Articles in The 'Tweet' Tag

How To Get Your Tweets Retweeted on Twitter

by Michael Sherman

Retweeting (RT) is the most effective way of sharing information you like within Twitter. But to getting someone to retweet your message (or tweet) requires you to use some tools.

1. Include Links.  Tweets have a much higher percentage of being retweeted when a link is used.
2. Use a URL shortner such as bit.ly and ow.ly when adding a link to your Tweet. This will drastically reduce long URLs and allow for more copy within the 140 character allotted space.
3. Speaking of allotted space, don’t use all of it when you are tweeting.  This will make it easier for someone to retweet as they are already losing between 5 and 8 characters plus the length of the username when they are retweeting your message.
4. As much as possible, use keywords and phrases within your Tweets. Research has shown the most retweetable tweets include words and phrases such as “social media”, “check out”, “blog post”, “top”, “please”, “help” and “free”.
5. Avoid tweeting about “boring” items. Yes, Twitter asks you to type in “What’s Happening” but stay away from using words like “haha”, “sleep”, “watching”, “home” and “bored” if you want to get your Tweets to be spread via the RT.
6. Use longer words.  Avoid abbreviations and use better language with more syllables. This will make your Tweet more intellectual and give it a higher chance of being retweeted.
7. Timing.  Many social media experts have said that the highest probability of getting your Tweets retweeted are between the hours of 4 and 5pm. Friday is the highest day of the week for retweets.

To use Twitter as an effective marketing tool, your greatest potential of reaching an audience beyond your followers is by having your tweets retweeted. These are just a few general recommendations to make your

Still Skeptical About Social Media?

by Marni Weinberg

Not buying into the Facebook Frenzy? Sick of being asked to follow your friends on Twitter? Feel like you might burst if one more person tries to connect with you on LinkedIn? Don’t know or care what a blog is?

Even if these questions apply to you on a personal level, the truth of the matter is that now, more than ever before, large and small companies are testing out the waters with the implementation of a social media strategy

In this tough economic climate, social media is a cost-effective way to get your message out to prospective customers. Whether we are talking about a YouTube video, Facebook Profile, Twitter page, or an onsite blog, social media is sizzling hot right now and is literally all around us. Many clients I speak with are allocating a respectable budget for social media efforts this year. According to a recent article by the Aberdeen Group, a leading provider of fact-based research, 21% of best-in-class companies are looking to increase their social media marketing budgets more than 25% in 2009.

A concern I often hear from clients is that they do not fully understand social media enough to invest the time and/or budget to focus on it; especially when they do not utilize these networks on a personal level. The unknown is always a bit scary, but diving into social media and embracing the unknown is well worth it. MoreVisibility ran a social media boot camp series last month, which highlighted: Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and YouTube, all of which are being professionally utilized by a growing number of companies. We received an overwhelmingly positive response from the webinar series.

Don’t be such a skeptic. Embrace the art of “collaborative content” and experience all of the benefits! Let social media work for you the way it is working for a growing number of companies, large and small.  Then, you can even “tweet” about it on Twitter!