social media Archives - Nimble Quotes

Aug 28 2015

How To Get More Interaction on Twitter

Tweeting can sometimes feel like talking into the wind. No matter how often you post fantastic sales, tweet web links, or choose quotes to attract new followers, you still don’t get very much engagement or interaction.

Getting interaction on Twitter isn’t impossible—other social media personalities do it all the time! Perhaps it’s time to review your approach. Here are a few best practices that some of the most popular Twitter personalities like Grammar Girl and Ann Handly follow:

Reach out to followers

Don’t just stay in your corner of the Internet! Step out of your cave and interact with people on Twitter (that’s what you’re there for, after all). And the first people you should talk to? Your followers!

Every time you get a new follower, reach out to them and give them a personal greeting. This creates a good first impression and will make them more open to interacting with you in the future. If you missed your chance to greet them, respond to one of their own tweets and join in on a discussion.

Reward followers who respond or reach out

Did your follower reply to you or give you a mention? Or did a follower retweet one of your quotes?

Fantastic! Show your appreciation by retweeting something if theirs, as well! Publicly thank them for their effort. They’re guaranteed to appreciate it. If you can get this cycle of mutual appreciation going, you’ll quickly have a dedicated following.

Don’t spam

But don’t abuse your access to your followers. People aren’t on social media to be sold to. They want a pleasant online experience where they can chat with cool people and maybe learn something new.

Spamming people with offers, sales, or other things will just turn them off. Remember the golden ratio: 20% promotional, 80% non-promotional.

Choose quotes that pop

If you’re struggling for content, choose quotes that appeal to your target audience. Talking to business people? Choose quotes from prominent entrepreneurs or managers like Bill Gates. You can even try quoting movies and films, as long as they’re relevant to your topic.

One thing that really makes quotes pop is having a matching visual image. If you choose quotes that are intellectually appealing and post them with images that are visually appealing, it’s more interesting to readers and may get you a lot more interaction.

Join Twitter chats

A Twitter chat is a pre-arranged chat on a specific topic, which is formed around a particular hashtag. The hashtag links all of the participants’ conversations together to form a pseudo-chat room on Twitter.

This is a great place for you to interact with new people and possible get new followers. You can provide helpful resources like blog links or answer questions. Just make sure the topic is relevant to you, and that you actually do know what you’re talking about. And if you don’t, you can always ask questions. The Twitter crowd can be very helpful!

Try out these tips, and let me know what kind of results you get! Better yet, tweet me and we can have that conversation online!

Reach out to me on Twitter at @jenkellyjen and let’s talk! I look forward to hearing from you!

In this blog post, I mentioned using quotes as part of the content you tweet. Try out Nimble Quotes, our content as a service. Choose quote categories, timing and hashtags. Then sit back, relax and interact with your audience without the time consuming task of searching for your next quote to post. You’ll see 1-8 quotes per day being tweeted from your account automatically as if you tweeted them yourself. Pause, change and personalize at anytime. 30-day free trial, no credit card required.

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 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.

Jul 17 2015

Engagement on Twitter: You Can Do It Too

One of the best and most important uses for Twitter is engaging your audience. In fact, Twitter is probably the best social network at engagement. It allows you to start, find and participate in other people’s conversations without coming off as intrusive (in most cases). And you can reap the benefits of engagement (and maybe even start enjoying yourself) if you can just master the basics.

But I’m getting ahead of myself! Let’s take a step back.

What is “engagement,” anyway?

“Engagement” in this context can be summed up in one word: interaction. It involves listening and talking to customers on your social media network (Twitter or otherwise) in a genuine and timely manner. They talk to you, you talk back. Hopefully they’ll return the favor.

What do I get out of it?

A lot! Engagement on Twitter can mean a lot of things. Good customer service engagement increases customer satisfaction and loyalty. Brands that excel at starting Twitter conversations are more effective at their social media marketing than those that don’t make the attempt. In fact, Twitter released a whitepaper that said 70% of users felt more confident about a SMB after following and reading their tweets.

If you do it right, Twitter engagement can supercharge your digital marketing efforts. The Social Media Examiner released a report that said 90% of all marketers surveyed indicated that social media generated more exposure for their business.

So that begs the question: “how do I do it right?”

