We all know the importance of social media. If you want to build an online presence, there are two things you must focus on:
- Continuously improve your SEO
- Be active on social media
Which social platform works best? There is so much to choose from … Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, etc. In the end, the social platform that suits you well is different for everyone. Some people swear by Instagram, others love Facebook. Twitter can be baffling for the Twitter newbie, but once you get the hang of it, it is a great platform to use.
Talk, I Mean Tweet on Twitter
I’ve been on Twitter for a few years now. When I first signed up, its functionality mystified me. A limited amount of characters per tweet? How was I going to express myself in only 140 characters? On top of that, the Twitter feed moved at lightning speed. How anyone managed to communicate on Twitter was beyond me.
As I soon found out though, communication on Twitter is thriving. I quickly learned how to get my messages across in short tweets. In 2017 the maximum limit went up from 140 to 280 characters per tweet. That is double as much.
Follow You, Follow Me
Unlike Facebook, you don’t “befriend” strangers, you follow them, which makes more sense, doesn’t it? Friendship takes time and is earned, it doesn’t depend on clicking a button in an online platform.
I followed people on Twitter and gained followers. I connected with many authors, book reviewers, and readers. In your Twitter profile you write a brief description of yourself. Add #author and you’ll find your fellow writers. Hashtags are not necessary in your profile, but they can help find certain groups of people you want to connect with.
Pinned Tweet
If you want your followers to see and retweet a specific tweet, you can pin it to your profile. Within your tweet, just click on the arrow in the top right, and then click on “pin tweet”. It will stay pinned in your profile as long as you want to or until you change it for another pinned tweet.
Put a Tag On It
This brings us to our next point: hashtags. The words with the # sign 😉
Hashtags are important and they are very useful if you want to show your tweet to certain audiences. Let’s say you wrote a historical fiction novel and you want to tweet about your book. Simply add the hashtag #historicalfiction. You can also add more, such as #readers #history #authors #ebook and so on.
When you type # and the first letters of the word, a list of hashtags will come up, including the trending ones. You can pick some of them or you can also create a brand new hashtag.
For more information on the importance of hashtags, feel free to check my article in which I also included a section about hashtags.
Twitter Etiquette
Is there even an etiquette, besides the obvious one of being respectful, no spamming, no insulting, and not turning into a Twitter troll?
What is proper Twitter etiquette? I can’t really put a label on it, but I will share what I have observed and learned over the years.
People will retweet your pinned tweets (and others) in return for a retweet of theirs. This gives you more exposure and it works well if you want your followers to see your book or your website.
Many also engage in conversations in the comment threads. Such tweets can go on for hours or even days.
Then, there are the tag games. You could be tagged in a Twitter “snow ball fight”, for example. You chime in with a GIF of a snow ball fight or anything related, and tag more people. This can be fun, but sometimes those tag games go on for more than a week and they needlessly saturate your notifications. If you want to avoid this you can add in your profile that you don’t want to be tagged in tweets. Sometimes, however, you may be tagged in follow threads and they can be useful.
You may also be added to a list, or you could make your own lists of writers, readers, or affiliate marketers for example. Then you could target specific tweets to those groups by using a hashtag.
Twitter polls are always fun. Depending on the topic, it can be interesting to see people’s general opinions on questions that relate to writing, editing, publishing, etc. You could also create your own poll.
Any Reason to Whine?
Sometimes, I see tweets of authors complaining about people who only retweet pinned tweets and not socially engage enough with the writing community on Twitter. You can’t always please everyone. My advice is to do what you feel comfortable with.
I retweet many pinned tweets and I engage with others. I try to keep a balance. I’ve actually made some great contacts on Twitter.
Twittering To a Close
Twitter is a great social network. It is a good place for networking, promoting, offering your service, and even to make friends. If Twitter will help your business is entirely up to you. Just because it works for me doesn’t mean it works for all. Nevertheless, I recommend it wholeheartedly as a social platform where you can grow your business and contacts.
