Jennifer Kelly

Aug 14 2015

What If My Twitter Hashtag is Full of Competitors?

A Twitter hashtag is a godsend for businesses on social media. If you can find the right hashtag, you’ll be able to do a lot of things to get noticed like expand your reach and engage people in conversations.

But wait! This hashtag is full of competitors! What do you do now?

Don’t panic! All is not lost! You can still turn this to your advantage. Just need to follow these simple steps:

Assess the Twitter Hashtag

Firstly, take a step back and examine the hashtag itself. Is it a brand hashtag, or a general hashtag?

If you don’t know what those are, a brand hashtag is associated with a particular brand as either a slogan or a brand name. Kit Kat, for example, uses #HaveABreak. It could still be considered a regular phrase, but its strongly associated with the tagline, “have a break, have a Kit Kat” and so can be considered a brand hashtag.

General hashtags are typically hashtags created by the public, used to talk about a particular topic. #BadFirstDate and #WorkStress are examples of general hashtags. These hashtags aren’t owned by a particular person, but businesses on Twitter use them to get their tweets in front of interested people.

Once you’ve established what kind of hashtag it is, then you can decide what to do next.

Find a New One

If the hashtag you want is a brand hashtag, or a general hashtag that’s already been dominated by a competitor, you’re going to have to find a new one. That’s not as big a deal as it sounds, though. One of the best things about hashtags is that you don’t have to invest any money in them (not like website domain names). You can just come up with several other possible hashtags and try them all out, then run with the one that gets the best response.

Use it to Spy

Someone else using the hashtag is actually a great thing! You can spy on your competitors and watch what they do on Twitter. As you do it ask yourself these questions:

Do your competitors engage with people? How, and how effectively?
How often do your competitors tweet to the hashtag?
What do your competitors tweet? How do people respond?
What do people on the hashtag talk about?
Who are the people on the channel? Are they your ideal audience?

Watch the hashtag closely, and learn from what you see. Avoid any mistakes you see people make, and use what they do right as inspiration for your own social media strategy.

Dominate the Hashtag

If your competitors are on a general hashtag and they don’t have an overwhelming presence there, you still have a chance dominate the hashtag. I’m not talking about flooding the hashtag with your posts—it’s annoying and will drive people away.

You dominate a hashtag through quality, not quantity. Post interesting and valuable content, and engage with people on the channel in meaningful ways. Answer questions. Offer insight. Be impartial. And above all, don’t be salesy! Do it often enough, and people will start following you.

The key to succeeding with Twitter hashtags is picking your battles. Know when you should fight for a channel and when to sit back and watch. Know which conversations you should jump into and which you should ignore. If you can balance observation and action, you’ll be able to use any Twitter hashtag to your advantage. You might even start thinking, “the more competitors in my hashtag, the better!”

To learn more about using Twitter for business, sign up for the Nimble Quotes newsletter.

Aug 11 2015

Where Do My Tweets Go?

Are you new to Twitter? Have you been wondering exactly what happens when you send out a tweet? How do you know who will see it?

How Do I Post a Tweet?

First things first: how do you post the tweet? Make sure you’re signed in to your Twitter account. There are a couple of ways to begin posting: if you are on the home screen, you can either go to the box at the top of your timeline and type the tweet in there,

or you can click on the tweet button at the top right of the screen.

A box will pop up where you can type in what you’d like to post.

Then you just click on the Tweet button and you’re done!

Twitter has instructions you can check out here.

What Happens After I’ve Tweeted?

Once you’ve posted your tweet, you’ll see it appear on both your profile page and your Home timeline. What’s the Home timeline, you ask? That’s the feed you see when you sign in to Twitter, where you can look at the recent tweets of everyone you’re following. And that’s also where your followers will see YOUR new tweet appear. Here’s the difference:

This is my profile with a screen shot as I write this:

And this is my home screen as I write this (note that between the time I pulled up the screen and took the screenshot, 5 more tweets were posted. Don’t worry about posting too much with that kind of volume! But tweet frequency, that is another story.)

What If Someone Retweets Me?

