In many ways, Twitter is not unlike projectile vomiting – a forceful and uncontrollable firehose that it is.
And managing Twitter… well, it could feel like trying to take a sip from that firehose.
Many of you dread Twitter for this reason alone, and I don’t blame you.
So, whatever shall a marketer do?
Ditch it?
Out of the question, IF that’s where your target audience is.
Automate the life out of it?
No siree! Might as well ditch it…
So what’s the answer to this pain-in-the-neck-that-it-is suck-you-in-n-never-spit-you-out Twitter situation?
Manage it. Put yourself on a Twitter time budget.
Twitter Presence Worth Building
Before we talk about managing your time on Twitter, I feel like I need to say something.
If driving traffic, leads, sales from Twitter is your objective of being on Twitter, then you need to focus on building a meaningful Twitter presence.
Otherwise… your time would be best spent elsewhere.
If Twitter is worth doing, it's worth doing well. Click To TweetAs I mentioned in this social media traffic resource I’ve put together for Traffic Generation Café Readers (hey, that’s YOU!), put your time into it – say, 30 days – learn everything there’s to know about it, grow your presence, influence, and reach.
Master it, in other words.
- Be a part of the conversation.
Listen. Think. Weigh in. - Focus on others.
Quote. Promote. Share. - Add self-promotion.
Your own agenda comes LAST. And in moderation.
Of course, in order to do all that, you need a plan. A strategy. A routine that will keep you on track to achieve all of the above in 30-40 minutes per day.
Allow me to introduce you to your new best Twitter friend: the Daily Twitter Routine.
Twitter Management: The Daily Routine
Your Daily Twitter Routine is meant…
- to keep you on Twitter long enough to be productive,
- so that you can liberally attend to things that absolutely need your attention,
- and sparingly do things that are helpful IF time allows.
What you’ll see below is the collective effort of several power Twitter users who seem to ‘always be there‘ – it almost seems like they don’t do anything but Twitter day in and out. That’s how good and responsive they are.
Of course, nothing else is further from the truth: these folks have successful businesses to run, and Twitter is but a small part of their daily routine.
However, whatever they do on Twitter is working very well.
And now YOU too can work Twitter well – with the help of the Daily Twitter Routine.
To come up with this Twitter management routine, I’ve taken my own daily Twitter schedule as a basis, then balanced it with what other power Twitter users (you’ll hear from them below) have shared with me, and voilà – this very helpful Daily Twitter Routine was born.
- Schedule tweet blocks [ongoing]
- Read @mentions and reply to ALL [2-3x a day]
- Scan Twitter timeline for conversations to jump into and content to retweet [2-3x a day]
- Check Direct Messages (DMs) [1x a day]
- Visit influencers’ profiles; read, retweet, engage [1x a day]
- Search Twitter for conversations of interest [1x a day]
You should set aside about 30-45 minutes per day to follow this routine.
Let’s talk about it in a bit more detail.
Schedule your Tweet Blocks [ongoing]
My not-so-secret secret (now that I told my Bite-Size Traffic Hacks email Subscribers about it!) to increased Twitter visibility is tweeting in blocks of 3-4 tweets with my content at the top of the block.
That way, my tweets stand out in Twitter timelines, I still deliver value since only one of the 3-4 tweets is mine, and my own content has more visibility by sitting at the top of the block.
To learn more about tweeting in blocks, read How to Make Your Tweets More Visible [Twitter Traffic Hack].
BONUS TIP
Don’t know what content to share? Read more!
Set up Google Alerts for your industry and have them automatically sent to your inbox.
You’ll have plenty of great content to share in no time.
I try to schedule as many tweet blocks in advance as I can, but since I read a lot daily, I inevitably end up scheduling quite a bit of content on the go as well.
For that reason, I keep my Buffer open at all times and simply add more content to my tweet blocks as I discover it. Of course, you can use Buffer’s handy Chrome extension for that as well.
Read your @mentions and reply to ALL [2-3x per day]
Listen up: this is THE key to building a meaningful Twitter presence.
Respond to those who share your content, ask a question, or engage with you in any other way.
Do this at least 2-3 times per day.
Do this even if you don’t have time to do anything else on Twitter that day.
Don’t think you have the time for it? Ann Handley does.
Ann is the Head of Content at MarketingProfs.com, author of the WSJ bestseller, Everybody Writes, and an all-around very busy girl.
Yet her Twitter timeline is something to marvel about. She responds to EVERY. SINGLE. TWEET. that mentions her. Take a look:
You should definitely follow her @AnnHandley on Twitter and learn what Twitter should be all about first hand.
Here’s another great example of ALWAYS responding to EVERY single mention on EVERY single platform EVERY single time.
