Twitter is one of the most powerful social media platforms for driving large volumes of real time targeted traffic to your blog or website. It’s also an amazing platform for building your very own community of brand ambassadors, fellow wellness experts and new customer leads.
Put simply: Twitter has incredible reach. Here are the stats:
- 271 million active monthly users
- 500 million tweets are sent every day
- 78% of its users are on mobile
- Optimize Your Twitter Account with Images and Keywords: Twitter is becoming more and more like a mini search engine. To really connect with your ideal customers and leading industry thought leaders, you need to make sure your Twitter account is optimized for your keywords. You also need make sure that your header, bio and background images are of the highest quality.
I strongly recommend that you check out my first Twitter Tips post: How to Optimize Your Twitter Account for Branding, Community Building and Social Selling. In it, I provide you with a step by step break down of how to create a visually stunning and Twitter account that’s fully optimized for SEO.
- Short is sweet- The most engaging tweets have between 71 to 100 characters. Think about when you click on an article or tweet. It is catchy, short, and to the point.
- Make sure you use images in Your Tweets- We remember images better than words. Here are some stats that drive that point home. Tweets with images get…
- 150% more retweets
- 89% more favorites
- 18% more clicks
than text only tweets. Select pictures that reinforce your brand. If you specialize in “bridal boot camps” that get women fit for their big day, post a picture of a customer that looks great for her wedding.
- Use videos- Another great way to get retweets is to use video. Statistics show that tweets with video get 28% more retweets than tweets without it. You don’t even have to create new videos. If you use YouTube for marketing, you can link it to your Twitter feed.
- Follow High Reciprocation Accounts: Unless you’re an established industry thought leader or best-selling author, getting your first 2 or 3 thousands followers can be a real challenge.
A powerful rule of thumb for drastically increasing the rate by which people follow you back is to do a quick scan of an account you’re considering following. If their follower numbers are close to the same as the number of accounts they follow, they are far more likely to follow you back if you follow them. If they have thousands of followers and only follow a few high profile accounts they are unlikely to reciprocate with a follow back.
Once you have a strong Twitter following, and you’ve begun to establish yourself as trusted sources of great content and high levels of social engagement, more and more accounts will naturally start to follow you.
- Put the power of words to work for you- Five words were found to generate the most retweets.
- You
- Please
- Retweet
- Post
Make sure you incorporate at least one of these words in many of your tweets. These words relate strongly to our next piece of advice.
- Call to retweet- If you want someone’s business, you need to ask for it. The same principle applies to Twitter. Tweets including the word Retweet got had a 12 times higher retweet rate than those that did not use the word retweet. For the character conscious, note the following stats about the retweet rate:
- 23x higher- when you spell out retweet
- 10x higher- when you use the abbreviation RT
We can’t emphasize this point enough. Always put in the word retweet.
- Be clear- Do you offer a special discount for people who sign-up before New Year’s Day? State your offers in the clearest possible language. There is a real payoff for being direct. Clearly worded tweets result in 18% more clicks and 29.8% more retweets.
- Include shortened links- You need to put shortened links in your tweets. They account for an eye-popping 92% of user interactions with tweets.
Quick note: Use the URL shortenings service bitly. Its shortened links are 9.28% more likely to be retweeted.
- Place links strategically- If you’re in a hurry, you might just put a link at the end of your tweet. Wrong! Studies show that links placed about a fourth of the way through the tweet get the most clicks.
- Share more links- The real secret to Twitter is content marketing. You want to retweet only the highest quality tweets to your followers Building a reputation as an expert is a major function of social media. Make sure to share links to credible material your followers will love and that reinforces the advice you give your fitness customers. This means the latest news, trends and research from the most reliable sources.
- Don’t be a Billboard: One of the main reasons so few business fail to fully realize Twitter’s full branding and social selling potential is because they constantly tweet their own content and marketing message. Twitter is all about interacting with and being of service to others.
A good rule of thumb: Tweet your own content once every 7-10 tweets. The rest of the time? Be a passionate brand ambassador for others and watch the amazing results over time.
- Use Twitter Lists – Twitter lists are powerful tools for curating/sharing high value content and for fostering social engagement.
I strongly recommend that you create 2 Twitter lists to start: One list should include the leading fitness experts (or coaching experts), news sources and blogs. You can then monitor this list feed and share the hottest news and industry trends with your followers in real time.
Your second Twitter list should be a list of re-tweeters and potential brand ambassadors. These are Twitter accounts that have demonstrated a high likelihood of retweeting your content and socially engaging with you on Twitter. You want to be sure to interact with these accounts regularly. Eventually you’ll start to get ideas for creating new Twitter lists.
- Add hashtags- Many people thinks hashtags are synonymous with Twitter. The evidence shows that these labels are important for getting Retweets. 55% of tweets with one or at most 2 hashtags are likely to be retweeted.
- Show excitement!!- You love fitness. Show it! The evidence is on your side.
Fun fact: Tweets with exclamation points are more likely to be retweeted.
- Put numbers in your tweets- Tweeting links about ‘10 Ways to Get Fit Now!’ or ‘5 Great Exercises to Do at Home!’ are highly effective. Including numbers increases retweets by 17%. Bonus points if you use exclamation points.
- Use quotes- Quote respected authorities in the fitness field. Be sure to use quotation marks to give proper credit. This strategy increases retweets by 30%.
- Highlight upcoming events- Are you a weightlifting coach that sponsors a competition? Tweet it! Special offers like competitions and discounts give people a reason to follow you.
- Share the highlights- When you hold an event, make sure that you that you take plenty of pictures and incorporate them into your Twitter feed. This recommendation gets back to getting the most out of your time.
- Give credit to others- If you’re tweeting about an event, use ‘@’ or ‘Via’ to acknowledge other at the event. Tweets that contain ‘@’ and ‘via’ receive higher click through rates on links.
- Recycle tweets- Everyone gets writer’s block sometimes. Don’t worry; you can use old tweets again. If you have a past tweet that got a strong response, recycle it. Those tweets received almost the same number of clicks.
- Actively Engage New Followers: Positive first impressions are critical on social media: just like in real life. So, when you get a new follower, make sure to tweet them a warm welcome. Ask a question about their brand or service.
Take a quick scan of their Twitter feed. Retweet a strong tweet and favorite any content that’s of genuine value to your growing Twitter community. This will create a positive first impression and increase the likelihood your new follower will reciprocate by sharing your tweets in the future.
- Respond to tweets and Retweets- Just like you react when a potential customer calls; make sure you respond to all the tweets addressed to you. Answer any questions that come your way.
If your self-employed, set aside time at the end of your work day to check twitter and respond to all tweets.
- Find the Right Twitter Time- Studies found that it is best to post between 1pm and 3pm Monday-Thursday. Build a routine of tweeting after a lunch break. As with a more normal job, you get to take the weekend off from Twitter.
- Incorporate Twitter on all your marketing materials– Put your Twitter handle on traditional collateral such as business cards, emails, and flyers. Make sure your online presence incorporates Twitter. You want prospects to find you.
- Be an online sleuth- Want to know what your competitors are doing with Twitter? Make a point to observe their Twitter feeds. It will give you new ideas on how to create more engaging tweets and content for your own blog or website.
Put it All Together
As we touched on earlier, these Twitter tips build on each other. Consider creating a checklist so you remember to use these tips every time. In fitness and personal coaching, you work with your customers to develop a routine that they stick with to get results. The steps mentioned above can help you do the same with Twitter.
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