As I moderate what is being shared on JustRetweet.com it occurs to me that many people – even bloggers – do not really understand what to tweet.
First it is important to keep in mind that there is one thing you really need to know about Social Networks:
They are called SOCIAL networks because they are about
RELATIONSHIPS – actually interacting with other people.
People don’t like advertisements so don’t advertise on Twitter. In other words, your tweets should not SOUND like advertisements! Here are some examples of what does NOT work on Twitter:
What NOT to tweet:
- Just a link with no text – no one is going to click on that – at least no one with online experience who knows better
- Automated programs offering to grow your Twitter followers or Facebook friends
- Sales pages like http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-special-offers-forum/429548-600-sold-total-twitter-domination-make-twitter-submit-your-will.html – if you want to recommend something WRITE A POST or SHARE A REVIEW but don’t share a sales page because people will think it is a scam. The key to ethical marketing is HONESTY.
- Only your own blog posts – people are rarely interested in the self-absorbed – see How to Share Interesting Content on Twitter
- Only links to or tweets about your business – see Why You Should NOT Just Keep Tweeting About Your Business
If you want more tips on how to use Twitter
see my comprehensive Twitter Best Practices post.
IMPORTANT OTHER THINGS to NOT TWEET:
- 10 Things You Should NEVER Share on Twitter or Facebook
- What NOT to Tweet: Ways to Commit Social Media Suicide
- Things You Need to STOP Tweeting About – Remember your audience – if they are bloggers and social media influencers tweeting about Twitter, small business and social media IS interesting to them.
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Gail Gardner
Small Business Marketing Strategist at GrowMap
Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist who mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers.
After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends.
Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.
Latest posts by Gail Gardner (see all)
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Thanks for your excellent advice Gail! As a direct result of both reading and implementing your excellent on your blog and investing in some extremely valuable paid consultation time with Gail, I’m now starting to have a much grasp of how to effectively use social media in general and twitter in particular!
Thanks so much for sharing all of extremely valuable time saving and money making advice!
Mark would love you to read ..Why Every Serious Small Business Marketing Plan Should Definitely Include This!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Mark. Many go about Twitter all wrong. These tips plus a similar post What to Tweet on Twitter make sense of how Twitter works.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Increase Website Traffic Automatically Using Your Own Best Content
And don’t you hate all the fake p/rn followers!…Grrr!, nice article thanks
As I am the beginner in this twitter, this post helped me a lot, thanks…….
Thanks for these tips. Actually I still don’t have a twitter account. I have to make one now.
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Hi Gail,
The last one is one of those that really gets me mad. There are some people that it seems like the only thing they do is tweet their own stuff all day long. I usually unfollow them as I really get tired of seeing self promotional tweets after tweets.
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Very often there is a problem of adding posts on Twitter than makes me mad… I agree with above that it is not the stablest platform ever…
Awesome post, I hope more people take notice of this and improve their tweets. There’s nothing worse than having someone tweet a link with no description, it could be absolutely anything!
I am very much interested with these Do’s and Don’ts in Twitter which is very important. It can make or break your business or blog as well.
I think the crux of all this post is one thing “make an appealing post rather than a very boring and dull one obviously with a shortened link in it”!
Hi,
Nice info thanks for this now i can secure myself with some lots of more ideas where should i tweet and where shouldn’t.
sam would love you to read ..Goa Carnival 2012
I cannot understand why there is so much noice about twitter and I really cannot see any benefits of it. The majority is taken by the facebook so I think it is better to comcert of the Facebook.
We should remember that we need to be extra careful of our tweets. Think Before You Tweet. Great list of not to tweet.
Twitter is an interesting social network because it seems to be one that’s really very full of people self-promoting (as compared to FB), but at the same time, this is a party of people self-promoting themselves. No one’s going to be popular is they just throw sales pitches. It’s more about connecting on a human personal level and exchanging business cards.
Thanks a lot for giving this true list of things that should be taken into consideration when you work on Twitter
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I agree with this, and I’d add another point about being professional too. I see so many ‘professionals’ and small companies on Twitter who are just incredibly rude and swearing about various service providers. It amazes me that anyone would want to buy from them or work with them when they have such a publicly negative attitude.
None of the people I follow on Twitter have tweeted advertisements but if they did start to do so, I would definitely unfollow them. I use Twitter as an RSS feed so I can get breaking news stories from my favourite sources, all in one place!
Hi Gail,
Maybe it’s just me but with tweetdeck open I see a lot of these tweets and I unfollow a lot of people who just sell and don’t share information I like to know about.
I also think that as a blogger or business one should not tweet about how many drinks you had in the pub and what you did afterwards.
Nik would love you to read ..How to find the right career coach
Many thought that twitter is a place for us to advertise. Thank you for bringing this issue out. It give us some idea what tweeter is really all about.
Elizabeth McBride would love you to read ..Ways to win the lottery
The key to ethical marketing is HONESTY.
For sure!! And this is definitely true on Twitter too!!
I know I have a long way to go before I really utilize Twitter properly, but from what success I have had I have seen that the real successes on twitter are from this manner of being a “real” person and not always just pushing your products and page
I usually see many tweets which has no title only plain link, and I generally igonre them. It’s always better to use attractive and informative title with your links so that your followers know what they’re going to find after clicking on link.
I never was keen on Twitter but I found it every interesting what you were writing about Twitter. Thanks for sharing these informations.
Claudia
I don’t do a whole bunch of tweeting, but I do like to mix it up a bit by tweeting other sites too. If you were a big company or corporation you might tend to see mostly tweets about their own site and company more so than others. I know a few sites only tweet their own stuff.
Ray would love you to read ..5 Tools to grade your website blog and accounts
thanks for the info! but if twitter could be a good business opportunity?
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Nice tips. Thanks for sharing this guideline. I’ll refer to this from now on. 🙂
Hi Gail,
It insights me of what we are going to do on Twitter. The utmost part of it and it’s usefulness for everyone. But I hate the fact that most of the users nowadays are posting some links on their tweets. 🙂
Eye opening, I get it now! Thanks Gail 😀
I agree that Twitter should be about building relationships and interacting with people. Many users tend to forget this and seem too stiff and business-like in dealing with Twitter. I don’t always post about us and our links, I also post about my followers recent blog posts or re-tweet their important announcements. This is my way of showing that I am also reaching out to them.
Thanks for remind me that social network is about relationship 😉
Sometimes we forget about that .
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This is a great list. It should be a “no brainer.” I have unfollowed quite a few people who use these practices as their sales pitches and self promotion just clutter up your Twitter stream.
I think a great practice is to monitor what gets interaction. If no one shares or retweets your stuff, that’s a good reason to switch it up.
Another practice to avoid is to DM people who just followed you and recommend that they visit your site. Just a simple welcoming comment or a question about their interests or business focus is far more likely to lead to a mutually beneficial online relationship.
Jayna Locke would love you to read ..What is PR? Then and Now Infographic – From storylinePR
Twitter is the one social platform I have problems with! I don’t get that warm fuzzy feeling like with Facebook or even google plus. Not to mention Twitter moves at top speeds. Great post but I think Twitter may not be for me! Which is also okay but I will try to apply some of your methods and see if it gets better!
Agree with your comment austin, Twitter is not much happening and really feel bored while using twitter and facebook is far better than that.