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Tips That Will Make Your Tweets Share-Worthy

Share-Worthy TweetsIn the age of social media, Twitter is no small player. By now, many companies know the basic principles of tweeting; tweet often, be responsive & engage with users, and stay away from touchy matters. Social media has connected a lot of brands with customers, and Twitter is a leading resource for reaching potential buyers. According to Hubspot, more than 1/3 of all marketers have found a customer via Twitter in 2013 alone. If you find yourself in the other two-thirds of companies struggling to attract customers via the social media giant, you may benefit from making a few “swaps” in your tweet campaign. (Follow Brandtastic on Twitter!)

Tip 1- When Sharing a link, mention why it’s worth reading.

Many companies who tweet links to news articles, blog posts, or relevant webpages often neglect to mention why the link is insightful, funny, noteworthy, or worth reading. Showing emotion, citing interesting specifics, or personalizing the text that accompanies the link can entice readers to click through and read the post. According to a study on social sharing, certain emotions like amusement, shock, nostalgia, fear, or anger can trigger social engagement and readers become more willing to share (or retweet) this type of information. Before you send out your next tweet, think about what type of emotion you want to elicit and make sure your text & link can deliver that feeling.

Tip 2- Use calls-to-action, but only sparingly.

In social media marketing, using a call-to-action to encourage social sharing is very effective, especially with Twitter. According to a study by Dan Zarrella, a social media specialist, tweets that included phrases like “Please Help”, “Please retweet”, “Please RT”, and “Visit” received a considerably larger number of retweets than ordinary tweets with no call-to-action. Just remember, asking readers to retweet your link, picture, or post is a bit like borrowing money and should only be done with great care. If you want to spread the word about a contest, event, campaign, giveaway, or informal marketing research, asking for a retweet is perfectly acceptable and will often successfully elicit sharing.

Tip 3- Be relevant to culture & current events.

Companies can use current events as a great way to drive cultural relevance with customers. A good example of this is brands who utilized the expected birth of Prince William & Princess Catherine’s baby to stay relevant by using funny wordplay followed by #RoyalBabyWatch. Although timeliness is important, it’s not the only aspect to staying relevant. Your target market should be interested in the current event otherwise your post may not be very popular. Earlier this week Skinnygirl Cocktails (@Skinnygirl) tweeted two separate timely topics; one successful and the other not. Here they are:

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The first tweet ended up have great social sharing success and seemed to entice reader engagement much more than the second version tweeted just days before.

Tip 4- Address customer complaints, but not always with a public “mea culpa”.

Sites like Twitter & Facebook offer great opportunities to engage with both existing customers and potential prospects, but sometimes unhappy customers can leave pointed comments. Most businesses know better than to ignore these criticisms, especially on such a large platform, but addressing every issue that customers bring up with a public “mea culpa” can actually turn off prospects if it happens too often.  By acknowledging a few important or common customer complaints with a tweet such as “We are looking into this”, you are showing that you care about what customers are experiencing and are working on a solution. This can build goodwill with current buyers and potential customers, something every business can use.

Tip 5- Share/Retweet other interesting or informative tweets.

When you are curating your tweet content, don’t forget to share or retweet posts that will interest your readers. Constantly tweeting about how great your brand, product, or service is will only begin to look like a long list of sales pitches. This can bore readers and even cost your followers. Instead, share the stage with companies or brands that align with your focus, goals, or readership. Readers are looking for helpful and interesting information. Sharing information that they can use, even if it’s not written by you, can help build a relationship with them.

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