5 Very, Very, Very Simple Tips to Build a Tweet

You only have 140 characters to make a good impression. It can be nerve racking to create the perfect tweet. Here are some very simple tips that work for our district to get the best engagement from each one of our tweets.

1. DESCRIPTIVE TEXT

As I mentioned above, you only have 140 characters for each tweet. Adding a picture, hashtags and a link can cut into your character count very quickly. It is up to you to write the most descriptive story possible using the 140 characters Twitter provides.

Certain keywords are going to get you more interaction or engagement from your audience. Words like Tips, Awesome, Tricks, Top, Follow, and Please tend to work the best for us. You will need to experiment and see what works best for your audience. (Analytics is Key)

2. ADD A LINK

A link gives your tweet a Call to Action. It adds more interactivity for your followers. Providing good text and a useful link can be key in getting people to interact with your tweet. Studies have shown tweets with links see much more engagement than ones that don’t.

3. INCLUDE HASHTAGS

The hashtag is your conversation topic. It categorizes your tweet. By including a hashtag, you are going to attract users who are interested in certain topics.

Be careful with hashtags. You don’t just want to ride the popular, trending hashtags. They are used too much. Use hashtags that you know will attract the people you want reading your tweets. The ultimate accomplishment, what you should strive for, is to own your own hashtags. That could be your districts name or a school mascot. Own it before some else does.

The ideal tweet will have no more than two hashtags. Studies show that a tweet with more than two, actually weakens engagement. You will go through your 140 characters very quickly with too many hashtags.

4. ENGAGING VISUALS 

I have said this before, but social media is a visual medium. Including a picture or a graphic in your tweet doubles engagement. You should really include a picture in 95% of your tweets. Not only will it stand out in the timeline, but you can also break the 140 character rule by including text in your picture, which is not included in your tweet character count.

5. ANALYTICS

Study your statistics. Find out what is working and do more of that, and then find out what is not working and stop doing that. It takes a little more time and resources, but you have to look at the data. The best part of analytics is that it is free from Twitter. Score!!!