Tweeting with Purpose: 10 Tips for Developing a Content Strategy That Aligns Your Business Goals
If you’re a business, having a significant presence on Twitter (X) can help you make sales. However, Twitter is a competitive platform, with so many voices trying to be heard simultaneously. If you wish to grow on Twitter, you mustn’t resort to tweeting into the void. It would be best if you came up with a vital strategy that you can use to grow your account.
Having a content strategy can help you succeed. Here are ten tips to help you get the most out of your plan to interact with many likes or favorites on your tweet.
1. Post at the Best Times
The spirit of Twitter is to tweet whatever comes to your mind, be it early in the morning or late at night when you can’t sleep. However, while this strategy can work for a personal account, it’s not ideal for a business account. You want to post at the times when your audience is active. This principle is especially true if it’s content you’ve worked hard on.
You can look at your Twitter analytics, which should tell you when your audience is most active. However, Twitter is currently renovating its analytics page as of this writing. As a result, you may not get accurate information on the right times, or even a little bit about the types of followers you have. For instance, you might have people who follow you that live in the UK. If you’re in the US, you should adjust and schedule out tweets so they show up at these opportune times.
However, there are universal times when it’s good to post. Wednesday from 9 AM to 3 PM and Tuesday and Thursday from 9 AM to 11 AM are ideal. However, this ultimately can depend on who you are.
You can make multiple posts and see which one performs the best. In addition, your audience may be the most active when you can’t post on Twitter. One way to mitigate this is to schedule posts, which you can do by hitting the calendar and clock icon when you go to make a tweet.
2. Have a Variety of Content and a Budget
Your content should be things your target audience likes (more on later.) In addition, you want to post all kinds of content. Twitter is known for short texts, but it’s also known for videos, photos, and much more. Twitter is constantly adding new features, and by creating content that utilizes all of the above, you can reach the biggest possible audience.
Remember, quality is key, so you want to give them something good. However, an account with such few content won’t get the excitement and interest that an account with a variety of tweets and photos would.
While Twitter marketing is not costly, having a budget is ideal if you want to succeed. Consider boosting a post through Twitter advertising, or you may want to consider subscribing to Twitter Blue. This can verify your business and put it higher in the algorithm. That said, you can still have Twitter success without subscribing to Blue.
3. Goals Are Vital
When making a content strategy, goals are the most essential part. Finding your goals can be accomplished by answering these questions:
- What is the point of your Twitter? Do you want to use it to make people know your brand? To show what you have for sale? How will your content help you accomplish these goals?
- How many followers do you think is realistic within a year? What content can you publish to get these followers?
- What metrics should you be on the lookout for? Analytics are vital for any marketing strategy, but certain ones may be ideal for growth.
Remember that not all goals will be met, so if you did not meet your goal, do you know why? Did you at least hit a ballpark range? You may need to readjust your goals to be more realistic or try something different to see if meeting these metrics is possible.
4. Know Your Audience
Who is your target audience? If you own a business, you may have already researched who your business attracts and what content you can make to appeal to them. Of course, your audience may be slightly different on Twitter, so checking your analytics is ideal. In addition, look at the bios of people who like or reply to your posts. You can get an idea of what content they want, thus making it easier for you to have a marketing strategy.
Twitter is a place where people love hot takes, memes, and banter. However, your audience may have different desires. For example, if your business targets people in the industry, you should have interesting content to help them improve.
5. Keywords and Hashtags Are Important
Hashtags are a big deal on Twitter if you want people to find your posts and so are using the right keywords in your bio and tweets. Having keywords closely tied to your business’s niche will ensure that the people who find your content are a part of your target audience.
With keywords and hashtags, you should do a little research. Some people use vague or “viral” hashtags that they feel will work. However, these tend to lack focus, and your posts may be drowned out by other people posting similar content.
Because of this, you want to have your keywords be as niche as possible without losing too much traction. Do some keyword research, see what you can come up with, and you can reach your audience.
6. What Content Should You Make?
This question has no correct answer, as the best content can depend on what your business is and who your audience is. However, one way to determine what content you should make is to focus on your audience’s pain points.
If you were a member of your audience, what would soothe your struggles? A tweet demonstrating a product? A funny meme? A nice photo or video to distract them from a troubling day?
All of these and more can be good answers. The best way is to test different types of content. Then, keep using the content that is the best performing.
Also, one thing to remember about Twitter is that it’s a website where you do not need to post new content constantly. Retweeting can be an excellent way to repurpose content you believe didn’t get enough views the first time. In addition, you can use that to bring back an old tweet that newcomers to your account may have missed.
Other people will tweak their content and repost it again entirely. Using different imagery, adding new commentary or context to a post, or making other changes can make the original tweet fall behind in performance. Do not do this too often, as some people will notice. Tweaking content can give you a better idea of how well it performs compared to the old.
7. How Often Should You Post?
Many people are unsure how often they should post, and this number can depend on your business. Some businesses will post five times a day, while other companies may post five times every week.
At the maximum, you want to tweet no more than five times daily. Tweeting too much can damage your visibility in the algorithm. Also, some of your fans may get annoyed if you tweet too much, leading to possible followings and blockings.
If you tweet too little, your posts may not be noticed, hurting your position in the algorithm. Again, moderation is vital, and having a moderate amount of content can prevent burnout and you scramble for ideas the next time you fill out a content calendar.
8. Sound Like More Than a Brand
Twitter is a website where many businesses are rewarded for sounding more like a person someone would want to share a drink with and less like a soulless corporation. One way to do this is to respond to any issue that a person has and talk to them like a person, not as a corporation.
Another way is to capitalize on the current trends and memes, helping your business seem more personable. There is a limit to how often you should do this; you don’t want to sound like a business trying too hard to appeal to the youth. However, this is a much better option than sounding too professional unless that is your business’s brand and tone.
9. Keep Tweaking Your Content
To make an effective Twitter marketing strategy, you must remember that nothing is set in stone. What your customers are interested in can change over time. In addition, the market can change as well. Your product may be hot right now, but it may be irrelevant in a year. Adjusting your business and the content you post can be one way you can survive in an ever-changing world.
With that said, when should you tweak your content? Ideally, looking at your performance analytics every month or quarter would be best. If your business is doing well, you should keep doing what you’re doing. But if you notice a significant drop, consider tweaking your content. Companies can have ups and downs, but if your content keeps failing, something may be happening.
10. Retweet Other People
One way to cheat a little bit on your content is to retweet content interesting to your audience. You can go through Twitter lists, which can give you a list of similar content creators. If you find that there’s something that interests you, you can retweet it. Not only can it be an effective way to keep people on your page, but the person you retweeted may also want to support you.
Final Thoughts
These ten ways are how you can gain followers on Twitter, upgrade your account, and grow your business. You can think about what you should post through a content plan and when. Just remember, these plans can be fluid; you’ll want to change them occasionally, and sometimes, it’s worth it to go outside the plan and experiment a little. Twitter is a platform that rewards you for doing that, after all.