The Right Way

There are a few common best practices that make for great Twitter engagement:

Timely replies – Twitter’s a very fast-paced platform, where a single tweet can disappear in minutes. As a result, conversations get obsolete very fast. In fact, a survey by Convince and Convert found that 32% of respondents expect a response time of 30 minutes after posting a complaint on social media. So when you see someone mention you on Twitter, jump on it as soon as you can!
Keep your brand personality – “Brand personality” on Twitter isn’t just your avatar or your account name. The way you interact with people on Twitter should be the same as how you interact with customers in real life. Keep it consistent. Are your tweets funny? Clever? Insightful? Considerate? Stay true to your brand!
Stay relevant – If you’re posting under your company account (and not a personal account), keep your tweets relevant to your industry. Only participate in related conversations. If your brand is a bakery, don’t jump into a conversation about dogs (unless you’re making a dog-themed cake).

The Wrong Way

As you start exploring Twitter conversations, you may be tempted to do some pretty awful things. Things like:

Selling yourself – There are lots of brands that use Twitter as their own advertising space. That’s a big no-no. People are going to run away from your Twitter feed if it only contains links to ads and self-promotional things.
Getting into arguments – You’re going to encounter angry customers on Twitter, or people who just don’t like you. That’s only to be expected. But do not get into an argument with them online. Always be professional, because Twitter never forgets.

The Best Advice

Now, all this may sound intimidating, but don’t worry. I’ve got a tip that will simplify everything for you. Ready?

Act like you’re talking to friends.

Stay pleasant, stay true to your brand and before you know it you’ll find that engaging on Twitter can actually be a whole lot of fun!

Sign up for the Nimble Quotes newsletter to receive the newest tips on how to start Twitter conversations and enhance your online experience.

Jul 03 2015

5 Ways Twitter Hashtags Help You Get Noticed

If you’re on Twitter, then you’ve probably already noticed the hashtags many people put on their tweets (e.g. #FunnyTweets). I’ve already spoken about what they are and the basics of how to use them, but today I’d like to talk about why to use them.

A lot of entrepreneurs don’t really use Twitter hashtags or understand them, despite being active and having lots of tweets. But hashtags can be a great way to get your messages read by other people and, even better, find conversations that you can use to engage the community. Here’s how:

Helping engagement

Follow events and discussions. Many people add a hashtag to associate their tweets with a specific topic or event. If they end your tweet with #FIFA2015, for example, other people who follow that hashtag will be able to see the tweet and respond to it. You can take advantage of this by following a hashtag and participating in the discussion.

Just remember that your message has to be appropriate to the hashtag and contribute something to the conversation, otherwise people will get annoyed at the obvious marketing ploy!

Research. You can using hashtags to get a quick look at what people are saying online about a particular topic. This is great for researching popular trends that you might want to jump in on, or for monitoring fields of interest. You can even create lists of hashtags to follow to keep tabs on new developments.

But what about when you’re the one doing the tweeting? How do Twitter hashtags help you get noticed or get better responses?

Getting read

Use with links to drive engagement. If you’ve got a blog or something else to share on Twitter, adding a hashtag to the end of the tweet is the equivalent of putting an ad on TV. It helps spread the link around and get it in front of people who don’t normally follow your Twitter feeds.

Just be careful not to overdo it, though! Only use one hashtag per tweet (or two, maximum). Too many hashtags can be very annoying, so restrain yourself!

Provide context. It can be very easy to get misinterpreted online, so hashtags are a great way to provide context for your tweets. This is also if you’re quoting someone and relating that quote to a particular theme or topic.

Emphasis. Hashtags can also be creatively used to provide additional emphasis to a statement—or as the punchline to a joke (E.g. “Spilled wine #BadFirstDate”). A sharp contrast between the hashtag and the actual tweet can give an entertaining sense of irony. In this case, the hashtags aren’t there to organize or categorize the tweet, but to make the tweet itself more interesting and shareable.

So try incorporating a few hashtags based on my suggestions! Take a look at how other brands are using tweets, too, and adopt some of their best practices. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to hashtag with the best of them!

Nimble Quotes includes default hashtags with each quote category choice, and the option for your own custom hashtags. Learn more and sign up for your 30-day trial.