Twitter is a spectacular social media platform that allows businesses to connect with every type of target audience. There is no dearth of teenagers, senior citizens, entrepreneurs, and everyone in between.
You set up your profile, follow a few people, and wait for the conversations and clients to roll in.
So where is everybody?
Here are the top 3 reasons your engagement levels are dead:
1. Your bio is more confusing than informative.
If you poke around on Twitter, you’ll find many “creative” bios that try to fit a lot of personality into 160 characters (that’s right, you have an extra 20 characters to play with for the bio). Trying to come across as quirky is great for teenagers who want to appear witty to their friends, but it’s not doing you any favors.
If you are using Twitter for business, let your clients know what you do in a way that lets your brand shine through. Creative language is fine and necessary to grab interest, but focus on telling people how you can help them. Humans are inherently selfish, so they want to know what they are going to get out of this relationship.
2. Your feed is entirely self-promotional.
Imagine you are at a networking conference. You’re walking around the exhibit hall, hoping to make some valuable connections. The first guy you see walks over to you, shakes your hand, and immediately launches into a sales pitch. Whoa, slow down buddy, you’re just here to make some connections. You don’t even know this guy—why would you want to buy his stuff?
Twitter is a social platform, and unless you run into some bots, you have to always remember that you’re interacting with fellow humans. Humans are interested in connecting, not being sold to. If they get a chance to chat with you, learn a bit about you, and see the work you do with others, then they might become interested in buying what you’re selling.
If your posts are all about convincing people to buy your products or services, there is no chance for conversation, and you come across as both boring and selfish.
3. You aren’t talking to anyone else.
Let’s return to the networking conference example. If you spent the entire event standing in a corner, watching all the activity but never participating, would you expect others to go out of their way to talk to you? Probably not.
Twitter works the same way. Especially when you are just starting out on the platform, you need to show people that you have things to say about your industry, or even about mundane lunch tweets that others share.
If you are uncomfortable initiating conversations with strangers, find a Twitter chat to participate in. There are hundreds of Twitter chats about various topics and industries, from parenthood to B2B marketing, that only require knowledge of the time of the chat and the relevant hashtag to participate. This gives you an opportunity to chime in on predetermined questions and chat with others in your area of expertise.
While the rules for social platforms vary, it’s important to remember that they all rely on human interaction to function and thrive. Those who excel at social media always remember to provide value before asking for anything in return. If you maintain your focus on people first, others will notice.
About the Author
Mallie Rydzik is an online business coach and digital marketing strategist for overeducated and underfulfilled Millennials who have or want a service-based business online. She writes and podcasts about the future of work, work-life balance, digital marketing, and online business strategy at The Off-Road Millennial. Connect with her on Twitter at @MetNightOwl.
Thank you for your insight on Twitter! I like to find “Twitter mentors”-businesses that I follow and learn from because I see they are doing something right.