It’s a great time of year to give your Twitter account a bit of good housekeeping.
By following the below 5 tips your Twitter account will look as if it has had a really great facelift!
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Tip 1: Stop following!
Inactive Tweeters, Tweeters with have no profile pictures and yes even those who are not following you back. Manage Filter is a really fast and effective Twitter tool to enable you to tidy up your account by bulk unfollowing.
Twitters Inactive Account Policy
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Tip 2: Set up some Twitter lists
This is a good way to group your Tweeters the same way you would if you were tidying up a filing cabinet it’s a simple job that will enable you to quickly identify topics and themes. Twitter lists also have the added bonus of cutting out some of the noise we all experience on Twitter when looking though our Twitter streams.
There are two options available
Option 1 an open list which other tweeters can follow.
Option 2 is a closed list.
All you need to do is click on the link at the top of the page that says “Profile“. After your Avatar you will see the “Edit your profile” text. On the right hand side sits the “create a new list drop down box“. Click the drop down box, now you will be given the option to create an open or closed list.
Take a minute to name your list and add some basic details so other Tweeters who look at it know instantly what your Twitter list is about. This will influence if they decide to follow the list or not and of course if you decide to keep it private your list will be exactly that private.
Once you have created your list you can add it into your Twitter management platform if you use one. Such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck for easier viewing.
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Tip 3: Change your Twitter Background, Avatar and update your bio
If you do not have a set business background for your Twitter account I recommend using Themeleon.
They have an amazing range of professional Twitter backgrounds.
If you haven’t changed your Avatar in a while look for a new image that best reflects you.
Take look at your bio does it need updating, changing just a few words may make it more appealing. It’s like with most things in life when we start on a journey we learn so much along the way that your bio may not even represent who you are anymore.
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4: Make your Tweets RARE
Relevant
- What are your customers/clients needs?
- What do your customers need to know about your business/field of expertise?
- How does your call to action sit in line with your Twitter marketing goals?
Articulate
- Are your Tweets specific and to the point?
- Are your Tweets in plain English and RT “retweetable”?
- Are your Tweets clear enough so people know exactly what it is you want them to do?
Reliable
- Are the links you are providing credible and reliably sourced?
- Are your Tweets consistent in tone and language?
- What experience do you want your customers to have?
Enabling
- Are your Tweets adding value to your community?
- How do you enable and support your Twitter community?
- How approachable are you really?
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5: Follow some new Tweeters
So what do you do when you have connected with everyone you know on Twitter and what to look further afield.
- Carry out a Twitter search looking for Twitters who have similar interests as yourself or even in the same location.
- Checkout local networking events Twitter accounts to see who they are following, when you follow a Tweeter from a networking group mention that you come to them via (@>>>>) I think it’s just good manners.
- Join a specific Twitter chat and connect with new Tweeters afterwards.
- Check out your favourite top 5 Tweeters list’s and pick the top 3 Tweeters who are of interests to you then RT there Tweets if they are useful to your own community.
Never underestimate the power of an RT!
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Comments
Wendy: Thanks for the great post. There is so much bad advice out there on this subject that misses the point of just providing value. I'll remember the RARE acronym.
Thanks for your comment Doug!
Good article but I wanted to comment about stop following "those who are not following you back"
I don't agree that it's as cut and dry as that. As users we should be selective in who we decide to follow and we should not follow someone simply becasue they have chosen to follow us. As it stands right now, there is way too much clutter out there and overloading your Twitter account with meaningless followers and their irrelevant tweets will reduce the value of Twitter. This isn't a popularity contest and as soon as users come to understand this, I think they will get much more vlaue out of Twitter. So why remove an account that provides value to you simply because they are not following you back? Maybe your content isn't what they're looking for? Don't be offended.
Just my 2 cents.
Hi Keith,
What you are saying is very true it’s not “cut and dry” and you do need to spend a little time thinking about if the Tweeple you are following are adding value or just Tweeting a lot of rubbish. I do indeed follow a number of Tweeple who do not follow me back because they add a lot of value for my own Twitter community.
I do find that Tweeple become concerned about who is and who is not following them back. I am very much into building a community on Twitter so like to keep my Twitter streams as clean as possible. If I find that people who I initially started following are not following me back after a while I just unfollow them if they are not adding any value as I want to be building a community that I can interact with.
Wendy
You are very welcome!
Wendy, that was a really meaty post! Great way to start off the New Year. Manage Flitter was new to me, so it's good to have one more tool in the arsenal.
By the way, your link is to manageflitter.com but your anchor text says "manage filter".
Eric
Wendy, the R-A-R-E acronym is brilliant! Beside Twitter, those rules are valuable for any online engagement we have with clients -- whether it be a blog, Facebook, etc. Ease to remember, but brings value to our interactions and keeps us focused on client needs.
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for a getting an important conversation going. Managing your twitter account is important and isn't "cut and dry" as you and Keith both mentioned. It's important that people are clear about their brand and their strategy in deciding who they will follow and not – as with all their social media decisions.
I tried to use the Manage Filters today to do some "clean up" and it only deleted some of those I selected to delete. Have you ever had this happen? It certainly is easier than other applications I've used – if it works!
Thanks again,
Dr. K
Hi Wendy,
This is a very helpful article! Thanks for sharing the knowledge. I agree with keoth Knowles' coment and on reading your response, agree with you too. It makes no sense to follow back when their content is not relevant to me and I am ok if they unfollow me.