A Twitter list are a great tool to use for collecting names of Twitter users and organizing them based on what they have in common. A twitter list is defined as “curated group of Twitter users that allows you to efficiently organize users you’re interested in into various groups and to better manage your tweets”. Lists allow Twitter users to follow tweets of specified groups of users aside from the ones they follow. (This is a helpful use of lists… You don’t show up as a follower of someone that you add to a list).
Great content creates a high level of trust and rapport and educates your potential client about all the benefits of doing business with you. You need more than great content: you need a content marketing system.
| A twitter ID is called a handle. Twitter helps to share what’s happening as you see it (Tweet) or as others see it (Retweet) in 140 characters. Twitter is about communicating publicly – Interactions which comprise of [ @ ] mentions or communicating privately – private communications can happen between two handles that follow each other (DM or Direct Message – this I believe will replace SMS in the future). Twitter is keeping a tab on the information flow by either following news outlets, information givers, organizations and individuals OR just following hashtags (#) also called discover OR following lists that you or others create. As handles discover you, they will start becoming followers. You can lock your handle, deciding to allow follow requests or keep it open permitting anyone to follow without permission and see your tweets on their timeline. You can be blocked by handles who don’t want you to follow them or you can block handles you don’t want to be followed by. You can favorite a tweet for future reference with one click. Everything you type on Twitter has the potential to travel far and wide and every tweet is archived by the American Library of Congress – so don’t say or repeat what others say if you would not in a public place. Finally, no better way to learn than spending a few minutes on this powerful social network for 10 minutes every day and putting up one tweet – it will evolve over time. So start tweeting with few followers and then when you get it right more followers will come on board. Also, do not follow too many handles until you get twitter right. It can clutter your timeline (http://amithpr.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/twitter-in-nine-steps/). |
You have the ability to create your own list (How to create Twitter Lists) or subscribe to a list already created by different users. The members of a list are organized into groups which means that you can easily follow tweets from a specific group without looking for specific tweets through your feed or the search feature. Creating lists saves you time from reading all those tweets from accounts that you don’t care about and increases productivity.
In a nutshell, by adding a defined audience to a list it gives you a way to send more targeted and relevant tweets for the intended audience (more 1-1) than marketing to the masses as well as easily skim through tweets you may not read and encourage more pro-active following.
A. Public List: Twitter users can follow it without you having to add them. When you add someone to a list you are basically identifying them as someone with certain expertise. This may make those users more apt to check out your profile, website, blog, and follow you back. Recommending lists is a good way to network on Twitter too. On the flip side, you can also recommend people by creating a “recommendation” list of experts in a certain field.
When creating public lists, or being added to them for that matter, you increase your online visibility. Lists also make engagement easier because if you’re added to a list, you’re less likely to get lost between millions of tweets on main feeds. Engaging on lists can easily spark new relationships because everyone on the list has the same thing in common. Building lists of sources using Twitter and engaging with these selected accounts can help you get ahead of your competition.
News breaks on Twitter more often now than it does on mainstream news sources. So, by creating a Twitter List with news sources you’re interested in, you can learn about news as it breaks through your list. Follow accounts that help inform you about the topics you cover and retweet important news they share to inform your followers.
B. Private Lists: Only the creator of private lists will be able to see or subscribe to them — not even those on the list can see private lists. That means, for example, you could create a list of your competitors and keep an eye on them without them being any the wiser.
- Listorious – Listorious is a third-party site that maintains a categorized directory of Twitter lists. You can search or browse through lists by category, and find the most popular lists.
- TweetMeme Lists – Exposes the most tweeted links on Twitter and powers the “retweet” buttons on all of our articles. Just like it does for links, TweetMeme also finds the most tweeted about Twitter Lists.
Some Key Facts and Figures about Twitter Lists: You can have up to 1000 lists with a max of of 5000 users in each list
Key uses of Twitter lists:
Segmentation- (Similar businesses, direct competition, conferences, industry leaders, etc.)
Event organization- Add all people attending an event/interest in an event so they can look right
at the list to see what people are saying about
Employee/department list- Add your team to a list so you can keep up with what they’re posting AND give outsiders an idea as to who your team really is (be sure all employees are aware of this before creating a team list)
Prospective Clients -Keep track of what your prospective clients are talking about and what needs they may have
Partners- Be able to keep up with the news surrounding your business without having to search for it
Twitter chat participants- This could help people interested in the chat see what it’s all about AND organize the chat into one location, instead of searching through endless hashtags
Conference attendees- People attending a conference all share some similar interest. This list allows attendees to see each other before the event and keep up with what others in their industry are talking about
Bloggers/influencers- You could use this to build/grow an influencer network, to an example of how influencers post and what kinds of posts are
Relevant news channels- This allows you
Other benefits: Your
TWITTER CHATS
Twitter chats are a group of people who gather on Twitter to discuss a particular topic. Chat hosts announce a specific date and time well before the chat takes place. (One can also Host a Twitter party: This is similar to a chat, but is one-time event. This is great for product launches or virtual events
You can also check this site for a fairly comprehensive list of Twitter Chats and the necessary information around them. Another useful tool is paper.li which can be used to create a roundup of tweets related to your industry. #FollowFriday/#HIREFRIDAY: A great way to recommend colleagues, clients, and friends to your followers. #FollowFriday is a tradition in which, only on Fridays, you highlight those Twitter accounts that are outstanding and worth following. Use a strategy that gives a reason why you should follow those. Set aside time in the next week or two to attend the chat. Make sure to introduce yourself: chat participants are encouraging and friendly and will be helpful to you and your business. A good place to start could be looking through the #B2BChat: Learn from business-to-business experts and network on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
Many websites online and marketing agencies share lists of their favorite chats for relevant categories. Either before or after the list is presented, the site creators share a basic description of what a Twitter Chat is and why they’re important. Here are a few that we liked: Track Maven , Social Media Today, and Social Media Examiner.
These sites all give a small description including facts such as:
The # to use
The time/day the chat takes place
Founder(s)
Focus of the chat/the content of the chat
Most of these sites that share chats also give the rundown on how to engage in a chat and how to get the most out of a chat with tips such as:
Follow the #
Either just follow it manually or use a tool like TweetChat,Twubs, Tchat.io
Tell your followers (most say at least 30 minutes before the chat) that you’ll be participating so they can follow along/not be surprised or annoyed by your rapid tweets
Check rules of the chat ahead of time
DO NOT PROMOTE YOURSELF IN THE CHAT (Don’t share your blogs, online content, website, etc.)
Cite the question at the beginning of each response (A1 is a response to Q1, A2 is a response to Q2, etc.)
Interact with others by respond to their questions/answers and be sure to respond to anyone that responds to your answers
o Favorite, Retweet, Quote and quote tweets
o Follow relevant participants of the chat
USE THE RIGHT HASHTAG or you won’t get noticed (don’t use #socialmediachat for #social chat)