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. You can also follow me on Twitter on the following accounts: @chduts and @DuvilleC
Happy Tweeting!
I had never seen Twitter as a tool until I read this post. I thought all twitter was, was a place tor teens to follow each other and tweet funny things, at least that’s what my daughter does. I might register an account myself and explore more about twitter. Thanks for sharing this lovely article!
Hi Afonso,
Twitter is very useful. If you have any questions about it, please let me know 🙂
Twitter is one of the best social media platforms and I must tell you, putting in the work on your Twitter account is worth taking time to work on, because Twitter can be a powerful tool for spreading the word about what you’re doing, and for meeting great, useful new people…..I must say a big thanks to you, as I know that these few words that you have put out would definitely help us all.
Hi David!
Thank you for visiting! I agree with you, Twitter is one of the best social media platforms.
your website is so different, thank you for sharing this post with everyone. I liked your website and your blog. I promote products using Twitter. Although sales are not very high. But Twitter is generating traffic. Twitter is a very powerful network. Twitter is a great way to befriend people from different countries.
Your post helped me get a lot of information about Twitter. I enjoyed it very much.
I believe others will enjoy your post.
Hi Tasmia,
Even if sales have not been great, Twitter is great to network. Those sales will come 🙂
Hi Christine, I found your post very informative and helpful. Very well written and an easy read, I myself know nothing about Twitter, I have had an account for a few years and have never used until recently, your post helped to clear some things up for me. I really don’t know how much I will use but I now have a bit of a clue on what I am doing. Thank you
Butch
Hi Butch,
I’m glad this was useful for you. Twitter takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it really is a great platform. Have a nice weekend!
Hey, Your guide is very useful for everyone. I enjoyed a lot while reading your guide and find it very helpful for everyone like me. You are doing and awesome work by sharing your sweet knowledge with use. Now I know that twitter is the best to generate traffic. Thanks for helping me to find the best one.
Hi Deepanshi,
I’m glad it helped. Thanks for commenting 🙂
I never realized just how effective Twitter was, up until a few years back. I admit, I think for writers Twitter is the better platform to use to find work and/or spread the word about their book. Obviously writers/authors should be using other social media sites, but I’ve had tremendous success with Twitter. It’s funny because Twitter (in the early days of using it) confused me and for the longest time I wanted no part of it!
These days I offer more tips to Twitter folk and that alone skyrocketed my following. I make it a point to always use at least one hashtag per Tweet.
Hi Nate,
When I first started using Twitter it confused me too, but once I figured out how to use it, I loved it. I have met many authors on there and I have also gotten great book reviews through Twitter. I also always aim to use at least one hashtag in tweets.
Thank you for your comment!
“Write-topia” is so catchy! It was really smart of you to come up with it. One thing I learned about Twitter is that over half the trades that are executed in the stock market are made by AI – basically computer algorithms. These algorithms are figured out by bots. These bots scour social media to “get a feel” of what people are talking about and feeling about a particular stock since stocks are driven by emotion. So the bots make decisions based on the general concensus. Amazing and scary at the same time
Sonny
Twitter algorithms, yes, it is a little confusing how they work.
This Is one of the greatest article I have seen and i have really learnt alot. Twitter is one of the most rated social media platforms in the world and it can work more on promoting your any product you offer. Twitter also bring you to knowing valuable people who can be of great assistance to you. I highly recommend this article and hope to see more. Thank you
Hi Perryline,
Thank you for your comment!
This is an amazing post! You are giving us so much value through these amazing contents on your website. Thank you so much 🙂
I must say I am not that active on Twitter, but after reading your post I need to get the and get tweeting!
Thank you
Bets wishes
Hi Habib,
Time to get tweeting then 😉
I’m glad you found this useful. Thanks for your comment and happy tweeting!
Very informative article, I have a Twitter account and have never used it. I never realized I could use it as a tool for my website. I am going to have to look at using Twitter to let people know what I am up to and hopefully they will check out my site
Thank you