You are new to publishing and are thinking of starting a Twitter account, but do not know if you should. You may already have other social platforms already, such as Instagram and Facebook, and may be thinking ‘Is Twitter necessary?’

Like other social platforms, Twitter is a leverageable marketing tool you can utilize to promote your blog – and for free!

Why should I use Twitter?

Consider using Twitter as another channel for promotion. There are three main benefits for using Twitter as a marketing tool:

1. Drives traffic to your website
2. Helps your blogs get more visibility
3. Reaches new readers and followers

You have already worked hard on creating good content and monetizing it, why not bring in more traffic to these pages without having to create new content? It will only take you 280 characters. By doing so, you will also be able to resurface older blog posts that may have been buried in the archives that are still relevant.

Growth is a goal that many publishers have for their website. By pushing marketing initiatives through different channels, you will be able to reach more people and grow your site.

Tip 1: Repurpose your blog content as an image

To drive more traffic and visibility to your blog post, repurpose your blog content as an image. Social Media Examiner recommends picking 2-3 intriguing quotes from your post and turning them into graphic quote images. Including quotes in your tweets is much more effective than only including the title of your blog. Put some thought and effort into your tweets. Put yourself in your followers’ shoes. Would you click on the link if the tweet did not sound interesting?

As an example, see how Tangerine uses a quote from their blog post to drum up reader interest on Twitter:

Hot Tip: Twitter shared that photos average a 35% boost in retweets. Consider using visually appealing images to attract more attention in a user’s newsfeed.

Tip 2: Ask questions that relate to your topic

Do not be afraid to ask your followers questions. Asking questions helps build engagement between you and your audience. Wishpond suggests asking questions related to your topic and/or niche to generate connections and curiosity with your followers. By doing so, this will get you more clicks to your blog.

Also consider using Twitter Polls as a tool to ask engaging questions. A Twitter Poll allows you to ask questions in your tweets with up to four response options. HootSuite recommends that you listen and learn to build a personal relationship with your followers. By listening to what your followers are saying through your Twitter and site output, they’ll feel closer to you and your brand.

Tip 3: Use optimal hashtags

Hashtags are used to help categorize similar interests and topics. Beyond your current following from Twitter, using optimal hashtags will help you reach new readers by helping you be more discoverable. Hashtags will help you get into the Twitter spaces where you want to be found.

Sprout Social notes that you can use Twitter’s trending page to find out trending hashtags that are currently relevant to people. This tool will help you understand what people are talking about and can help with creating more relevant content that can engage the followers you want. By leveraging this tactic, you will be able to broaden your audience and find other like-minded people who may be interested in reading your blog.

Heidi Cohen lists a few points to consider when using hashtags:

• Limit your hashtags to 2-3 per tweet to not overcrowd the post as there is a character limit of 280
• Always check what others are using the hashtag for to make sure your post has a similar purpose
• Hashtags can be used all at the end of the tweet or can be integrated throughout the tweet

See an example of how we repurposed our article on How COVID-19 Has Affected Marketing into a tweet with hashtags integrated throughout it:

Having hashtags can also support with branding. You can create your own social media tribe with a unique hashtag. Just ensure that you choose a hashtag that is easy to remember and spell.

Hot Tip: According to Twitter, tweets with hashtags receive 16% boost in retweets.

Tip 4: Check your metrics

As you may recall from our article on how to Increase Your Revenue Using Data, data plays a key part in helping you understand what’s working and what’s not. Similarly to your website, you should also be testing your metrics on Twitter.

Medium suggests you check your metrics on your tweets every week to optimize results. Utilize Twitter’s analytics to see how your tweets’ engagement are doing. Try to identify patterns on what tweets receive the most replies, retweets, hearts and shares. Analyze the time of day you posted your tweets and what hashtags you used. Continue to test different methods to see what works for you. Once you find a few methods that work well, try implementing them on your website and other social channels to see if results will replicate.

Next Steps

It can get discouraging when you have spent so much time producing content but have not seen significant results yet. We want to remind you that starting a blog takes time and there are many ways to grow your site.

Consider using Twitter as one of your marketing tactics to increase traffic, visibility, reach and engagement for your website in a both cost and time effective way.

The most important key takeaways are:

• Tip 1: Repurpose your blog content as a graphic image to drive traffic and visibility to your post
• Tip 2: Ask questions that relate to your topic and/or niche to build engagement with your followers
• Tip 3: Use optimal hashtags to broaden your audience and learn what topics interest your followers
• Tip 4: Always be testing by checking your metrics to see what tactics are working for you

We hope that this blog was helpful for your website’s growth strategy.

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