How to Get More Retweets – Twitter for Business 101

Part 4 of 5 in a series of blog posts on how to use Twitter for business. This post covers effective ways to get more retweets and spread your Twitter message.

Isn’t the point of SOCIAL media to invoke a SOCIAL network of interconnected people and help spread your message like wildfire outside your circle of friends or followers via retweets, shares, and likes?

Then why do so many of your tweets fall on deaf ears?

Easy. Most of your tweets don’t provide value.

Shortly put, in order to get more retweets, tweet things that are hilarious, sad, beautiful, interesing, inspiring, or, simply put, AWESOME.

People tend to share positive Tweets that solve a problem, answer a question, entertain or inspire. On Twitter, I see the most retweeted content tends to contain links, photos, videos or quotes.

When you Tweet something interesting, it has the potential to invoke the social network and travel to many prospective customers.

If you don’t have a lot of original content that you can share about your company, don’t let that deter you from sharing other links and stories from within your industry. It’s actually beneficial if you tweet about something other than yourself.

Even if you’re not self-promoting with your tweets, tweeting on a consistent basis will help with branding, TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness), and industry alignment. You ultimately want people to associate your brand with a product or industry. So don’t be afraid to go and (gasp) retweet somebody else (Heaven forbid!) to help fill the gaps.

In short, don’t forget to put down the megaphone every once in a while.

Here are four simple things you can put in your tweets to help them get retweeted:

Include a Photo

A descriptive tweet with a photo will not only get clicks, it will inspire retweets. Think of the words in the Tweet as a setup and the photo as the punchline.

Question & Answer

Pose a question in your Tweet and then answer it with a link. For example:

• “What are the top ten reasons that people buy a new car? Answer: [link to blog post]”
• “Who wore it best? Fashion experts explain: [link to fashion website]”
• “Want to improve your golf swing in ten minutes? Here’s a professional golfer’s tips and tricks [link to blog post]”

 

Share Videos

Add a video to a Tweet automatically by including the URL. Links for YouTube, Vimeo and many other services will play directly in an expanded tweet when you’re in Twitter’s website.

Add A Quote

Inspire your followers with a pertinent quotation from history, literature, pop culture or your own industry. You’ll encourage retweets if you choose a quotation that your followers see as helpful or inspirational for their followers.

Remember, before you write a Tweet, consider how your followers will respond. Will they want to reply, favorite, watch or share that Tweet?

It’s that easy.

 

-Lance Brown

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Read part 1: What Is A Tweet?

Read part 2: How to Customize Your Twitter Profile

Read part 3: Five Easy Steps To Engage Your Audience

 

Read part 5: How to Get More Twitter Followers Organically