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Twitter Engagement: Everything a Beginner Needs to Know
It’s a new year, which means new information about Twitter engagement scattered all over the web, an unfathomable amount of new articles and blog posts about it, and new statistics on it based on new research studies.
When I am doing research about social media in particular, I get overwhelmed at times with all of the new information about it such as different social media strategies down to all of the different tools you can use to make your social media plan run as smoothly as possible.
Because I use Twitter on a daily basis for our clients and for my own personal use, I decided to do some research on the topic of Twitter engagement and I am excited to share what I found with you. In this article I will:
- introduce what Twitter engagement is
- share some interesting Twitter statistics I found
- talk about the psychology behind why people click on a Tweet
- give a brief overview on some social media tools that can help you with your overall social media execution
What is Twitter Engagement?
When I hear the word engagement, the word interaction also comes to mind. Think about when you are engaged in something like a conversation with a friend or a blog post you’re reading. It typically is because you are so interested that you can’t help but be focused on what it is you’re doing at that moment.
When it comes to using Twitter, your goal should be to get your audience interested and engaged in your posts. If you can get your audience focused and intrigued, the outcome will be greater interaction and people will reply to your tweets, retweet you, mention you in a tweet of theirs, or favorite your tweet.
But it’s how you understand your audience’s engagement that will be impactful. Over a period of time, the way people respond to your content will help give you a better understanding of whether or not you are prompting the reactions you’re looking for with your target audience.
Analyzing the number of times someone replies to, retweets, mentions, or favorites one of your tweets is a good way to comprehend if you’re on the right track with your Twitter content. In the next section, I will list some statistics I came across on Twitter engagement.
Twitter Engagement Stats
Now that you have a better understanding of what Twitter engagement actually is, let’s look at a few statistics on it. I recently read a post about some Twitter stats that surprised me. One statistic that I did not anticipate is that the fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year age group. That is just one statistic that blew my mind. Here are some other Twitter stats that I think are important for you to be aware of:
- There are 284 million monthly active Twitter users
- Twitter engagement for brands is 17% higher on weekends
- Tweets with image links get 2x the engagement rate of those without one
- Tweets with less than 100 characters get 17% more engagement
- Tweets with links are 86% more likely to be retweeted
- Tweets with hashtags get twice as much engagement
- Tweets including a number get a 17% increase in retweets
- Increase in retweets for tweets including a quote is 19%
- Twitter users who mostly use a mobile device to check their social media are 181% more likely to be on Twitter during their commute
- 43% of Twitter users have tweeted, but not within the past year
Using Psychology To Increase Your Twitter Engagement
Thinking back to my days as a psychology minor and knowing that I would have to use Twitter every day for my job, I wish they had a crash course that focused on the psychology behind Twitter engagement.
I never really thought about why people click on a Tweet they come across. I discovered that a big influencer is the headline you use. When you are constructing a tweet, you want to make sure you are writing a headline that will catch a person’s attention, not the kind of Tweets I was posting before I really knew much about Twitter, such as this lovely one.
That Tweet didn’t have much of an impact as you could imagine. I didn’t even have a target audience in mind. No one really wants to pay attention to someone ranting and using Twitter as their personal diary. If it is engagement you are looking for, Tweet out content that is going to make a reader react in some way.
Courtney Seiter at Buffer was able to dig deeper into the psychology behind some well known headline formulas and discovered why certain headline formulas were getting so much engagement. For example, one of her conclusions was that if you create a surprising headline or include a question, it may stimulate someone’s brain and will cause them to react to your post.
Thanks to Kevan Lee, we have this list of Twitter headline formulas to pull from:
- Numbers + Adjective + Target Keyword + Rationale + Promise
- Interesting adjectives + unique nouns
- : Subhead
- SHINE headlines
- The SEO-heavy headline
- Who Else Wants_
- The Secret of_
- Little Known Ways to_
- like
- Here’s a Quick Way to
- Have a / Build a _ You Can Be Proud Of
- What Everybody Ought to Know About_
- Lessons I learned from_
- How to Survive Your First _
I also found that your readers will most likely absorb the first three words in your headline and your last three, so a six-word headline may be your best bet.
Your words in the beginning and end of your headline will have the most impact, so keep that in mind while planning out the copy that you use in your Tweets.
Using interesting and unique nouns and adjectives is important while crafting your kick-ass headline. Think about when you read a book. Isn’t it so much more interesting when the story you’re reading includes unique words and phrases?
Develop a headline that you yourself would want to read and click on.
Since you now have an overview on different tactics you can use to provoke your followers to react to your content and increase interaction within your Twitter community, the next step is to come up with a strategy that works best for you and execute. To make the execution part convenient for you and to help you avoid spending too much of your precious time on it, here are some handy social media tools that will allow you to accomplish your goals.
Twitter Tools
Managing Your Tweets
Hootsuite
HootsuiteHootsuite is one tool I use for my social media management. It gives you a very robust dashboard and toolset even with the free account, which is awesome.
It is simple enough to use and has a scheduling feature that allows you to autoschedule as many posts as you desire and will post them at the best times to be viewed by your audience. You can also post to your other social media sites such as Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.
It allows you to set up tabs and streams that you can monitor such as relevant hashtags or keywords being used or the people in your Twitter lists. This is a good way to see what people are saying so you can find people you may want to engage with.
Hootsuite Alternatives
Other alternatives that are worth exploring for your Twitter management are Sprout Social and Buffer. I haven’t personally used them too much yet, but both offer free trials which is good enough for personal accounts and also have scheduling features.
Sniply
SniplySniply is a cool tool I just discovered and will definitely be utilizing. It allows you to promote other people’s content and effortlessly bring them back to your own content. Using this tool can help you boost website traffic and increase Social Media ROI.
Followerwonk
Followerwonk is a tool that helps you explore and connect with other Twitter pages you may be interested in. You can dig deeper into your Twitter analytics and see who your followers are and where they are located. You can also find out when they tweet.
Socialbro
Socialbro is another great marketing platform for Twitter specifically. It allows you to analyze, engage and monetize your Twitter audience. You can browse through your community and get information about your audience and interact with your contacts.
Commun.it
Another good Twitter tool is Communi.it. You can better manage your Twitter relationships and focus on your influencers and customers. It shows you who to unfollow or follow and comes with free Twitter analytics.
Simply Measured
Simply MeasuredSimply measured is a social media analytics tool that offers a free trial and can give you a complete view of all of your social activities. This tool gives you in-depth measurement across all of your social media.
Conclusion
Now that you have a better idea on what Twitter engagement consists of, some Twitter engagement stats, the importance of crafting a good headline for your tweets and why people may engage with your content, and an overview of some helpful social media tools you can use to manage and create engaging content you plan to post on your Twitter account, you can execute! I hope you found this post helpful and that you are more confident in accomplishing your Twitter engagement goals. Now go tweet something awesome, and I just may retweet you.
