Recently, the Grammar Chic team has begun some content marketing consultation work for a number of clients who are brand new to Twitter. A few of the more seasoned social animals out there may find it hard to believe, but yes: Twitter is still adding plenty of new users every day, people who have long been familiar with the platform but not necessarily experienced in working it.
Thus, there’s never a bad time to offer a quick primer on tweeting. The Web is rife with resources for the Twitter newbie, but for our purposes we’ll focus on a simple concept: Things you can do that will cause you to lose followers. And yes, losing followers is certainly a bad thing—so consider the five practices not as suggestions, but as Wrong Way signs.
- Constantly tweeting out links to your website or blog. Now, lest anyone think we forbid this practice altogether, let us make clear that we use our own Twitter account to promote our company blog posts, multiple times throughout the week. The problem comes when that’s all you ever do. Being on Twitter means being part of a broader conversation—which in turn means talking about things other than yourself. Offer some insights, tips, or links that don’t directly link back to your assets. Make it clear that you’re not just on Twitter to promote.
- Using the @ sign incorrectly. We see amateur tweeters all the time who begin a post with the @ sign, attempting to call attention to another Twitter user—but if the first character in your tweet is the @ sign, then it automatically registers as a direct reply to the user in question—which means it won’t show up in all of your followers’ newsfeeds. This is the kind of rookie error that can turn people off and send them elsewhere.
- Being off topic. If you own a plumbing company, then it’s probably fair to assume people are following you to get insights into plumbing. When you start talking about sports or politics—well, that may interest some of your readers, but it’s likely to turn others away.
- Being inactive. Many Twitter users regularly go through their lists of followed accounts, pruning those that are either inactive or simply no longer interesting. If you don’t post consistently, you’re in danger of getting the axe!
- Retweeting only. Finally, don’t make the mistake of thinking that just retweeting can give you an active and interesting Twitter account. Content curation is certainly important, but content creation is ultimately necessary if you want your Twitter account to have distinction and value.
For more Twitter do’s and don’ts, we invite you to contact the Grammar Chic team today: Visit www.grammarchic.net, or call 804-831-7444.
The Red Ink 