Once you’ve sent out a tweet, there’s a chance one or more of your followers will retweet it. Just what is a retweet? It’s when someone re-posts your tweet onto their Twitter feed. Through this feature, they can share your tweet with all of their followers. This is great – it means that something you’ve tweeted struck a chord with one of your followers, and they decided to share it with their audience. They even have the option of adding a comment along with it.

But how do you know if someone has retweeted you? Easy – just go to the Notifications section by clicking on “Notifications” in the bar on the top of your screen. There you’ll see if any of your tweets have been retweeted.

Here’s an example of a notification I got when Tina Gaisin of Fill The Room, and a fellow CAMP member, retweeted one of my tweets.

Here is what a retweet looks like in the timeline. In this example, I follow WQW, and they retweeted a tweet by an account I don’t follow.

To learn more, here is the official information from Twitter on retweets.

Try Tweeting, Try Retweeting

Over to you. Get sharing the excellent information your followers and those you follow are tweeting. Good luck and if you need any help, tweet to me @jenkellyjen or email jen[at]nimblequotes[dot]com.

Try Tweeting Quotes About Work and Goals!

If you’d like more RTs and follows, why not try tweeting uplifting quotes? Nimble Quotes, which has inspiring quotes about work and the joys of going for your goals, offers a 30-day free trial so you can try them out for yourself! You’ll get 1-8 thought-provoking quotes per day, automatically tweeted from your Twitter account. Once your trial is over, it costs about $1/day or about $1/week to continue. Check out Nimble Quotes in action on @jenkellyjen or @newimarketing. Not ready for a trial just yet? Sign up for our newsletter instead.

Aug 07 2015

How Do I Build an Audience on Twitter?

A lot of business owners I talk to are hesitant to start a Twitter account because they’re intimidated. How do they build an audience on Twitter? Who’s going to follow them? Who do they approach?

The problem is that they’re overthinking the situation. Twitter is different from other social networks. For example on Facebook, your friend request needs to be approved. Same story on LinkedIn. But on Twitter, you can follow whomever you like – no approval needed.

It’s not a sales meeting! Think of it this way: everyone has an open door policy and you’re walking into their office to shake hands and introduce yourself. Have that in mind when you follow someone on Twitter. And don’t feel pressured by your early numbers—everyone starts from zero.

Here are some quick, reliable tips on how you can build a decent Twitter following:

Spruce up your profile

Would you invite people over to your apartment while it was still an unholy mess? Of course not! The same thing applies to your Twitter profile.

Upload a nice, friendly photo (this is what people are going to be seeing all the time when you Tweet) and max out your description with interesting text. You have 160 characters available to you. Make full use of it! This description has to express your personality. If you’re the fun, quirky sort, then put up something clever. If you like to stay business-like, then describe what it is you do professionally.

Start close to home

You probably already know plenty of people on Twitter. If you are using Twitter for business, start following colleagues, your clients and suppliers. Send them follow requests, and make sure to follow them too. Engage people as soon as they follow you back.

Follow the right people

Now comes the part that makes people nervous—finding who to approach. And the answer is another question: “who do I want to be associated with?”

Use Twitter’s search tool or some to find people you want to work with, be they customers or colleagues. This doesn’t just include celebrities or industry bigwigs. Look at the people who your customers and colleagues them. Chances are they’re professionals just like you, and may be an ideal client, colleague or great referral. You’re all like-minded people who want to learn from each other.

Don’t be shy! Just follow them. I’ve found that people who don’t yet know you will follow you back 15%-40% of the time. Over time, this response rate will build up to serious numbers!

The real work

But keep in mind that a Follow is only the first step. It’s just like a handshake at a networking event. You’ve made the introduction, now what?

Now it’s time to develop the Twitter relationship. And the best way to do that is by engaging other people in conversation. Respond whenever your followers post something noteworthy. Be selective, of course; you’re never going to be able to respond to all of them. Pick the person and the tweet carefully. But keep up the effort! The more you talk to people, the better you look, the stronger your relationships will be, and the faster you’ll be able to build an audience on Twitter.

