I just reviewed the webinar: “The Science of ReTweets” (Viral Content Sharing on Twitter) by Viral Marketing Specialist @DanZarrella of HubSpot.  It was an hour of charts and graphs of statistical information about ReTweets, and how to get more of them.  I found to be quite helpful (as I do most HubSpot content).

Here are 5 tips I took away from this helpful webinar (and at the end of this post an expirement using the thoughts shared in this webinar to try to generate some ReTweets).

Tip 1:   Don’t be boring.  Going to sleep? Nobody cares…

There are words to avoid in your tweets that typically don’t get ReTweeted often.  Words like:  tired, sleep, bored, gonna, watching…    If you are climbing into bed watching a show on tv and listening to a song on your iPod – you don’t need to tweet about it. Chances are it won’t get ReTweeted anyway.

Tip 2:  Keep your tweet under 100 characters.  Make it easy to RT.

Kraft your tweet in such a way that your followers don’t need to edit/shorten it to make it fit within the 140 character limits of Twitter.  This is a great rule of thumb to consider when writing blog post titles.  Write them in such a way they can be easily ReTweeted (espcially if you are using a tool such at TweetMe).

Note: When someone RTs, your longer tweets do get shortened via a link to the original tweet.  Just something to keep in mind.  Shorter is better.

Tip 3:  Don’t self promote (and do nothing else)

Clearly, we use Twitter for the purpose of self-promotion or promoting the companies we work for – however…  Twitter is about relationships – provide value, share information freely, and look for ways to mutually help people that you communicate on Twitter.  You may be awesome, but don’t repeatedly tell the world that.  They wont ReTweet that content, and in fact – will probably un-follow at some point.

Just BE awesome, without telling the world you are awesome.  They’ll figure it out on their own.

Tip 4:  Keep it clean people

Swearing in your tweets may get your point across and people may agree with you, but chances are you will not get ReTweeted.  I may agree with your sentiment, but I will not Tweet bad language to my followers out of respect for them.  Negative emotions can have a positive reaction – if presented in a diplomatic and effective way.

Tip 5:  People don’t read, they scan – choose your words wisely

People this is not rocket science.  Depending on your follower base and how many they follow, you have about a fraction of a second get someone’s attention via your tweet.  Make it short, concise and interesting.   Statistics show that certain words get ReTweeted more than others.  Some of these words include:  you, help,  how to, new, etc…

Kraft your tweet in such a way that stands out, and makes your point clearly without using big words.

And now for the “experiment“

The title of this blog adheres to the rules which I’ve outlined above.   I will Tweet it once the post is published   It is under 100 characters (and will fall around 120 once I drop in the bit.ly link to this post).  I’ve also used a combination of the most ReTweeted words according to the webinar.  So we’ll see how much it get’s ReTweeted!  (I’m also sending this out at around 3:15 PM EST which is one of the higher ReTweet times of the day)

In summary – the Webinar was well worth the hour of my time, and has made me put more thought into how I create my tweets and what they will say going forward – not only for me, but for the company I represent on Twitter.

Happy Tweeting (PLEASE ReTweet)!

I recently wrote a blog post that got a lot of attention titled Pay it Forward. The post, inspired by a tv commercial, was very meaningful to me because I truly believe that the simplest of gestures can change someone’s life. The movie that came out years ago was truly an inspiration to so many, and movements were started around the globe.

My original post talks about the random smile to the apparently sad person, or waiting that few extra seconds to hold the door for someone a few steps behind. Those little gestures can make such a difference in a persons attitude or outlook. Now I’ll apply that same concept to Twitter.

I have become a Twunkie (my new word for Twitter Junkie)! What I love so much about Twitter is watching relationships evolve and seeing what other people are doing FOR each other. You see so many Tweeps – strangers really – helping each other out, with potentially nothing to gain.

