Let’s face it Twitter can be a total minefield. The fast pace of news and the sheer number of opportunities can make your head spin. Even though Twitter is exhausting… it’s REAL! So, in an attempt to keep my own sanity, I’ve decided to formalize my research on Twitter… Since sharing is important, I’ll provide this in the form of 5 Awesome Twitter Tips for Bloggers!
Let’s tackle the minefield, streamline our schedules, and raise our Twitter efficiency levels to 11!
5 Awesome Twitter Tips for Bloggers
Twitter Hours
I use and recommend Twitter Hours to my clients ALL the time. I was thinking about this recently in relation to blogs. SHOULD there be some established Twitter hours that could be useful for bloggers to use to reach a new audience?
Twitter hours work similarly to Twitter chats. They are set hashtags that go “live” at specific times on specific days. There is a whole list compiled by design that fits. But for the purpose of this post, I’m singing a few for each day of the week that I think might be appropriate for bloggers.
A quick aside: If you check out the full list on the layout that fits, there are plenty of local Twitter hours that come in handy. You can choose the ones that are relevant to your location. My favorite is #YorkshireHour because I’m a Yorkshire girl!
Monday
12:00 – 13:00 #UKBizLunch
2-3pm #BizHour
7-8pm #WineOClock (weeeeeey)
8-9pm #CreativeBizHour
Tuesday
2-3pm #BizHour
7-8pm #LaHoraDeLaModa
8-9pm #BespokeHour
8-9pm #Lunchtime
Wednesday
1-2pm #LocalLunch
7.30am – 9.30pm #HandmadeHour
20:30 – 21:30 #GossipGirls
9-10pm #EventHour
Thursday
11am-12noon #ElevensesHour
7-8pm #PromotingWomen
7-8pm #LadiesCoffeeHour
8-9pm #PinHitsHour
Friday
10-11am #ConnectFriday
12-1pm #SkillWillHour
3-4pm #CakeClubHour
9-10pm #SciFiHour
Saturday
8-9.15am #SatChatUK
11-12 noon #WeekendHour
Sunday
11-12 noon #WeekendHour
7-8pm #PromotingWomen
Hashtags set specifically for bloggers
There are numerous Twitter hashtags available specifically for bloggers. They connect us with each other and with the Blog Retweet accounts that work so hard on our behalf.
You may already be familiar with many of these hashtags, but I know I’ll find it helpful to have them all together in one place to check them out. So once again, sharing is caring! Maybe you can find some use of this activity too 🙂
#newblog #newblogger #blog #blogger #blogging #CreatorsClan #InfluencerRT #followfriday #bloggerclan #bloggerloveshare #BloggingBridgesChat #BloggingBridges #lbloggers #30plusblogs #bloggershare #bloglove2018 #goldenblogsrt
The following are my favorite hashtags. But I hope to start using variations of the above to reach new people.
#bloggingtips #Bloggerstribe #ukblogger #BloggerLoveShare #bloggerssparkle #bloggerswanted
Established Twitter chats and communities
As bloggers, we are very fortunate to be surrounded by such well-established Twitter communities and Twitter chats. The people who run these Twitter communities are EXTREMELY generous with their time. They coordinate the threads of Twitter interactions that bring each and every one of us closer to our goals.
If you don’t already know about these Twitter communities, you should REALLY get involved. For those who already know, let’s keep committing ourselves and growing together.
As for Twitter chats, they are pre-arranged conversations that cover a certain topic. They tend to be curated by one account, following an established hashtag. Twitter users engage in chat response and include the established hashtag in their responses. Twitter chats are great for boosting not only your own visibility, but everyone else who gets involved.
Understanding your Twitter analytics
When you understand your Twitter Analytics. You understand your audience. We would be lying to ourselves as bloggers if we didn’t acknowledge the fact that the main goal is to reach new people while retaining our valuable existing audience. There’s no point in breaking your balls over Twitter activity if no one responds!
You need to figure out what works and what doesn’t according to your blogging goals. By getting the groundwork up and running, you can free up your time for more productive areas of blogging.
I’m going to start with the basics so as not to single out anyone. For those who already know, sorry! Let’s start with where to find your Twitter Analytics. I assume you are already connected at this time 🙂
On your home page, go to your little profile circle (technical name). Click on it and then click on “Analysis”.
This will upload a 28-day summary of your Twitter activity. separates into
tweets
Tweet Impressions
profile views
Mentions
followers
percentages
But what does all that mean??
tweets
This is the total number of tweets throughout this 28-day summary. This is a good area to keep an eye on. For example, if there is a month where you have fewer Tweets BUT see a sharp increase in engagement… You did something right! Take a closer look at your individual Tweet analytics. This will help up your Twitter game in the future.
tweet impressions
The total number of times users saw your Tweets on Twitter. This includes:
views of your Tweets that have been Retweeted by others
views of people who already follow you
organic search views via Twitter
The more impressions you get, the wider your audience.
profile views
The total number of profile views you received during this period.
Mentions
Any time your username is tagged on Twitter with the @ symbol, this represents a mention.
followers
The number of followers you have gained/retained in this specific period. If the number of Twitter followers you have increases significantly in a month… Examine your Tweets individually to find out what has worked for you!
percentages
If you want to dig deeper, you can see how each of your individual Tweets performed over the same 28-day period.
In the “Tweets” section of your analytics, include engagements.
Engagements are actual interactions with your Tweets by others, including:
all clicks anywhere in the Tweet (eg, hashtags, username, avatars, and Tweet expansions).
Retweets
answers
follow
Pleasures
Impressions are amazing, but commitments mean that people have cared enough to “act.” By paying attention to your engagements, you can get a true picture of what your audience wants and respond accordingly!
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by analysis! The best thing you can do is set a goal that is measurable. For example, if you want to get more engagements in a month, you can focus on that aspect within your analytics to inform your posting choices.
Optimize your post scheduling with Tweetdeck
If you’re not already familiar with Tweetdeck, it’s a free programming tool specifically for Twitter. IMHO, it’s worth exploring. Although Tweetdeck is available on mobile, I personally find it easier to navigate through a desktop or laptop.
I have to admit, from a visual standpoint, I think Tweetdeck is less over the top than Twitter’s newsfeed. Does it somehow feel less noisy? You can choose how to organize the columns within Tweetdeck depending on what you need from it. I have a reserved column for each of the following:
Keyword or search term: to monitor industry conversations in real time.
News feed: to see what is happening in the world of Twitter
Notifications: to keep up to date with the interaction that happens on the commercial page
Private messages – to answer queries
Pre-scheduled content: to review scheduled Tweets
You can stay on top of all of the above simultaneously without ever leaving Tweetdeck. This makes it super easy to get an overview of all aspects of your Twitter game in one place!
If you’ve never used Tweetdeck before, follow these steps:
Login to your Twitter account through your chosen browser.
Open a separate tab to access Tweetdeck – it will automatically link to your Twitter.
The programming section is on the left hand side when you first log in
The scheduler is really easy to use and it can seem quite therapeutic to know that you can schedule massive tweets in one place. The reward is free time and energy to interact with what’s happening on Twitter in real time!