Twitter is noisy. Period. So how do you get your content to stand out much like PR pros try to do when pitching to reporters’ e-mail? Essentially that’s what you’re doing, right? You’re pitching your content to the Twitter feed of those you’re following and who are following you—in order to build trust.Social media pros will tell people to read tweets, not write them, so you can develop a base of friends that can then turn into friends for the remainder of Twitter’s existence. (That’s a LONG time.) Here I’ll share with you the best ways to share tweets on Twitter without severely annoying the masses:
Retweets
Retweets are severely losing their legitimacy with so many choosing to retweet as a method to gain followers, not necessarily endorse the content of what that Twitter user wrote or said. If you want to legitimize your retweets, customize your retweets by adding a quick comment at the beginning of the tweet, indicating you’ve actually read the blog post or understand the tweet’s context.
Info not found
There’s nothing more frustrating than when a Twitterer comments on what they’re doing or reading and doesn’t share the link to the info they’re addressing. If it is possible, you should provide the link. Cmon’ now—you don’t do this to reporters needing the scoop so why do it here, right?
Track your links
Thanks to Bit.Ly, you can see the amount of impact your tweets have on the Twitter populace. Of course, it cannot be said enough that your impact is really dependent on how much you interact and how dependable you are in the space, but by setting up a shortened and measurable URL with a service such as Bit.ly, you can see what tweets people are drawn to on your feed. You can then learn something from your trial and error method and verify your feed’s audience.
As far as using Bit.ly in your Twitter bio linking to your source Website, is that really a good idea if your goal first and foremost is to build trust or gain someone’s approval?
Talk first, share link second
Whoever coined this phrase I don’t think is really talking about sharing links secondly after firstly communicating. I think sharing links is allowed when you feel you’ve got a friend rather than an acquaintance.
BTW, that doesn’t look this…
@Twitteruser1: Wow, really enjoyed the post about Soap scum in your bathroom. Can’t stand scraping that stuff off.
@Twitteruser2: Thanks! My wife and I are working on remodeling our bathroom. We’re sick of it!
@Twitteruser1: Nice. Hey, you should check out our company blog that will give you all the free paperweights you’ll ever need! [link to site]
Time is Everything
The more of your time it takes to read Twitter users’ posts, access Web sites and touch on key points that hit that user’s brand or personality, you will see more @ replies coming from that person as opposed to none at all. Again, like a reporter expects a PR practitioner to know their beat, it’s key that you know the Twitter user outside the Twitter community. When you have a link to share, don’t be surprised if they retweet it with a “Great post!” simply because they like you and want to do you a favor.
Please Comment
It seems more people are commenting on blogs by using the Twitter feed in place of the comments box on a blog. Some comments applications have honed in on this and it has allowed for better comments tracking, but I really don’t think retweets should count as comments under blog posts. If it’s not offering value to the context of the blog entry, is that really a comment? Please comment – bloggers will love you for it, and they’ll seek you out on Twitter for taking the time to do so unless they’re totally above themselves.
These are just several ways you can maximize your tweet reach in sharing links on Twitter but is by no means a closed list. Feel free to comment on how you feel you can legitimize your tweets so that they won’t mirror the trashcan a reporter so often uses with a bad pitch.