am–7pm), they receive 30% higher engagement than tweets that fall during “non-busy hours” (8pm–7am). This even includes tweets published on Saturday and Sunday.” This means that the weekends are not a time to take a break from Twitter but a good time to engage your audience.

Optimised tweets

Twitter examined the activities of its verified users and found out that those who have included other media in their tweets get a bump in terms of retweets. Images get 35% more retweets while videos get a 28% boost.

According to a study conducted by Twitter, hashtags get a 16% increase in retweets. If that’s not reason enough to include hashtags on your tweets, remember that these words preceded by the pound sign has other uses too.

There are many factors why followers interact with you.Your engagement on Twitter does not depend on a single tweet. You do not need to optimise each tweet by adding images and videos, however this type of variety is helpful when you look at your tweets holistically.

RT incentive

The advantage of Twitter is that it is a very interactive platform. Giving out incentives for retweets or replies encourage your followers to engage. Free products or trials for your services are good examples of freebies that you can offer to get conversations started.

Strong words

Words affect the way we perceive things. While two sentences can mean the same thing, people are likely to engage with one that contains the right words. The way we use words can change the meaning, the intention or the feeling of what we are trying to communicate. So, how do we translate this to getting engagement on Twitter? What words do we include when making attention grabbing headlines?

According to a research by Neil Patel, these are the words that receive the most engagement on Twitter:

• Free
• Social Media
• Follow
• Twitter
• Retweet
• Help
• How to
• Great
• Post
• Please
• Top
• Media
• Blog
• 10
• You
• Social
• New Blog Post
• Check out

Build relationships with your influencers

Know who your influencers are. Influencers are those who have are viewed as movers and shakers in your industry. they are the experts and people engage with them. It has been said that you can spot a leader if you see followers. Influencers have a huge following on Twitter and other social media accounts. You can also take a look at their Klout scores.

You can also spot influencers by the content that they produce and share. Influencers tweet content that are helpful for their target audience. Their content help shape their industry.

Reach out to your influencers. Retweet or Favorite their content especially the ones that your audience can also benefit from. Adding your thoughts about the content lets them and your followers know that you have thoroughly read what you share. One great way to engage with your influencers and their followers is participating in live twitter chats.

Maintain the relationship by checking in frequently and sharing content. Once you have established the relationship, ask questions and contribute.

Ask questions

What’s the best way to get an answer? Ask a question. Ask a question directed to experts in your industry or your audience. This is the best way to gather input from your influencers as well as feedback from your customers.

What does your day on Twitter look like?

About the Author

 

About Angelica Manlunas

Angelica lives off of coffee and pizza. She spends her time online tinkering on social media, watching short films and poetry slams. Her offline time is devoted to trips to the beach or spending lazy days indoors with a book in her hand. Also, she writes at least 1000 words every day. Email Angelica at angelica.manlunas@transeo.com.au and follow Angelica @ang_transeo.