Talking about the King of theSocialMediaHat.com himself, Mike Allton.
The other day, he managed to amaze me even further by responding to something I posted about him on not one, not two, but three social networks: Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (I use FriendsPlus.Me app to help me share posts across those three networks – currently, it’s the ONLY app that posts to your Google+ personal profiles.)
And he responded to ALL three posts within 10 minutes!
Wow… something to strive for for all of us, don’t you think?
You should definitely follow Mike Allton on Twitter and any other social media network you find him at.
Scan your Twitter timeline [2-3x per day]
This is another must for a meaningful and healthy Twitter presence: scan your Twitter timeline to see what people whom you’ve chosen to follow tweet about.
As a matter of fact, I have a rule where I have to read and retweet or otherwise engage with, at least, three tweets from people I follow before I allow myself to post any content of my own.
Good rule, don’t you think? Something you might consider doing in your own Daily Twitter Routine? I think you should.
Check Direct Messages [1x per day]
I’ve noticed many folks on Twitter tend to ignore Direct Messages because of potential spam.
As far as I am concerned, it’s a big mistake.
You wouldn’t stop checking/responding to comments on your blog just because some of them would inevitably turn out to be spam, right?
In my personal experience, only about 5% of my Twitter direct messages turn out to be spam. The rest are very much worth responding to.
Visit influencers’ profiles; read, retweet, engage [1x per day]
This part of your Daily Twitter Routine is also very important.
I am sure there are a few people in your niche whom you are actively working on building relationships with:
- industry influencers,
- peers you’d like to connect with,
- up-and-coming bloggers who might peak your interest.
Paying attention to their Twitter activities should become a part of your Daily Twitter Routine.
Don’t count on seeing their tweets in your Twitter timeline. Make the effort to specifically visit each influencer’s Twitter profile at least once a day.
This is your chance to take note of what kind of content they share, whom they interact with, what they tweet about, and yes, your best chance to engage with them on Twitter.
Be knowledgeable, likable, and consistent.
And share their content. Generously, but tastefully, if you know what I mean.
To learn more about influencer marketing and how to apply it to your business, read:
A great way to ensure you keep up with building those relationships even if you can’t follow your Daily Twitter Routine on busy days is to add those influencers’ RSS feeds to an automatic service that tweets out their content as soon as it gets published.
Word of caution: do this if you are absolutely sure in the quality of the content. No relationship is worth it if you start losing followers because you keep sharing mediocre content.
There are plenty of services that will automatically tweet out new content from specified RSS feeds.
Buffer, of course, is one of them, but you do need to have at least their Buffer Awesome plan to do that (if you ask me, $10/month is well worth it).
I’ve also been using Twitterfeed for my RSS feed sharing for years – it’s free and simple to use. (NOTE: Twitterfeed has been closed down; I recommend using dlvrit.com instead.)
I know a few Traffic Generation Café Readers automatically share my blog’s RSS feed on Twitter. I can count on them to be there for me, and am honored by their trust.
If you decide to join them, I will sing my Thank Yous to you every time I see your tweet. Are you ready for it? Here’s Traffic Generation Café RSS feed.
Search Twitter for conversations of interest [1x per day]
Now you are going beyond your own Twitter Timeline to search for conversations to jump into.
Go to https://twitter.com/search-home, search for your topics of interest, and get into a few conversations.
While you’re there, go ahead and search for your own name and/or company name to see if anyone is talking about you.
And there you have it: your Daily Twitter Routine that will keep you on track and in line with your goal – to build a meaningful Twitter presence without it becoming a productivity killer.
As promised, you’ll also hear from a few Twitter pros who share how they ‘do it all’.
What Twitter Pros Had to Say about Their Daily Twitter Routines
How DO they do it?
Let’s find out.
Larry Kim, MobileMonkey.com
1. Find interesting stuff to share.
I use tools like Nuzzel and Buzzsumo, also Pinterest to find interesting stuff to share and figure out what topics are trending right now. That’s usually 30 minutes in the morning and I schedule stuff using Hootsuite.
It also inspires me with stuff to blog about.
2. Take Uber to/from work.
Last year I started taking an Uber to and from work every day (I don’t even own a car anymore) and that’s around 20 minutes on social media each way, plus it saves me 30 minutes each way for not having to take the bus.
I use that time for responding to things, retweeting things, checking DMs, scanning #ppcchat, etc.
3. Have highly organized lists of people I quickly scan and respond to.
I follow a lot of people so it’s pretty much impossible to deal with that timeline. I have 5 lists of people that I can quickly scan and engage with.
They’re organized based on how frequently they tweet and their level of influence. I’ll usually start with the folks who tweet the least and are the most influential.
