10 Twitter Tips & Tricks Everyone Should Know

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Since becoming officially installed as the self-entitled “Chief Twit,” Elon Musk’s recent purchase of Twitter has thrown the organization into a period of changes and unforeseen circumstances. While the business and social media worlds watch and wait to see how the current corporate restructuring shakes out, you should take advantage of some Twitter hacks to get the most out of your account. With these 10 Twitter tips and tricks everyone should know, you can help your Twitter account achieve organic growth, increase engagement with your tweets, use Twitter’s built-in tools to maximize your impact, and much more. 

Consider Using Techniques Favored by Headline Writers When Posting 

Given the incredibly short amount of time your tweet has to grab the attention of the average Twitter user, having a headline that immediately interests any viewer is crucial. If you have ever found yourself distracted by a Buzzfeed-style article listing the latest products, services, and so on, these are excellent examples of the kind of attention-grabbing headline you should use. 

Tweet at The Best Time to Reach Followers and Avoid Getting Buried in Feeds 

Much like how the expression “timing is everything” can apply to so many other aspects of business and decision-making, this is especially true when it comes to social media. One of the best Twitter tricks is to employ the services of a free posting and analytics website like Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social to determine the best time for tweeting and scheduling your tweets appropriately. 

Consider Selectively Retweeting Yourself to Boost Engagement Rates 

Although you should be wary of overdoing it with this particular strategy, retweeting your own posts as well as liking them has been shown to impact Twitter’s algorithms positively. Doing so can also result in notable engagement and click-through increases. You should only do this every so often to avoid giving your followers the impression of being self-centered. 

Timely and Compelling Content Beats Tons of Posts Without Any Relevance 

If you are focused on building your Twitter profile and acquiring followers organically, some of the best Twitter tips include being selective when it comes to the type and variety of content in your tweets. As the old saying suggests, quality tends to win over quantity, especially regarding capturing and retaining followers. Examples of popular content include tweeting about industry events and other news, sharing recent stories from satisfied customers, making use of Twitter polls, and pinning your most popular tweets to the top of your Twitter profile. 

Add Video Content and Images to Your Tweets to Get More Engagement 

As opposed to the countless daily tweets composed of only text, research has shown that adding good-quality images and embedding relevant videos can make your tweets much more likely to be retweeted and improve user engagement. Just take care to only use materials not protected by copyright, such as stock photography, to avoid getting flagged on copyright issues. 

Consider Making a Tweet Bank So You Can Quickly and Easily Respond 

Similar to form letters still commonly used in both physical and email campaigns, Tweet banks save you the trouble of composing fresh tweets every time you want to make a post. In addition, having a range of tweets you can edit and adapt as you see fit can save you valuable time, particularly when you combine this feature with an automated calendar app for posting on social media. 

Twitter’s Advanced Search Function Will Greatly Help Your Research 

When it comes to creating consistently popular and engaging tweets without the cache of celebrity or infamy, you will find that imitation is not only the most sincere form of flattery, but it also can give you relevant information to improve your posts. With the ability to compose Advanced Searches for specific date ranges, locations, hashtags, and keywords, as well as save them for future reference, you will be able to perform precise searches on the field or industry in which you are looking to make connections. 

Make Use of Twitter Lists to Curate Content and Manage Networks 

Rather than wasting valuable time and effort scrolling through your Twitter feed to locate tweets from your favorite accounts and people, you should take advantage of the Twitter Lists function to clean up your content. By adding specific Twitter users to your List, you are effectively making a custom-filtered timeline that only features tweets from accounts that have been added. Not only will this help free up your feed, but Twitter Lists are also highly convenient for keeping track of valuable business contacts in specific fields and professions. 

Judicious Use of Hashtags Will Make Your Tweets Much More Prominent 

Once relegated to the more esoteric functions of payphones, dial-tone phones, and other technological relics, the humble hashtag symbol is perhaps the most powerful means for searching Twitter posts about given subjects and interests. Therefore, you should strongly consider checking out your competitors to see what hashtags are popular and using hashtag evaluation tools to ensure you are using the best ones available. 

Twitter’s Chat Function is a Great Way to Connect to Followers Personally 

While Twitter is perhaps best known for its primary format of tweets, retweets and so on, you may want to employ the chat function to communicate with followers in real time to help boost engagement. By responding personally and creating a connection with your followers, you can start building the basis for your future Twitter community. 

As one of the most popular forms of social media, Twitter remains a powerful tool for growing your personal and business profiles as well as for commerce, marketing, messaging, advertising, and more. Check out Twitter.com and get the most from your Twitter account today! 

About Dan Martin: Daniel Martin is a technology researcher and writer with more than a decade of experience. He is a professional librarian and an experienced tech teacher, writer and blogger. Specializing in technology, Dan has taught courses in technology and writing at the college level, developed web pages for businesses and higher educational institutions, written on tech topics for leading national publications and created numerous how-to guides.