Boost your value by showing you really care
Start with being reliable and steady online to build relationships
You can be active on social media, but if you don’t care about what you post, you might end up gaining less from your presence. Helpful content on platforms such as Twitter will increase your visibility and catch the eye of those who need you the most.
“Being consistent on Twitter increases your value and influence and gives you a higher ranking on Google,” said Kofi Dotse, a social media strategist and content creator. “Discuss trendy topics, use relevant and trending hashtags and simply remain active.”
During an Africa Tweet Chat, he discussed the benefits of being reliable and steady online.
One approach is to schedule content to appear regularly throughout the day and night. Some part of your audience is awake on the opposite side of the world. Be sure content is relevant and not posted for posting’s sake. Also be sure to respond to engagements.
Dotse abides by these rules:
- Engage with other users.
- Respond and get into conversations.
- Always show up.
- Join weekly twitter chats.
- Use Twitter lists for social listening and monitoring competitors.
- Create Twitter polls.
An oft-overlooked tool, TweetDeck is handy to schedule tweets. That way you can seem to be online when you’re not. Be sure to catch up on notifications and respond as soon as you return.
Create versatile lists
“Use Twitter lists to monitor competitors and to zone in on conversations,” Dotse said. “Twitter threads are good so people can follow a story. Twitter polls boost engagement. Being active in at least two branded Twitter chats a week will raise your profile.
“The chats will establish you as an influencer and connector,” he said. “They’re great for helping you connect and network with people. They give you credibility within a niche and position you as a thought leader in your industry.”
Having a niche market lets you focus your content, although it helps to get away from a niche fairly often and do stuff for fun. That’s an easy way to broaden your visibility and reputation.
“A niche market is convenient,” Dotse said. “It lets you stay in one headspace at a time. The specialized market supports intentionality on social media. In this way it facilitates professional networking and community building and lets you tweet to an audience who cares.”
Try not to fixate on the number of followers unless you work for a client who hired you based on that number. That’s an easy way to fall into a trap of collecting fake followers. It’s interesting to see big names who have relatively few followers. Yet, they have influence.
“Some of the small accounts can boast of higher Twitter analytics,” Dotse said. “At the same time, I’ve seen smaller accounts reach a large number of people. As such, the number of your followers doesn’t really count for me.”
Activist cautions
Businesses that address politics and human rights should tread lightly and be certain of facts. Be absolutely sure not to get caught up in fakery by any entity.
“As a business, transparency is key when you need to take a stand,” Dotse said. “Ignoring social discussions that your workforce is dealing with outside of work can adversely affect productivity.”
Among Twitter’s analytics, keep an eye on engagements. They won’t tell the whole story of those who see your content, but it’s a good indicator of responses. Of course, if you get replies or retweets, jump on them to respond or say thanks.
Dotse’s Top 4 metrics are engagement rate, retweets, average tweet performance and comments.
“As you remain consistent on Twitter, don’t forget to be authentic, too.” he said. “Tell a story people want to hear, and make it a reality. Such stories make you attractive. In this way you’ll gain more.”
About The Author
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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