Twitter users obsess about numbers. The next time you talk with some one about Twitter, see how long it takes for them to ask “how many followers do you have?” I suppose it’s only natural for people to worry about that sort of thing. In addition to being a fantastic networking tool, Twitter also appeals to our competitive nature – but for good reason. The number of followers you have is important. The more followers you have the more influence you have and if you run a website, having influence in the social networking world can make a huge difference in terms of traffic and prestige.
Twitter, however, is not a horse race. It’s a way to make new friends, new contacts and most importantly; to spread a message. As Twitter grows however, spreading your message has become increasingly difficult as each new user competes for the attention of your followers. In this article I hope to share my experience to help you cut through the noise and get noticed on Twitter.
Don’t Count Followers, Count Eyeballs
One thing to keep in mind is that not all of your followers are looking at the screen at exactly the same time. This means that if you have 500 followers, not all 500 of them will see your Tweet. If you’re looking to make an impact, try posting your items when you think the most eyeballs are focused on the screen.
Time Zone is Important
Lots of people forget about this important factor when on Twitter. If you live in the U.K. and you post your Tweets at 12:00 p.m., keep in mind that it is 7:00 a.m. in the eastern U.S. and 4:00 a.m. in the western U.S. That means that a significant number of your followers are either sleeping or just waking up. This means that if you want to make the biggest impact, try waiting until later in the day to post your most important information.
Post a Variety of Information
Try posting a variety of information. Don’t just Re-Tweet the people you follow. Engage in conversation, post original content, and try to post items before anyone else does. You might find that a “breaking news” approach combined with some helpful enthusiasm and a little bit of conversation will greatly increase your likelihood of being noticed.
Repeat Yourself!
Like I said earlier, Twitter is all about eyeballs not followers. People who follow hundreds or thousands of people may have trouble paying attention to all the information in their feed. This means that in a noisy Twitter world you have to repeat yourself. This doesn’t mean that you should spam your followers – be responsible, but try repeating your Tweets every several hours. That way you can give your followers several chances to see what you’re Tweeting for the day.
Speak English
Yep, I said it! We all know that the Internet is an international community but it’s important to keep in mind that a majority of Twitter users speak English and a significant portion of the Internet is clustered in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. This means that if you want your Tweets understood by the Twitter community that you really need to be Tweeting in English.
Don’t be Shy
To get noticed on Twitter you have to speak out. When I first joined Twitter I didn’t have very many followers and I was a bit hesitant to post links to things because I felt that other, more influential people were already posting that information anyway. What I didn’t realize then was that even though more influential people were already posting identical information that it was likely that not all of that person’s followers had seen it. My Tweet may have been brand new to one of my followers and even one of theirs. So don’t be afraid to post something even though you only have a handful of followers.
In Conclusion
Every Twitter user has an agenda. Some are looking to make friends, some are looking for business contacts, some are there for self-promotion, and some are hoping to make money or drive traffic to their website. There is no playbook for Twitter. There is no guaranteed way of attracting new followers and forcing them to pay attention to you. The only true way to establish yourself in the Twitter community is to participate but to also be genuine. Hopefully, these tips will help you to become a successful Twitter user. Feel free to add your own thoughts or comments below.
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