If you have an online presence, a matching Twitter feed is status quo. Don’t let this valuable asset go to waste; Twitter is a champion tool for networking and finding sales leads. Here are the top 5 ways to use Twitter to engage your community:
Speak up and Use it: The more you tweet, the more followers you’ll gain. Jump right in and chat with people. Follow the people you admire, and let them know you love their work.
Use Twitter’s Search Function: Use search.twitter.com to see what people are chatting about in your niche right now! Or Type in “sandwich” so you can laugh and see people tweeting about whether their sandwich is mediocre or delicious:
Using Twitter’s Search Function to Engage Your Community: One day while searching I noticed a funny tweet by @useyourtanuki. He asked if it’s okay to pick up chicks while thrifting!
I posed the question to my thrifty followers on his behalf, who engaged and responded. @modernthrifter shared tales of unwanted advances, Thrifting pros like @thenonconsumer, @thingsifound, and @thrifting4good said thrifting is best done solo.
The result:
Mission accomplished!
Use Google News: You might be out of ideas or links to share on Twitter. When you’re running low, use Google’s News Search. Type in a keyword associated with your niche, and you’ll quickly find something to share.
Twitter Giveaways: Twitter Giveaways offer so many valuable opportunities. You can gain more followers, or have your current followers answer survey questions.
Really Communicate: Twitter is all about having real conversations. Reply when someone asks a question. Be casual, and be real. Do this, and the ideal audience will come to you. This audience will follow you back, follow your blog, and buy your products.
Remember: Every time you tweet, you’re making opportunities. Follow me, @thriftcore and Brittni, @papernstitch. We’ll answer your questions and chat with you about how much we love art and whether or not your sandwich is tasty.
*image c/o Nozzman
Vanessa wrote this post. She is a full time copywriter and webmarketer with a passion for art, creativity, and thrift. She writes about thrifting, creating, and saving money every weekday on her blog, Thrift Core.
14 comments | Click here to reply
I thought it was funny you mentioned to search for ‘Sandwich’. ha 😉
Hello SandwichI’m new to your website (how on earth I have no idea!) and absolutely absolutely love it. Just listened to 1,2,3 Sew book podcast. So great and super cute accents!
Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xoxo
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Small Ways to Spread Your Creative Business Message | papernstitchI’ve always felt a little bit awkward when using twitter, so thanks for the helpful advice!
Angelagreat tips brittni, esp the one about google news, writer’s block is so hard to avoid!
fanii’m kind of struggling with tw as well but i’m determoned to make it work!
“I tested some of them and gained about 8 extra followers from it today alone!” That’s great Patience!
papernstitchmaybe i use it wrong but i don’t try to “keep up” with twitter. when i’m bored or interested i flip through and see what’s happening or new or exciting. i do try to post at least once a day, and always try to respond to people.
i read this earlier today actually, and these are GREAT tips. i tested some of them and gained about 8 extra followers from it today alone!
patienceHey Jordan. There is a bit of a weirdness curve when you first start using twitter, but if you keep persisting that will eventually go away and you’ll get the hang of it. Of course, if you really think you need a course on twitter, I heard Laura Roeder’s Twitter course is pretty great: http://twitterwebinar.com/go/
papernstitchI need to take a twitter class because I just don’t get it. The whole has mark thing is beyond me and I’m not a technologically challenged person. I’m a gamer and know a lot about computes but twitter just feels awkward to use. I’ll figure it out eventually though.
JordanHow wonderful Vics. Don’t you love when that happens?
papernstitch-Brittni
Weirdly, I was looking at my twitter account just this morning and thinking ‘I’ve really got to figure out how to use this properly/better/at all’ – so this advice was perfectly timed. Thank you!
VicsHi Little Miss Pip. Believe me, I completely understand where you are coming from. It can be difficult to set aside time for twitter, or any other social media, but with a few tools, you can cut the time you spend on these sites down while keeping interaction up.
papernstitchFor example, something like Hootsuite http://hootsuite.com/ is great for scheduling tweets in advance. So whenever you do have a moment during your day (whenever that may be) you can schedule a few fun questions to ask your followers throughout the day or a link that you think your followers would enjoy.
Then when you have time to check twitter again, you can respond to @ mentions about the posts that you scheduled on Hootsuite and tweeted while you were away. And start the conversation there.
Hope that helps. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Glad you brought pns over to Bloglovin’ for a new way to read our posts.
-Brittni
I am really struggling at the moment to keep up with using twitter ‘properly.’ Since I moved back in the my Mum (*sigh*) I don’t get long periods of time to sit at the twitter feed and interact with it. That is one of the downsides of twitter, it’s hard to just ‘check in’ like you can with your facebook or your blog reader.
{Mum is itching to get on the computer now – http://littlemisspip.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/104/}
Speaking of blog readers, I really love Bloglovin. I took my top 10 blogs from my oversubscribed Google Reader over and am finding it so much easier to comment and interact with blogs as you will have seen. This is my second comment on yours in as many days 🙂 Keep up the good work
LittleMissPip