Welcome back! The first post of this series explored
how to use Twitter to benefit your business; the second post outlined
how to get started on Twitter. This post will give you some ideas on
how you can engage people on Twitter.But first, I'm going to introduce a valuable metaphor to help you understand the nature of the conversations that take place on Twitter...
Close your eyes and picture a cocktail party. There are tons of new people talking about many different things. As the marketer for your company, naturally you want to share your story with everyone.
But if you burst into that cocktail party, jump on a table, and blare out the details on your awesome new product, you're going to irritate everyone, and no one is going to want to help share your story.
The same goes for Twitter.
You shouldn't use Twitter as a bullhorn for your personal agenda. Trust me - unless you're a celebrity, no one cares- you won't connect with people; you'll probably turn them off completely. What people do care about is interaction; give and take communication; conversation!
Here's a really simple way to achieve this rewarding level of engagement.
1) Listen.
Sit back and listen to the conversations. Just as if you were at a party among strangers, wander around and eavesdrop - check out what people are talking about; what their opinions are; what their questions are.
When you notice a conversation to which you feel you can contribute something of value, gracefully seize that window of opportunity!
Use the
@ mention feature to directly contact that person in a public environment - this involves other people in the conversation and shows them that you're a genuine participant.
The more you are able to do this- truly contribute valuable information- the more people will want to listen to you, the more notice you will get, the more friends you will make, and the more people will share your own message when the time is right to share it!
2) Retweet.
Think of a retweet as a forwarded email. When you retweet something, you're showing everyone on Twitter that the tweet was useful enough, funny enough, informative enough to pass along to your followers. As venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki maintains, "Retweeting is the sincerest form of flattery."
Therefore, retweeting is a great way to introduce yourself to people and show them that you really do care about contributing to the community with interaction.
When you retweet a message, the username of the person who's message you're retweeting, similar to an @ mention saying, "Hey! I like what you have to say." This is an excellent ice breaker, and it's a great way to make sure your friends remember you care.
An interesting study was published several weeks ago, claiming that something like 98% of tweets posted on Twitter are merely retweets, and only 2% of content is original. That may very well be, but where critics exploit this as a flaw, I applaud it as a sign of humanity!
Summing up...
There are people out there who claim they are Twitter experts, but I say that's bull- you need to find a method that works for you and for your industry. These two steps are just a sample of the ways you can interact with new people and prove yourself as someone that's worth listening to!