Looking for that perfect formula to create tweets that will get retweeted? Look no further. A good rule of thumb when writing tweets that will get retweeted is to make them interesting and relevant for your followers. We’ve got 22 simple tips and tricks to help craft expert tweets that should result in more retweets and better engagement from your Twitter followers.
Retweets extend the reach of your business’ updates, maximizing engagement by putting your tweets in front of new followers. Tap into new markets by placing shareable content in front of your audience. Growing your business through retweets can lead to:
- An increase in your prospective customer base;
- New relationships with your target audience;
- An expansion of your business’ Twitter footprint;
- Increased brand awareness across target markets.
What is a retweet?
A retweet is a simple in-platform feature that enables you to re-post an existing tweet, be it your own or someone else’s, at the click of a button. The retweet feature allows Twitter users to share existing content with their followers, quickly and efficiently.
Check out our tips for creating tweets that get retweeted:
1. Choose your content wisely
Although your business objective is to sell your services, your Twitter content should focus predominantly on what your audience is interested in, which is less likely to be your products and services. Evolve your Twitter presence by retweeting the content that your audience wants to see - you could even test your creativity and add in an emoji. Monitor your engagement closely to guide your strategy.
2. Use images
Tweets with images are 94% more likely to be retweeted. If you’re sharing content from your blog, why not attach the accompanying image to the tweet? The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text, so a well-placed image on their Twitter feed is more likely to draw attention and retweets. Share them via Twitter, not Instagram or Facebook, as the same research found these sorts of images are less than 50% likely to be retweeted. Twitter rewards people who get their dimensions just right by displaying images in the feed, so keep your images 440 by 220 pixels.
3. Tweet with your audience in mind
Every single tweet should be intentional. Tweeting content for the sake of it can harm your engagement and lose you followers. What content are your followers interacting with? Explore what Twitter accounts they are following - how do their tweets differ from yours? Demonstrate that you know your target audience and what they are looking to see.
4. Avoid tweeting too much
Over tweeting can lead to fewer retweets and lower engagement, particularly if it’s obvious that you’re creating content for the purpose of appearing active on Twitter. Show your followers that your business is passionate about what it does; from industry updates to topical discussions, it’s important to convey authenticity.
5. 50/50 split
Getting the right split between tweeting about products and services, and industry news can be challenging. Avoid overwhelming your followers with tweets that are just about your business offerings. Talk about your business without actually talking about your business: tweet quotes, tips or subject matter relevant to your industry without discussing your products or services. Try to aim for an even split between talking about your brand and your industry, although some industries do have more news updates than others.
6. Retweet followers and industry leaders
Build strong relationships with your followers by sharing and retweeting their content, especially when they have something meaningful to say. Demonstrate that your brand is relevant by retweeting industry leaders that your followers have an interest in, as well as your customers. This will enable you to strengthen the bond with your followers.
7. Choose words carefully
There is actual proof that your tweets are more likely to be retweeted if you’re polite! ‘Please’ is the 3rd most retweetable word according to research by Dan Zarrella. Try peppering your tweets with these words and phrases to see if they have any profound effects on your followers - using a Twitter analytics tool like Audiense can take the hard work out of analyzing the performance of your tweets for you. Also, if you’re sharing somebody else’s content, add your own thoughts or opinions to increase engagement with your community, increasing the likelihood of those all important retweets!
8. Tweet fresh content
Avoid posting the same content over and over again, especially during a single day. Engage your followers with fresh content, even if you are marketing a campaign, think of new and original ways to get your message across.
9. Be human
The main thing to remember here is that customers prefer to talk to actual human beings, not answering machines. Be friendly and even (dare we say) have a sense of humor, to make sure your tweets go down a treat and get retweeted. You can read more about making your Twitter communication less robotic here.
10. Add facts, figures and stats to your tweets
100% of people like to see facts, figures and stats in tweets. Just kidding. Still, backing up informative tweets with evidence has an impact on whether your tweets will be retweeted or not. For example, tweets including quotes are 30% more likely to be retweeted than those without. If you’re sharing a data-packed piece of content, pick out an interesting fact or figure that will drive people to read and retweet. News accounts do this well.
11. Use hashtags properly
Less is more. One or two relevant hashtags is more than enough for any tweet. Any more and you risk becoming known as a hashtag spammer, and nobody wants to talk to that person. In a study of 1.2 million tweets, it was found that a sprinkle of relevant hashtags can increase your retweets by 55%. Twitter offers guidance on how to use hashtags, as incorrect use can lead to a violation of their T&Cs, so give that a read before embarking on your hashtag journey.