I have notifications turned on for just 3 people, one of them is Rand Fishkin from Moz.
4. The biggest time suck for me is mucking around with Twitter and Facebook ads.
I’ve run over 1000 campaigns this month. Mostly testing weird ideas. It’s probably 2 hours a day!
But keep in mind I do a ton of blogging about social media ads, so it overlaps with my day-to-day work.
5. Also I have an executive assistant who helps me out with other things like email, scheduling, travel, slides, etc. That frees up time so I can do this stuff!
Mike Allton, theSocialMediaHat.com
My Daily Twitter Routine is actually pretty straightforward:
- check mentions 2 – 4x per day using Hootsuite mobile;
- check direct messages 1x per day using Hootsuite desktop;
- I use SocialOomph to power my evergreen content shares, and then mix up Hootsuite, Buffer, JustRetweet, Triberr and Feedly, plus Twitter lists, to generate curated shares and retweets.
Now, one difference for me from others is that I am not actively looking for business, so monitoring conversations and those kinds of ‘social listening’ for opportunities aren’t a part of my mix.
If I was looking for clients or gigs, I’d have to spend more time searching… and for that I’ve used saved searches as streams within Hootsuite.
PIN MIKE’S ROUTINE ON PINTEREST
Ann Handley, MarketingProfs.com and AnnHandley.com
I solely manage both @marketingprofs and @annhandley.
My approach on each is different — because on @marketingprofs I also represent the brand (so things like responsiveness and customer service come into play).
I feel less of that on @annhandley, where I’m just a person and not representing a larger company.
An ‘Ann Day’ in the Life of Twitter Management isn’t unlike Ana’s, with some differences.
1. Read all @mentions and reply/process all (to the degree they require a response).
And by “process” I might decided to NOT reply if it’s spam or rude or ill-mannered behavior. “Process” also includes Like, Follow, Unfollow, etc.
2. Schedule tweets using Buffer.
On @marketingprofs: Tweets are generally MarketingProfs programs/posts we are actively promoting. (On @annhandley I don’t schedule tweets.)
3. Check Buffer stats from the previous day.
ReBuffer anything that either a) is popular based on Buffer metrics and therefore has broader appeal, or b) isn’t popular but should be based on my editorial sensibility.
4. Read news and industry news as well as posts from feeds/friends/publications.
Share (again, Buffer) and/or comment back on anything share-worthy (based again on my own editorial sensibility).
Then throughout the day at down time periods (my “water cooler time”):
- Repeat #1 liberally.
- Scan trending topics from time to time.
- Sometimes jump into Twitter chats and/or follow event or seminar hashtags. (Depending on my interest/the day.)
- Sometimes read the general timeline, but lately I do less and less of this. But sometimes I still do.
- Immediately click out of “Moments” when I accidentally click on it. 😀
Aside from Buffer, I use the desktop or mobile app for all this ^^.
PIN ANN’S ROUTINE ON PINTEREST
Ryan Hanley, RyanHanley.com
The most effective way to manage Twitter is to not caught up in “Followback” mania.
There is no value in following people who you have no intention of engaging with. Doing this creates shallow connections and false sense of authority in your own work.
By following on those individuals/brands whose content you’re interested in, Twitter as a communication and content discovery tool becomes incredibly valuable.
That being said, here is my routine:
NOTE: I go native. No Twitter management app.
- Check @mentions
- Respond (using Twitter native video if I can)
- Scroll my feed for interesting stuff
Repeat all of the above 3 times per day: morning, day, and night.
I’m constantly using Buffer app to schedule Tweets from articles I found (or my own).
Much of what I schedule eventually ends up in my Sunday Seven Newsletter.
I also use gigs quite a bit from Giphy.com to get eye balls on Tweets of particular interest.
PIN RYAN’S ROUTINE ON PINTEREST
Jeff Sieh, ManlyPinterestTips.com
I tend to do a lot of content curation for myself and clients like Social Media Examiner.
I’m always looking for good content that I might be able to share on other networks like Pinterest or Instagram.
I use a mix of Hootsuite and Buffer to manage my Twitter accounts. Buffer because I can schedule and share out content I find easily. Hootsuite because it lets me quickly organize my Twitter lists and respond to comments and mentions.
I also use Hootsuite to schedule tweets for content I have created. So Buffer is for curation and Hootsuite is for creation.
I also use SocialOomph to share my evergreen tweets.
Here’s my typical day:
1. Coffee
2. Check Triberr and share any posts that I find interesting.
If it applies to other platforms like Pinterest or Facebook, I schedule those.
3. Open Feedly and check those feeds.
I have carefully curated the feeds to show me the content that would be valuable to my audiences.
