I recently ran a Twitter workshop in Limassol where we talked about getting started on Twitter and how to power up your tweeting. One thing we touched on was the common mistakes which Twitter users make… even the pros! 5 mistakes you don’t know you’re making on Twitter might surprise you… are you guilty of these social faux pas?
Mistake 1: You send auto DMs
An auto DM (direct message) is something that you can set up on Twitter via an app to fire out a message every time someone follows you or tweets you. Why is it bad? Well, most people view these as spam and it is obvious that it is an automated message and not one you have written. Whilst some marketers claim that auto DMs work I am still skeptical. If you must use them then definitely avoid a hard sell message!
Mistake 2: You don’t tweet enough
Twitter is a fast moving feed so if you can’t tweet little and often then you will probably miss out on its true potential. If you can’t get on it regularly to tweet then try setting up an RSS feed from your favourite blog or website. This will populate your feed with enough tweets that visitors will view you as active. Use a software program like Hootsuite to schedule tweets for weekends and vacations and use Retweets when you can’t think of anything to say!
Mistake 3: You’re off brand
This is a really common one… your tweets, follows, retweets and favourites have to be “on brand”. What does that mean? Well, if you’re a hotel in Cyprus then your tweets and follows should probably center around tourism. If you are using your business Twitter account to interact on a personal level and your interests are fitness, clothes and sports then it will be confusing and frustrating for your followers. The solution is simple… make another Twitter account and keep them separate.
Mistake 4: Every other word is a hashtag
If you use too many hashtags in a tweet then it will probably have the opposite effect. #Understand #what #I #mean #when #I #say #this? Hashtagging every word is pointless as most of your sentence is not of interest to other Twitter users and will become illegible. Pick two words in your tweet (if appropriate) and use hashtags on them. Not every tweet needs to include them and if they aren’t relevant then don’t squeeze them in!
Mistake 5: You add everyone to one list
Lists are great for organizing followers but they lose their effectiveness if you add everyone to the same list! If you make a list called “Awesome People” and then add everyone to it you have defeated the point entirely! Create filtered lists from the start and add people according to their function on Twitter. Eg: Social Media People, Authors and SEO people. This way you can find people when you need to, follow specific groups and be more specific in your interactions.
I hope you enjoyed reading 5 mistakes you don’t know you’re making on Twitter, what are your Twitter mistakes? Tweet me @charli_says