Also, tweet your own content. Make sure you tweet things that both you and your followers will be interested in. This could be anything from random thoughts (we can’t talk business all the time) to company wisdom to business quotes for the day. Prove to your new followers that yes, following you was a great move!

Here are some quick tips for keeping your followers engaged:

Don’t sell. Your stream should be 80% non-promotional.
Retweet your followers’ tweets
Be wary of jumping into conversations where you’re not welcome
@Mention people when they need to be mentioned.

Keep those tips in mind, and you’ll have a bustling Twitter following in no time!

Remember, social networks move fast, but building relationships is slow, steady work.

To learn more about using Twitter for business including building an audience on Twitter, sign up for the Nimble Quotes newsletter.

Aug 04 2015

Tweeting: How Much Is Too Much?

If you are new to Twitter, you may be asking yourself just how much should I be tweeting? How many tweets per day are enough for me to engage with my audience, without going overboard?

Tweeting Three Times a Day is OK

I know what you’re thinking, “Three times a day? Isn’t that too much?” The answer is no; it could be just the right amount. “But,” you say, “If I sent out three emails a day to my audience, that would be crazy!” That’s true – three emails per day is too much from a company. But we’re talking Twitter here, not emails. And you have to think of Twitter as a type of broadcaster.

The Difference Between Emails and Twitter

Have you ever agreed to be on a retailer’s mailing list, and then instantly regretted it once you started getting a bunch of emails every day from them? We feel this way because receiving too many emails tends to get irritating fast. They clog up our inbox, it isn’t the right frequency for the medium and this can make us feel inundated.

Twitter, on the other hand, doesn’t work like that – it’s like a broadcaster, an announcer that gives us short, 140-character updates. We go on Twitter expecting to see news and announcements from the people and companies that we’re following. We dip in, we dip out. We don’t stare at Twitter for hours at a time. Neither do the people who follow us. So frequent (relevant, helpful) tweets are just fine. It’s not irritating when a company tweets (relevant and helpful information) multiple times per day – in fact, it’s recommended.

6,000 Tweets per Second

Just to put some context around “tweeting too much” this number might amaze you. “Every second, on average, around 6,000 tweets are tweeted on Twitter, which corresponds to over 350,000 tweets sent per minute, 500 million tweets per day and around 200 billion tweets per year.” Learn more about Twitter usage statistics here.

The More You Tweet, The More You Engage

Being on Twitter is all about engaging with your audience. And the more (helpful, relevant) tweets you send out, the more opportunities you have to do just that. If you’re sharing good content, that is relevant and helpful to your audience, you’ll tend to get more RTs, favorites and replies. These are all opportunities to start conversations with your followers – the first step in getting to know them.

If you need further proof, many online sources recommend tweeting 3-5 times per day. Check out what Buffer has to say about this topic. A key idea in the article is to view your schedule of tweets as an experiment, and to be comfortable with and open to iterating based on what your analytics say.

The Recommended Frequency of Posting on Social Media

Just like Twitter, other types of social media have a recommended frequency of posts. Generally, it’s recommended for a business to post twice a day on Facebook – more posts than that, and the likes and comments will decrease. LinkedIn’s recommended posting frequency is once per business day. This makes sense, given that LinkedIn users are busy professionals that use the service during work hours.

Do keep in mind that the world is a 24hr place and not all your connections, friends and followers are in your time zone.This is something to considerif you decide to just narrow your window of postings to the business hours in your time zone.

Nimble Quotes can help you with content to post on Twitter no matter how many times per day you choose to tweet. Select from 1-8 thought-provoking quotes per day that are automatically tweeted from your Twitter account to supplement your other content. Check out Nimble Quotes in action on @jenkellyjen or @newimarketing. You can also click here to try us out for a 30-day free trial. After your trial is over, it costs about $1/day or about $1/week to continue. Not ready to try us out just yet? Sign up for our newsletter instead.

Jul 31 2015

To Quote or Not to Quote: A Nimble Quotes Twitter FAQ

Over the course of my work, I’ve fielded a lot of questions about quotes and their use on Twitter. I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some of what I’ve learned with you so you can understand how quotes can help you build those Twitter relationships.