I find a lot of my content for the day there. I share straight from Feedly into Buffer.
4. More coffee
5. Open Hootsuite and see if I need to respond to any comments.
I also try to thank people who I see have shared my content. Not perfect, but I do my best.
6. If I have any blog post coming out, I schedule it to go out via Hootsuite.
This is when I typically plan client’s tweets as well.
7. Add any new content that’s evergreen to SocialOomph.
PIN JEFF’S ROUTINE ON PINTEREST
Lisa Irby, 2CreateaWebsite.com
My social media routine usually varies.
Having said that, I love it when my followers reach out to me on Twitter. I usually check my mentions multiple times per day, and it’s easier to keep up with compared to email.
Sometimes I wish I could replace my inbox with Twitter. Ha!
Even though I don’t always stick to an exact routine, here’s what a typical day looks like.
1. Browse my feed for anything newsworthy and share it or schedule it with Tweetdeck.
I do this first thing in the morning. I rarely schedule anything before 10am and after 7pm CT.
According to Tweriod, that seems to be the ideal time for my followers.
2. Next, I’ll schedule some of my own tweets (if any).
I use TweetDeck.
3. I have notifications setup for mentions, so I usually jump in and respond to those as soon as I can.
4. I follow a few chats such as AWeber’s #emailchat, so I’ll browse those feeds throughout the day as well.
PIN LISA’S ROUTINE ON PINTEREST
Ana Hoffman, TrafficGenerationCafe.com
And last but not first… my own Daily Twitter Routine that I’ve tweaked and perfected based on the pros’ routines above and have been using to build my own Twitter presence.
- Schedule tweet blocks.
I use Buffer to do that. I also use MeetEdgar app to schedule my evergreen content. - Read @mentions and reply to ALL.
I prefer using the native Twitter site for that – like Ryan Hanley does. - Scan Twitter timeline for conversations to jump into and content to retweet.
As I mentioned above, I NEVER share my own stuff unless I share or otherwise engage with at least 3 pieces of content from people I follow. - Check Direct Messages (DMs).
- Visit influencers’ profiles; read, retweet, engage.
- Search Twitter for conversations of interest.
Tools Pros Use to Manage Their Twitter Presence
I thought it might be helpful to include a list of Twitter management tools mentioned throughout this post.
Content Discovery Tools
With these Twitter management tools, you can quickly find content to share.
Learn more about using Triberr to increase your reach and traffic in these two posts at Traffic Generation Café:
- Triberr: Your Step by Step Guide to Being Heard
- Can Triberr Get You More Web Traffic [Or Is Traffic a False God]? – interview with Dino Dogan, Triberr founder
Content Scheduling
These Twitter management tools will help you schedule all the content you found with the content discovery tools mentioned above.
- Buffer
- Hootsuite
- SocialOomph (schedule evergreen content)
- MeetEdgar (schedule evergreen content)
To learn everything there’s to know about using Hootsuite to better manage your Twitter presence, I highly recommend you pick up Mike Allton’s Kindle book:
Twitter account maintenance
These are the tools Twitter pros use to manage their day-to-day Twitter activities: responding to mentions, monitoring feeds and lists, checking DMs.
Twitter reach amplification
The following Twitter management tools increase your Twitter reach and retweets by allowing other members to promote your content using a credit system or through a tribe.
Twitter stat tracking
With these Twitter management tools, you can see how what you are doing on Twitter is working.
Twitter Management Marketing Takeaway
The best way not to overspend when grocery shopping is to bring a list of things you actually need and stick to it while shopping.
The best way not to waste your time on Twitter (and social media in general for that matter!) while still accomplishing everything you need to do to build a meaningful Twitter presence is to stick to your Daily Twitter Routine.
And now you know how the pros ‘do it all‘ and you can too.
Off to work on building a meaningful Twitter presence,
From Ana with ❤️
These are great tips. I have a tendency to get distracted by shiny objects and then get sucked down rabbit holes. Having a schedule and a strategy to manage my social media, rather than just get lost in it, is essential for me.
BTW- I first discovered you back in 2011 or 2012 when I was publishing on Blog Spot (now Blogger). I gave up after about a year. But now I’m back. Armed with more knowledge and a strategic, long term approach. I just rediscovered your site and I’m so glad you’re still here!
So true, Joe – we don’t get things done because of constant distractions, not necessarily because we are that overwhelmed… A good process goes a long way!
And welcome back; honored you thought of me!
Hi Ana,
Thanks for the article and tips. There are a lot of mentions of Hootsuite and Buffer but there are a lot of new tools have appeared (for example, Crowdbooster, Tweetdeck or KUKU.io). Is it possible to make a review of all of them? 😉
Have a great day!
