Twitter is a powerful tool to drive traffic to your blog posts, but simply tweeting your post isn’t enough. To see measurable results, there’s a science behind producing conversions. With Twitter reporting 271 million active users, there’s a massive landscape to promote your posts, but your tweets need a powerful punch to grab your followers’ attention. You’re up against approximately 500 million other tweets every day, so your tweets need defining factors to stand out in Twitter feeds to encourage clicks.
Share Your Tweet More than Once
Post your tweet at least three times during the week that the blog post was published, but don’t send the exact same tweet more than once. Now that Google and Twitter are working together with the Firehose data stream, tweets that are the same are essentially duplicated content. Plus, if the tweet didn’t appeal to your followers the first time around, it’s not going to the second. Provide your followers with diversity by spending time creating a unique tweet each time you share your post.
Tweet at Various Times
Although the time of day for the highest social media traffic varies depending on the industry, TrackMaven analyzed over 1.7 million tweets and found the best time to gain a retweet is between 10:00 p.m-11:00 p.m. EST. Why? Because people are home from work and have leisure time to actually spend on social media sites and time to read blog posts.
According to the Science of Social Timing, tweeting during peak Eastern and Central time zones will put you in front of 80 percent more followers, while click rates tend to spike between 6-12 p.m. and on weekends evenings by as much as 6 percent. Generally it’s best to tweet at least once on Friday evening and over the weekend because overall engagement is 17 percent higher on weekends. As a word of warning, research from Sysomos recommends you avoid tweeting during” dead zones,” which is between 3-7 a.m..
Tag the Author
Add authority to your tweets by using an @ mention for the blog’s author. Plus, you’ll send the tweet directly to their followers. Just as with using a byline on the blog post itself, the mention adds credibility to your tweet. Your followers will see a recognizable name and be more enticed to click the tweet based on that fact alone.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags allow you to categorize your tweets to a more relevant audience and make your tweets searchable for current Twitter discussions. Although only 24 percent of tweets contain hashtags, a hashtag drives traffic back to your blog, doubling your engagement rate. Use hashtag research tools, like Hashtag.org, to research the best hashtags for your post. But, don’t over do it. Only include 1-2 relevant hashtags per tweet or your tweet will be irritating, and you’ll drop your engagement by 17 percent.
Keep It Short and Simple
The saying “less is more” is true in terms of tweeting your blog posts. Although tweets are fairly short in general, keep your tweets around 100-120 characters. This allows people to quote and add comments to tweets they are retweeting. Plus, tweets with less than 100 characters have a 21 percent higher interaction rate, while tweets with 110 characters have a 17 percent higher engagement.
Leverage Buzz Sumo
Buzz Sumo is a powerful tool to find top influencers to promote your content. Use Buzz Sumo to target influencers who would be interested in your blog post. Then, mention the influencers in your tweets. With an influencer outreach, you increase the likeliness your post falls into the right hands, which has the potential to generate retweets to a vast powerful network of followers to extend your targeted audience. You’ll capture the influencer’s audience to drive more traffic to your blog.
Don’t Just Tweet Your Post’s Title
Although an intriguing title has the potential to capture attention, use titles, quotes, and statistics in your tweet to produce a higher engagement. It’s basically a sneak peak to your post that encourages a click. In fact, tweets featuring statistics have over 5 percent higher retweets than those without. So, vary your tweets to include at least one with the title, one with a content quote, and one with a statistic.
Use Social Media Power Words
We all know words are powerful, and there are actually words that are proven to trigger a response, leading to higher conversions. Tweets that include actionable words can increase a tweet’s clicks by as much as 13 percent. There are specific words that are known to spark curiosity, leading to higher conversions. These words are “improvement,” “amazing,” and “remarkable,” so try to use them in your tweets. In addition, “you” and “because” are the two single most important words to use in blogging according to CopyBlogger.
Include an Image
Today, the world of digital marketing relies heavily on images and videos. Include an image with your blog’s tweet because an image produces 18 percent more clicks, 89 percent higher favorites, and as much as 150 percent more retweets. Plus, followers are naturally attracted to images because they are eye-catching, so they are less likely to skip over your tweet.
The higher your engagement is on Twitter, the more traffic your blog will generate. If you’re looking to spread your blog post to a wider audience, don’t be afraid to ask for a retweet to gain more visibility. Tweets that clearly ask for a retweet have a 23 percent higher retweet rate than those without. It may not be rocket science, but there is a proven strategy that must be used to see any form of return from tweeting your posts.
Sources:
“Twitter Reports First Quarter 2014 Results” Twitter
“12 Data-Backed Tips to Increase Your Conversions on Twitter” Hub Spot
“The Science of Social Timing” KISSMetrics
“Want to Win on Twitter? Think Like a Good Host” Sysomos
“7 Research-Backed Tips on Improving Twitter Conversions” CrazyEgg
“Advanced Lead Generation Marketing Blog” WishPond
“Influencer and Outreach” Buzz Sumo
“10 Twitter Tactics to Increase Your Engagement” Social Media Examiner
“The Two Most Important Words in Blogging” CopyBlogger