Here’s a simple FAQ quotes and Twitter:

Why should I tweet quotes?

There’s a number of great reasons to tweet quotes, but I’m going to start with the most practical: If you seriously plan on increasing your social media presence, you’re going to need to tweet a lot of content. And it should be content that represents you/your brand well, and is helpful for your audience.

Tweeting comes very easily to some people. They can come up with tweets at a snap of their fingers, but they probably have been doing it for a while and may already have a strong Twitter following. You, on the other hand, may not have that muscle yet, and need some help.

Collecting and using quotes are a great way to share clever, insightful and funny thoughts with your followers. When sharing content on Twitter, it can’t be all about you. A good mix of content is helpful for your audience.

I often use a cocktail party as an example. You wouldn’t just talk about yourself at a party, would you? No, you’d talk a bit about what you do, ask questions about what others did, share a joke, and talk about things that were of general interest to the group you were having a conversation with. You may even introduce someone into the group who just joined the party. You get the idea.

The same applies on Twitter. You know how I mentioned discussing a variety of subjects discussed at a cocktail party? This is a great way to could apply to your content on Twitter. Share quotes, share your latest blog, share articles from your industry publications, share blogs from colleagues writing about issues that affect your industry, share industry conference details, and then promote yourself. 80% of the content you share should be about other people. Only 20% should be promoting yourself. That’s a good “base ratio” to work with. Gary Vanerchuck referenced this curation philosophy in his

Quotes are also helpful in breaking up the monotony of talking about work. There’s more to life than that! I’ve noticed (no stats on this yet, we’re working on it) that quotes get an enormous amount of engagement on Twitter. It’s like the quote is saying “we don’t need to talk business all the time.” It can give us an appropriate and safe way to connect with others online with out sharing too much too early.

With a library of quotes, you can then have time to come up with content that is original, more artfully produced and more you. This helps you engage with people better online.

Is there a right and wrong way to use quotes?

Absolutely! For one thing, all of your quotes should be attributed to the person who said/wrote it.

Tweeting another person’s statements/observations without attribution might appear like you’re taking credit for that person’s words. Your source might not appreciate that. And this is not exactly the impression you want to give to potential fans, clients and colleagues.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with attributing a quote. In fact, it makes your tweet more powerful because of your source’s authenticity. Think about it: whose business quote is more impactful? A random entrepreneur nobody’s heard of, or Henry Ford’s? The latter, for sure!

Also, always remember to hashtag your quotes. This can really help spread your tweet far beyond your usual social media circle. (I’ve spoken about ) To get started, some common hashtags used with quotes are #quote, #quotes, #QOTD, #QuoteOfTheDay

Which ones should I use?

Try to find quotes and categories of quotes that reflect who you are as a brand, a company, a person. This goes for both the message and the person saying it.

Once you start looking for quotes, you may be as amazed, as I was, about the depth and breadth of quotes. All kinds of topics have fabulous quotes. There are hundreds if not thousands of quotes about business alone, not to mention sales, entrepreneurship and real estate.

The quote itself should communicate the same ideals and values that you yourself treasure. Hard work, integrity, dedication, etc. You may even find quotes that say what you always wanted to say but could never find the right words. You can also use quotes that express your personality: funny, irreverent, or upbeat.

The quote’s source should also be someone you respect. Just a few weeks ago Donald Trump made himself a public spectacle, and as a result many people (myself included) would now rather not quote him at all.

Where do I find good quotes?

There are a lot of places where you can find great quotes online.

Wikiquote is a publicly available database of crowdsourced quotes (meaning anyone can add to the database). One danger of that though is that because it’s crowdsourced, it’s hard to tell if the quote is attributed to the right person.

Brainyquote is another great database. Each quote listed there has a share button that makes it easy for you to post it on your social media feed.

And there’s Nimble Quotes, of course. What differentiates Nimble Quotes from the other two is that you decide which genre and categories of quotes you want, and we do all the tweeting for you based on a schedule that you pick. No manual tweeting!

Sounds good? Take it for a test drive!