12. Shorten your links
Get more from your links with tools like Bit.ly. Research shows shortening your links with bit.ly is likely to get more retweets than any other, probably because it’s a trusted name for shortening links and many businesses use it. In addition to this, Bit.ly allows you to track how many clicks your links get - giving you insight into what sort of content people want to read. Better yet, it’s free.
13. Use Twitter language
Demonstrate that your brand is immersed in the Twitter culture by using the right lingo and abbreviations, as this will help appeal to your followers. Using the “RT” abbreviation makes your audience aware that the content is a retweet; however, try not to just simply retweet existing content. Practice good retweet etiquette by editing and quoting tweets, which enables you to credit the original author and add your own original commentary.
14. Use quotes
Connect with your target audience by using quotes to inspire and engage with your followers. Quotes are good tweets to get retweeted because it’s shareable content, which will engage your followers and make them more likely to retweet you.
15. Be topical
Research by Hubspot indicates 80% of retweeted content is about news, and over 50% of retweeted content is entertainment-related. If there’s a current event relevant to your business you feel you could tweet about, dive in! Be aware that if a topic is particularly sensitive or controversial, it’s probably not worth the retweets to get involved. If you do make a social media faux pas, here’s how to avoid going up in flames.
16. Make your tweets relevant
News is a topical way of getting your business involved with relevant, and timely events. Although it may not be specific to your business, there is always an angle to use to make it pertinent to your brand. According to research conducted by HubSpot, nearly 80% of retweeted content is about the news. Your followers will be more receptive to your tweets if your business demonstrates initiative and is able to engage with topical events in a compelling or interesting way.
17. Mention relevant people
Are you sharing a piece of content written by an influential thought leader, or quoting a great stat compiled by an excellent social media researcher? Why not tweet their handle? Acknowledging influential thought leaders, great bloggers and businesses in your tweets is a fantastic way of increasing share-ability and getting them to retweet your content to their audience, who might want to retweet it to their audience, and so on. This is a really great thing to do if your tweet or the content you are sharing adds something to the discussion.
18. Know your optimum tweeting time
The dirty little secret behind creating tweets that will get retweeted is to give yourself the edge and find out when your followers are most active. Hold the phone, you don’t need to call a private investigator to start stalking your followers, we’ve got this. Our Best Time To Tweet tool pinpoints when your followers are most active and cleverly calculates when you should post for optimal engagement. Pretty clever right? Try it out.
19. Ask for a retweet
Sometimes to get a retweet, all you need to do is ask. There are plenty of people who will retweet you, especially if your Twitter account is engaging, so just asking for a retweet can go a long way. HubSpot’s Science of Social Media report shows the phrase “please retweet” will get you 4x more retweets.
20. Use positive language
Appeal to people’s emotions by spreading positivity. If you want your followers to be more responsive to your tweets, use positive language and make sure the message you’re sending out is optimistic.
21. Include a Call To Action (CTA)
Make sure your tweets include a CTA, so your followers know what you’d like them to do. Try adding a question related to your tweet, i.e. ‘we found this great recipe for poached eggs, how do you like yours?’ - just a suggestion, you don’t need to do things eggsactly like that (get it?). Telling your followers what you’d like them to do next is a great way of encouraging retweets and making sure that your tweets will get retweeted. This also highlights Twitter’s ability to drive traffic to your website, your blog or a dedicated landing page. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
22. What’s your purpose?
Our final piece of advice for crafting tweets that will get retweeted is to always think about the purpose of your tweets. Are you sharing awesome information with your followers? Promoting your latest blog post? Talking about a current event? Keeping your tweets focused, interesting and relevant will dramatically increase the chances of your tweets being retweeted by your community.
Using Audiense Connect to boost your Twitter Marketing
With Audiense Connect you can explore communities and identify audiences on Twitter, allowing you to engage with users at scale. Browse your community and get to know your followers inside and out, so you can interact with them more efficiently and find out your best time to tweet by learning when your audience is online.
Whether you want to engage with content creators or follow their trending content to understand what type of content gets the most retweets, you can refine your criteria to make your tailored audiences as niche as possible. What’s more, you can also understand who engages with your best tweets with Tweet Analytics and target them in campaigns via Twitter Tailored audiences.
