on November 5 | in Featured | by SocialDiva

Do your tweets need a little tweak?

Assuming you know the basics — how to tweet, re-tweet, use hashtags, and follow your favorite people — here are five tips for successful sharing on Twitter.

1. Use Powerful Tools

If you’re not already using a social media dashboard, such as TweetDeck, Hootsuite or Buffer, start now! Tweetdeck and Hootsuite allow you to arrange and simultaneously view multiple Twitter feeds and other social media feeds in columns. Both apps allow you to schedule tweets, but I prefer Hootsuite because it offers a handy “auto schedule” feature. Unlike TweetDeck, where you determine optimal send times based on analytics reports, Hootsuite does the analyzing for you, and then posts your tweets at the times your followers are most likely to read them.

Buffer is another great tool that can be utilized straight from your browser, helping you to post from all of your social media accounts easily and at the times that make the most sense. Personally, I use HootSuite and Buffer.

2. Share Through Pre-Populated Buttons

The “Tweet” or “Tweet This” button that is found on many website pages and blogs allows you to quickly and easily share what you’re viewing with all of your followers. By clicking the button, your tweet is pre-populated with a link to that webpage. You can also edit the tweet before sending, adding the page owner’s or blogger’s Twitter handle. Always give a virtual ‘shout out’ when possible!

3. Use .@ to Broadcast Fully

When you begin a tweet with someone’s Twitter handle (@NameHere), not all of your followers will see that tweet. Only the people following you and the person you’re tweeting to will see the conversation. Placing a period in front of the @symbol (.@), however, will ensure that all of your Twitter followers will see that specific tweet. But, beware, this Twitter trick might not always work when using the Twitter app on mobile devices!

4. Create or Subscribe to Lists

If you’re following more than 50 people on Twitter, it’s likely hard to keep up with what they’re all writing. Utilizing lists — curated groups of users — allows you to see what the people you interact with most, for example, are saying. You can create your own lists or subscribe to lists that other create. But, remember, lists are used for reading tweets only; you can’t send a tweet to members of a list, for only those list members to see.

5. Leave Room for the RT

Twitter’s character limit is 140, but I suggesting keeping your tweets under 120. Leaving room for your followers to easily RT and comment will entice them to share and increase your level of exposure.

These tools and tips will help you save a ton of time, and time saved on social media means more time left to do all of the things you love to tweet about.

Happy Tweeting!

This article was originally published on the 7^th of May, 2013 on SocialMediopolis 

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