– Alex
Great question, Alex.
New tools do seem to grow like mushrooms, don’t they?… However, most fail to have enough distinction to draw users away from the more established platforms – that’s why the power users in this blog post prefer to stick with the ones that have a proven track record.
Would I like to review a bunch of brand-new tools? Sure! In theory. 😉 In practice, I am not a reviewer. I only test new tools when the existing ones fail to deliver.
PS Checked out meetngreet – looks interesting! What country are you based in?
I actually can’t get over how in-depth and helpful this post is! I have always struggled a bit with social media as I just don’t seem to get into a routine with it. Sometimes I’ll be on Twitter every day, joining in with relevant chats etc. Then I’ll go a week with just scheduled tweets and the change in engagement is unreal!
I don’t know why I’ve never thought about having a daily routine before. It makes so much sense having read through all your pointers.
I think I’m going to do a trial run and see the difference in engagement compared to a week of scheduled tweets and then a week of daily routine. After reading so much about automating your social media to save time, this is actually a breathe of fresh air – thank you!
I think most of us can relate to your struggle, Rebecca! Perseverance is often our biggest challenge – both in business and in life. 😉
I’d love to know how you are doing with your routine; especially, if you do end up tracking your results with and without it.
Oh, I forgot to mention one more thing. I like to give a shout out in my blog posts when I obtain information from someone I follow on Twitter. Even though the information is public, chances are I wouldn’t have known about it without their tweet. Doing this doesn’t just feel like the right thing to do; it also gives my work meaning – the kink that comes from making personal connections in our electronically dominated world.
I’ve temporarily jumped out of Twitter as a serious social media tool. I tweet news articles that I find while researching for my Surferbird news-links series. I tweet posts from blogs that I follow, like this one! Twitter had become a confusing time sucker, and my website needed a lot of work. I find it difficult to focus on both the first year of blogging. There’s so much to learn.
That being said, I’ll be jumping back into Twitter, soon, and will use some of these tips. I like the list idea as it allows you to follow more people than you’re really going to engage with. I was spending too much time deciding who to follow back – agonizing over things.
Twitter has been an important source of information for my blog. How would I have known to include a link to a wall of trees across Africa if I didn’t know it existed in the first place? For me, this is the true value of Twitter. No matter how many news feeds I subscribe to, some information can only be obtained there because of the presence of people in specialty niches.
Thank you for providing so many helpful tips. I’ll be referring to this post frequently.
I completely understand where you are coming from, Laura.
Twitter is like going abroad – exciting, yet confusing and unrelatable. However, your second visit to that country goes smoother, right? Some things start looking familiar. You pick up a few phrases to communicate with the locals. You might even start seeing familiar faces – at the corner bakery ? ☕️, that little quaint cafe ? ☕️, or the neighborhood farmer’s market ? ? ☕️.
(apparently I have only food/coffee references at the moment – gives you a glimpse into my soul ?… plus it is 4:30am and yes, coffee is at the forefront of my mind at this hour!)
On the other hand, as foreign as it seemed, Twitter was the very vehicle I used to build relationships and put Traffic Generation Café on the blogging map when I had just started.
You’ll hear a lot of all sorts of advice on this, but here’s what I believe: when you first start on Twitter, quantity of your followers is just as important as quality.
The best way to get your message out is to follow others. That’s how they’ll know to check out/follow you. You don’t always know who might be interested in your message and who won’t. You just have to give them a chance to see it first and decide for themselves. Thus agonizing over whom to follow shouldn’t be taking up your time.
And yes, organizing people in lists, especially the folks you definitely want to hear from on Twitter, is tremendous help in this case.
Does that make sense?
Let me know if you have any questions and have fun storming Twitter!
Thanks for the tips, I noticed that twitter does not really drive traffic these days as it used to in the past, Facebook is better in traffic generation currently.
I think the same could be said about any social media platform, Steve.
The newer a platform is, the more excitement it generates, the more potential for traffic exists – initially.
As interest dies down, the number of users goes up, the amount of mediocre and spam updates arises, the traffic potential goes down as well.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t still use all those social media platforms, right?
Thanks for the comment!
I am just getting started with my new website’s digital marketing and this is the most helpful SMO post i have read till date. Thank You Ana 🙂
Very kind of you, Noor.
Hey Ana.
Pleasure to meet you. 🙂
I am a huge fan of using social media site such Facebook, twitter, google+ and always be interested to share a new and amazing post. For modern time, I highly recommend to customize a twitter account all people who don’t use twitter. It’s the best way for mentioning and messaging to our niche.