Help can come in the form of a ReTweet, a #followfriday shout out, a recommendation, or just providing helpful and meaningful content. I don’t consider myself to be an expert in social media, merely a student just like everyone else, with so much to learn. I love it when someone asks a question in need of advice and I can contribute. That makes me feel great!

The vast majority, I would presume, are on Twitter for the purposes of self-promotion and marketing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that – but what I’m finding is that the more effective Twitter Marketeers are the ones who truly provide value to others and aide in fostering relationships between other Tweeps.

How can you Pay It Forward on Twitter? Take the time to click through links that people are posting. They are posting them for a reason – and I believe it to be my responsiblity to look at them (can’t read them all, but you get the point). When you do review them and they are meaningful – take the time to leave a comment to let them know you were there (and leave your Twitter ID) – and then ReTweet it! That is paying it forward Twitter style – help others promote themselves, and they will more than likely help to promote someone else (maybe even you)!

I was truly humbled by the number of Tweeps that ReTweeted that post! Thank you to all!

How else do you Pay It Forward on Twitter? Leave me a comment and let me know!

I will continue to #payitforward and I hope you will too!

Very Sincerely,
@SocialPMChick

In recent weeks I’ve gotten more serious about my relationships on Twitter – who I follow and why. For whatever reason (and I’m truly humbled), I’ve gained a few hundred new followers in the past few weeks, and that number continues to grow.

What’s daunting to me about that is that I take my followers very seriously because, they chose to follow me for a reason and I sincerely hope I can capture their interest and keep it – chances are they have something to share with me as well.

When I get notification of new followers I don’t automatically follow every one – even if it takes a little bit of time, I do check out each and every profile of my followers (now it’s taking longer than it used to… but I make the time to do it)

Here’s what I look for when I decide whether
to follow back or not: (I’m using @jasontryfon as my example)

Step 1 – Review Twitter Bio - If you can sell me in the short Bio I will follow – generally those who say they are passionate about anything I’ll follow. If the Bio is unique and funny, I’ll follow. If your Bio gives me enough sense of your business goals and they relate to me or my clients, I’ll follow.

If your Bio is generally a product pitch – I probably wont follow, unless you pass step 2…

Step 2 – Review Recent Tweets – Your Bio may be blank or just not grab me, but you haven’t lost me yet. I will check out recent tweets to see what you are sharing with the world. I look for personality, humor, sincerity, industry related info (social media, internet marketing), or information that my clients may find useful. I also look for ReTweets, and real conversations – not one sided tweets. (Being a Christian is a plus too.)

Seeing followers in conversation with mutual Twitter friends is always a plus too!

If your recent tweets consist only of “buy this”, “great deal on this”, “make a million dollars an hour working out of your home” and so on… chances are I will not be following you (sorry)

Still not satisfied after reviewing recent tweets? The game is not over yet – onto step 3…

Step 3 – Review your Site or Blog – I may have already followed you after steps 1 or 2, process doesn’t always hit this point, but I will take the time to check out your blog or website for interesting content.

** If you are new to Twitter, doesn’t mean I wont follow – we all start somewhere. If you have a Bio and a site link that’s relevant I will follow you and will enjoy watching your personality evolve! **

How I introduce myself? I will most definatley send you a DM referencing either one of your tweets, your Bio, or your website/blog. I want you to know that I took the time to learn something about you. I used @jaysontrfyon as my example here and chose an interesting tidbit to ReTweet.

@jasontryfon has it all going on. His Bio is full of information that is relevant to my industry, his profile background rocks, his tweets are genuine, AND what caught me was on this quote on his background “Jason has gamered his acclaim as a noted customer satisfaction evangelist…” YES! Now you are speaking my language! I let him know that too by Tweeting that little qoute

I am big on ReTweeting the good info of others and paying it foward whenever I can. (#payitforward).

So if you are following me and have not heard back from me yet – never fear – I need some time to do the real work!

Why do you follow and how do you introduce yourself? I’d love to hear!

Like this post? Please RT! See yah on Twitter my friends!

@SocialPMChick