6 Ways your Small Business Can Create Engaging Twitter Content
Creating high quality, engaging content on Twitter is a must for any brand executing a marketing campaign online.
If you’re like most small businesses on the platform, you want to use the site in order to:
This can be both time effective and low-costing – essential for any small business on a budget, working with minimal staff.
Half a billion tweets are sent out each day – that’s a phenomenal 5,787 tweets a second. This means it can be easy to get lost in the crowd. Follow the six strategies below to ensure your Twitter content is engaging and appeals to your target demographic.
#1 Don’t be too wordy
These days, it’s hard to hold your audience’s attention, particularly online. In fact, the average attention span today is less than eight seconds long.
In our attention-deficit world, keeping content short and sweet is key. When it comes to tweeting, you are working with limited characters. Keep your message short and to the point. If you’re worried that you won’t be able to get the full message across in a few short words, include links to help you elaborate on points. They can supply more information to your audience if needed.
#2 Make it attractive
There’s a reason for that saying an image is worth a thousand words. Including images, GIF’s and videos will help catch your audience’s attention and draw them in.
Do some market research and check out your competitors or businesses that operate the same way as you do online. What kinds of visuals do they use? What kind of engagement do those visuals get? Be sure to also make a note of the impact made by the images you are posting. The goal is to create images and videos and that stop Twitter users from scrolling past.
Sites like Canva are the perfect way for small businesses on a budget to produce images that look professional.
#3 Get people talking
Use Twitter polls or ask your followers questions in order to encourage them to engage with your content.
Asking for their thoughts on a topic will not only ignite their curiosity (the ultimate tool of engagement) but could also be a useful tool to gain feedback on your products or services.
Asking your following for help, feedback or opinions will also be beneficial for interacting with potential customers, information gathering and it will help your business tailor to consumer needs. Tweet the results and reveal interesting or surprising answers.
Polls can also be used as an effective way to tap into the latest trends. Create polls on trending topics to trial this.
#4 Create a content series
A themed content series is a great way to maintain followers and encourage them to interact with your account.
This could be anything from a ‘Friday facts’ series (complete with visuals) to profiling successful individuals in your niche or even a product of the week segment, in which you highlight the best uses for a given product (being sure to tag the brand, if they are separate from your own).
#5 Keep your finger on the pulse
Like the best news stories, the best online content is relevant. Make sure that you are following both leaders and audiences in your niche and consistently researching the latest trends and developments in your area.
Twitter is a place where opinions are expressed, so be brave. The more your small business develops a voice on the things that matter to those in your niche, the more engaging your content will be.
This also relates to social listening, which should be used to make sure that the content you are producing is engaging and appeals to your target audience.
It will also help you discover potential customers, figure out who and where they are and can help you figure out the keywords that are associated with your area.
To do this, use tools such as Twitter’s advanced search feature and try and collect as much data on your audience as possible.
This could include in-depth research, where you might analyse their Twitter bio and status updates for indications of their thoughts, interest areas and keywords which appeal to them. Content can then be targeted, dependent on the results of that market research.
#6 Make it human
Developing a voice that is personal and authentic is the best way to create a loyal following online that believes in your small business.
Try not to copy content from other sites but try and provide content that is unique, which potential customers can only come to you for. Avoid using robotic language and make things personal. Include the names of employees or company owners. This is where a small business like yours has the upper hand.
Thank your followers and make them feel appreciated. Talk to them as you would a customer that might visit your small business offline, in the real world.
Finally, play with humour and create content that makes people laugh. If that won’t work for you, think of what other emotions you can ignite in your audience. After all, we use social media to entertain us.
Content that engages our emotions, be that shock, surprise or amazement, are often the most effective.
Employ the strategies above and your small business will be well on the way to producing content that helps you grow followers and keeps them coming back for more.