You have informed very well and many things in this post is new for me. And it was great moment for me to learn it. I have learned here about the importance and benefits of using twitter. I often mention people in my tweet to engaged with them.
Glad to know the best twitter tools. They are really awesome and impressive. Love JustRetweet and Tweriod.
Thank for sharing.
– Ravi.
Sounds like Twitter is treating you well, Ravi; glad to hear it!
I thought Twitter is always a boring subject, when Facebook is so interesting and thrilling. Now I realise how can I make friends in Twitter and how to manage Twitter activities in a day to day basis. I was always avoiding Twitter for no cause. Thank You for your article.
When using social media for business, it’s important to be where our audience is – whether it’s FB, Twitter, or any other platform.
If it’s for pleasure… well, then anything goes. 😉
Hi Ana,
Very informative article, I got to know about some amazing tips. I m gonna apply some of your tips, let’s see how it works for me.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Glad to hear it, Akhand.
I use often Facebook , but now when i read this article i think i will try to use twitter for my business.
This article is very helpful…..thank’s a lot for sharing.
KEEP GOING.
Will do; thanks, Jack.
Hi Ana,
Another brilliant post. It’s been open on my browser for a month and only now have I read it!
I opened my Twitter account 5 years ago. I used automation to grow my followers to nearly 40,000. Guess what? It didn’t produce any business so I stopped using it. Clearly I was doing it worng back then
Last year – after talking to a few people – I decided to try again. But this time I would focus more on value building – my needs came last.
Since then I get more likes and shares than I ever got originally. I now understand Twitter better and feel more comfortable with it. Your post has given me more ideas which I will implement over the next week or so.
What I love about you is that you actually walk the talk. You practise what you preach, and give hope to people who are embarking on this journey.
Thanks so much
Kim
I know exactly what you are saying about opened tabs, Kim – I use One Tab Chrome extension to collapse the tabs till I have the time to actually read. Problem is most of the times I don’t get to. 😉 Glad to see you made your way back to this post!
And yes, I’ve been down the automation road as well. I did it a bit differently, maybe that’s why I got better results: I used TweetAdder (before they went out of business, thanks to Twitter) to accumulate followers, but I still did a lot of manual ‘being there’. I think that’s the key to social media – being actually social.
A while ago, I decided to go all ‘natural’ – all the followers of my current Twitter account have been acquired completely organically. Even though I have a LOT fewer followers this way (about 9K compared to over 100K using automatic software), I get more engagement this way.
I do appreciate the compliment – I strive to test first, then pass it on. Thanks for noticing; means a lot.
Nicely written. The way you present it makes it look exciting but on a normal day i don’t really like twitter
🙂 Thanks, Kaycee.
And yes, Twitter does take a bit of getting used to.
Hey Ana,
Well you KNOW I’m a Twitter lover and I’m glad you wrote this post. People find Twitter SO confusing but if they only understood how to use it properly then they’d be just in love with it as much as we are.
I do a lot of what you’ve suggested, shock right! I will say that I only get on Twitter once a day now due to my time constraints and busy schedule but I’ll take the time to go through the tweets. I think it’s important.
I also will tell you that within the last 2 weeks alone I’ve gotten 4 new clients who found me on Twitter. Oh yeah, when done right it’s the bomb!!!
I’m glad you wrote this post and let everyone know the right way to go about using this fabulous platform. We automate a lot of stuff these days but you can’t take the place of a real person having real conversations. As long as they remember that I think they’ll do pretty good.
Awesome post and thanks for the kind words above with Jasper. He’s an awesome guy and learning some great tips here. 😉
Take care and have a great week.
~Adrienne
That’s exactly Twitter’s problem – too confusing for people to ‘get it’. 😉
I am with you, Adrienne; for those of us who do take the time with Twitter, it’s an incredible platform. Even just once a day, it works great for you!
And not surprisingly, ‘you can’t take the place of a real person having real conversations‘ – that’s the real key to Twitter, you nailed it, Adrienne. I bet most don’t see good results from Twitter because they are not willing to replace automation with actual conversation…
Thanks for taking your time to come by!
Hey, Ana! Thanks for your tips.
I’m glad that I already follow the most steps of this Twitter routine. I didn’t use Twitter for a long time until I found that Twitter is all about conversations and building relationships tool.
But thank you for your tip about tweeting by blocks. Very helpful.
Didn’t do it that way before. Found it effective.
I’m glad I found your blog. Thank you 🙂
It was great to have met you on Twitter, Anna; thanks for stopping by Traffic Generation Café.
You are so right about Twitter – it is a SOCIAL platform and those who market on Twitter with that in mind, win.
