This past weekend, we attended Social Media Weekend (#SMWKND) at Columbia University, where over 500 communications and media professionals from across the world convened to network, knowledge share, and learn about the latest and greatest in Social Media strategy. We made sure to take away the best tips to share with you, our readers!
This post will focus on Twitter as a self-promotion tool. We received great tips from Emily Mienther, Founder of NYC Creative Interns and a Social Media Speaker/Coach/Strategist who served as our “Social Media Doctor” at the conference. Thanks for all of your help Emily!
Before we get into Twitter for self-promotion and personal branding, let’s go over the basics:
1. What is Twitter?
From Twitter’s Official “About” Page:
“Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what you find interesting. Simply find the accounts you find most compelling and follow the conversations.
At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters long, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can discover a lot in a little space. You can see photos, videos and conversations directly in Tweets to get the whole story at a glance, and all in one place.”
2. Re-Tweets
So you know how to tweet. What about re-tweeting?
From Twitter’s Official “Help” Page:
“A retweet is someone else’s Tweet that you chose to share with all of your followers. You can use our built-in retweet feature or you can manually retweet content by copying and pasting it into a new Tweet of your own.”
Tip: If you are copying and pasting a Tweet in order to retweet someone, write “RT” before the message followed by the person you are retweeting:
Example: RT @onlineontrend: Follow us at www.onlineontrend.com.
3. Hashtags:
From Twitter’s Official “Help” Page:
- People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search.
- Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword.
- Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet – at the beginning, middle, or end.
- Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.
Tip: Don’t use more than 2 hashtags
You get what Twitter is now. How do you use it to build your personal brand?
1. Your description:
You have 140 characters to show the world who you are and what your personal brand is all about. Use this space to describe yourself and gain followers; use hashtags for keywords you want to emphasize. Make sure you make every character count.
2. Follow people who interest you:
Depending on what industry your personal brand is in, follow people accordingly. This will not only help you learn more about what others in your industry are saying and doing, but will also show people in the industry that you are serious about building your personal brand. Many times, a follow will result in someone following you back. We like to call that a win-win.
3. Be yourself:
We’ve mentioned this before, and we’ll mention it again. If you build your personal brand around what you’re passionate about, the content will follow. Remember our post about Perez Hilton? He works as a brand not only because he has let his personality shine through, but because he writes about what he loves. The entertainment industry is critical, so thats why his critical tone worked.
Tip: Make sure you augment the tone you are using according to the industry you want to build your brand in.
4. Retweet and become a curator of good content:
If you find something that interests you, retweet it! That not only shows the people you are following that you listen, but also shows your other followers that you are not self-centered. It shows that you can promote others besides yourself, and that you are able to identify good content.
5. Add to the conversation and genuinely engage with your followers:
Responding to tweets shows that you are dedicated to your brand. You are a contributor to the greater conversation and you truly care about your industry. Furthermore, engaging with your followers shows that you are human and that you appreciate them as individuals who follow you.
For more tips, check out Emily Mienther’s useful presentation on Twitter below:
Love this post! Super helpful!