I hate Twitter. I just can’t get excited about it and I really am not sure why. So many people rave about it, but I only use it for my businesses. I find that all my tweets are just promoting the same product reworded (Borrring). So, in your article where you say that my own agenda comes last and in moderation that really opened my eyes to what I should be doing on Twitter. It’s actually pretty silly that I had to read this article to realize how much more important weighing in and focusing on others( re-tweeting etc. ) is. Thanks for sharing this info.
Interesting perspective, Kimberly. Just marketing on Twitter for the sake of marketing isn’t all that exciting, you are very right.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Ana,
Well…I’m a bit late to the party…But I really wanted to say that this is one of the most epic and engaging posts on Twitter management I’ve ever come across.
Twitter is definitely my favorite platform and I’m glad to see I’m globally doing things right. 😉 One thing I could definitely do more is checking my DM (I find the 5% does not really apply to me, am I doing something wrong here?) and jumping into conversations.
I also never tried scheduling in tweet blocks. I usually have about 30 minutes in between. That’s really smart, though. Do you think the majority of Twitter users do not find this annoying? My guess is they don’t, as long as you share valuable stuff…
Mike Allton’s fast responses are pretty impressive. One person who also continues to amaze me is Adrienne Smith!
Buffer is one of my favorite tools. Months ago, I asked them to make it easier to load images from a URL. They added it just recently. I have no idea if that was because of my nudge, but it’s such a useful feature!
Larry Kim also has a pretty epic Twitter presence. Even his promoted tweets get RT’d by me. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this, Ana.
– Jasper
The party is still going on, as far as I am concerned, Jasper. 😉
DMs: do you have the ‘Receive Direct Messages from anyone’ setting on or off? If it’s off and you still get a lot of spam, then you might be following a lot of wrong people. Mine is on and yet I barely get any spam.
Tweeting in blocks: since people on Twitter are used to seeing a plethora of tweets (part of the beauty – or curse? – of the platform!), I don’t find it that tweeting in blocks raises any eyebrows. And, as you said, tweeting relevant stuff is always the key.
Yes, Adrienne Smith is da bomb when it comes down to engagement – on both her blog and any social media platform!
Image loading feature in Buffer is definitely a HUGE time saver.
Thanks for coming by, Jasper, and taking your time to let me know your thoughts. Look forward to seeing you around Traffic Generation Café more often! (no, no pressure whatsoever. 😉 )
Ana,
Maybe my DM exceeds the 5%, but I should’ve been more proactive with my DM’s a lot earlier….
Just a couple days after I left this comment, I had 2 meaningful DM conversations and I got asked if I would be interested to guest blog for The Daily Egg (CrazyEgg’s blog).
I also played around with Tweeting in blocks and saw my engagement go up, not a single complaint. I also notice that the more I tweet, the more followers I get. Yesterday I received the message that I have reached 6000 followers, and today I’m on 6037.
Twitter is such an awesome social network and when you put in those daily minutes to actually engage, awesome things come from it. Thanks again for your wonderful post.
– Jasper
P.S. You can count on seeing me here more often, Ana. 😉
Have a great week!
Sweet; awesome results all around!
Ah, thanks Jasper for that lovely compliment. Ana and I have discussed this before, I think people can sense when someone is being genuine but I still think it’s worth our time thanking people for sharing our content.
~Adrienne
Every single time, Adrienne. And you are so fabulous at it!
Hi Ana,
This is a first for me: I adore the vomit here. 😉 What a wonderful illustration to go with that opening statement. I think it packs such a powerful punch because it’s TRUE.
I’ve never given Twitter as much time as most of the other platforms, and this post with all the helpful tips makes me want to put more time into Twitter.
Love the “roundup” you included here. I respect everyone included. I noticed how most of them first thing check the @mentions, which is something I have learned really helps engagement. We have to search our mentions without the “@” too, because sometimes people tweet our stuff and they don’t include the “@”, so now I make sure I search my name and business without that to find more folks.
Incredible post, Ana! Really glad I stopped by and I’ll be sure to pass this one around.
Cheers,
Matthew
What is your favorite social media platform, Matthew?
Good point about searching for mentions without the @, or even just our names or business names – many folks do end up ‘talking to us’ without knowing how to actually get themselves heard.
So glad you stopped by as well. 😉
My favorite platform, based on traffic results, would be Facebook actually.
Google Plus is one I enjoy, and there is some results with them.
I have a Pinterest account for my business, but I’m still learning it. Too early to tell.
I like Twitter, just haven’t seen a lot of awesome results like some have.
I know FB has a lot of potential – my heart is just not in it. 😉
I am with you on Pinterest. Still learning it. It’s been some years for me though since I’ve started learning it. I suppose that just means my heart is not in that one either. Let me know how you do with it!
Thanks for an informative article Ana. I’ve most of what you suggested on and off over the years. I’ve always been reluctant to use very many of the tools. I use TweetDeck and TweetJukebox and sometimes go directly to Twitter. Other than looking into some of the tools that you suggested, I think one of the suggestions that may help me the most is Ryan Hanley’s advice to only follow the people that you sincerely want to engage with.
Over the years, the only tools I kept using were the ones that had to do with tweet scheduling, Ben. For a face-to-face engagement, nothing beats… well, being face to face. 😉 That’s why I still prefer using Twitter on the web.
And yes, if you don’t plan on engaging, then what’s the point of following, right?
Hi Ana,
Awesome post and Nice tips! I’m going to combine a few of these tips and give it a try and see what works for me.
Thank you for sharing!
So glad to hear it, Mansi!
Hey Ana!
These are great tips from you and the others! I still have yet to find my routine, although I love Twitter so much. I think I’m going to combine a few of these tips and give it a try and see what works for me. Thank you for sharing!
Bren
That’s the way to do it, Bren – take what you like from others, then figure out what works/doesn’t for you and your business.
Thanks for coming by.
Yeah Ana, I was reading your first comment in reply to Chris and it does make a difference when you are “Present” with people on Twitter. In fact, when I manually post a tweet, somehow the Universe knows I am there and posting the tweet! I get more interaction than when I send out my tweets using Buffer. Awesome post and awesome site, thanks!
That’s exactly what I’ve noticed as well, Erik.
Thanks for coming by!
Great tips and you’re right about automating the life out. Automation has its place, it increases efficiency and effectiveness and saves loads of time, etc etc, but still you can’t (or shouldn’t) totally leave out the human element – the life needs to be left in.. and I say that as someone with a little bias towards automation!
Very well said, Rob – ‘balanced’ automation is the key.
Good lord, that puking Twitter bird… lol.
Anyways, yeah, using the scheduling features with social media is what it’s all about. Schedule out a bunch of tweets/posts/whatever for the next few days and you don’t have to worry about it for a while other than responding to messages.
And if you wanna take the “not worrying about it” even further, just hire an assistant to handle it for you.
True, Chris – social media presence can be as simple as scheduling the posts.
However, the point I am trying to get across is how important actually being present is. It makes ALL the difference in the world.
I’ve tried both approaches in the past: just sticking with automated updates (still got some traffic out of it), then actually ‘showing up’ and engaging with my followers. Once I did the latter, my traffic doubled if not tripled.
Hiring an assistant is nice, but it’s hard to find someone who can truly replace you. Of course, might be better than not engaging at all.
I am new to SMO and this helped me a lot. Thank you so much.
You are very welcome, Manav.
Hey Ana,
Even though I don’t have a Twitter profile of my own but I engage and read interesting tweets via my company account. I have created lists which you will agree, gives an easy way to sort interesting tweets than the timeline. I like to jump in there and converse. Also, mention is a great tool that I use to track who mentioned my company profile. Replying and mentioning people is very easy that way. Loved the tips by the great ones, will surely go and try that.
Great post as always and not to forget, your presentations are more awesome than the content itself. Keep writing great stuff.
So very kind of you, Ajay!
And yes, lists are definitely a great Twitter feature when following a lot of people.
Hi Ana,
before landing to your page i have gone throught many site for same topic but didn’t get my answer to how i can manage my twitter account.Your tips are really practicle.
Thank you, Ravinder; happy to help.
Wow, nice tips Ana! Although I have been using Twitter as a “promotional tool” for a long time, I didn’t know for a bunch of these things. You just made my day. This tweeting in blocks strategy seems very interesting. Thanks!
Happy to help, Mildred.
Hi Ana,
Twitter over the last six months has become one of my “go to” places every day. I have connected with some amazing entrepreneurs and made a number of good friends and clients.
A couple of time a day I get on Twitter, scan and read content that is interesting to me. Then I comment and share it out.
I also get a number of shares of my content so I never miss an opportunity to say “thank you” and re-tweet it.
My list is growing quickly and I’ve really enjoyed learning the tool.
Another great feature… I love Twitter Chats.
Have a great Ana!!!
~ Don Purdum
It’s amazing how much difference being ‘present’ makes, doesn’t it, Don?
I’ve always had hard time with Twitter chats… find them hard to follow. Do you use any tools to keep track of the conversation?
The images in your blog is very impressive! It tempted me to read your article in depth as they are important pointers and tempts you to read in detail! Very informative article! Now, I’m going to start using twitter the way you suggested! Very helpful!
Thanks for the share 🙂
Thank you, Brida.