Twitter Engagement 101: How to Have Conversations that Help Your Business

A big part of using Twitter for business is to build your brand’s know, like, and trust factor through online engagement, which indirectly helps sales.

But what is engagement, why is it important, and how do you go about it?

What is Engagement?

According to Sprout Social, social media engagement is a long-term relationship with your customers that requires an open line of communication over a period of time. The interaction builds trust, brand loyalty, and improves the customer experience, possibly leading to increased chances of future purchases.

I think of social media engagement as online, personal interactions and conversations that help build your brand while also building relationships.

Why is Engagement Important?

People use Twitter to socialize, entertain themselves, and read the news—not to read promotional tweets. Thus, to be successful on social media, you can’t directly sell to your audience.

Instead, engage in relationship building and deliver valuable content. Engagement paves the way to introducing your products and services in a non-salesy way later in the customer journey.

Twitter engagement offers numerous benefits for your business, such as:

• improving reputation;
• increasing perceived authority;
• elevating social proof and trust;
• boosting offer awareness;
• amplifying influence;
• improving social scoring;
• differentiating your business in the market; and,
• attracting people to your brand.

Engagement is too important to be ignored in your social media strategy!

Here are a few ways to master Twitter engagement that will help your business.

How to Become a Pro at Twitter Engagement

Remember this rule of thumb: interacting with people on Twitter is not much different than communicating and forming relationships in person. The same etiquette applies but in an online environment.

1. Respond to Mentions

Twitter isn’t about simply tweeting out your blog links. It requires conversations to work as a social media marketing tool.

So, when someone addresses you with a comment or question, reply just as you would in person. Don’t ignore your Twitter audience!

The most obvious opportunities to respond come from direct mentions, comments, and questions aimed at you and your business. Respond to those who:

• Mention you
• Share your blog
• Retweet you
• Comment on your tweet

Don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Reply like you would in person but be aware that the written word lacks verbal and physical cues. As such, add emojis, GIFs, or images to help convey your tone.

Even a simple “thank you” proves that you’re paying attention and you care. Responding shows you are a real, authentic, genuine, respectful person who is invested in relationships. Not responding has the opposite effect.

Check out how Lowe’s Home Improvement engages with others. They pay attention to keywords and mentions so that they know even when people don’t @ tag/mention them. Then they reach out and partake in human to human conversations.

2. Reach Out to Others

Be proactive! Go beyond responding by taking the first step to reach out to others.

Think of it as going up to an unfamiliar person at a networking event and introducing yourself. Start with a common interest, goal, or fact.

Review people’s bios, pinned tweets, and tweet content to learn more about them. Then say hello and start a discussion on Twitter just as you would in person.

Finding people with whom you want to engage is as simple as searching within Twitter. Use keywords or hashtags to discover accounts in your industry and what your potential customers are tweeting about.

Create a Twitter list with the accounts you want to engage with frequently. Lists help you organize your Twitter engagement.

I use a Twitter list to stay in touch with my “Awesome Tweeps”—those people who frequently retweet me and show kindness on a regular basis. Once a day I access this list to say hello or retweet from these accounts.

Develop lists of industry leaders, customers, leads, specific hashtags, and colleagues. This way, you can track what’s going on within each list group and easily reach out on a regular basis.

Here are some suggestions for reaching out to others:

• Retweeting
• Retweeting with a comment
• Replying to a tweet with text or video
• Tweeting a person directly
• Tagging people in tweets and photos (when appropriate)

3. Contribute to the Conversation

Being part of a conversation gets you noticed, highlights your authority, and provides value to others. That’s why contributing to Twitter conversations is incredibly meaningful to your business.

Finding relevant conversations on Twitter is like attending the right networking events. Find the places where you need to be, and invest your time where it makes the most sense.

Twitter chats are a terrific way to converse with others online about a common interest. Your participation should provide value, grow your authority, and expand your reach while fostering existing relationships.

You can also try using Twitter’s advanced search functionality to discover conversations happening on the platform.

Using the advanced search feature requires some finesse to join conversations. Remember your manners! Be polite when involving yourself in other people’s conversations. You don’t want to come across as rude or intrusive.

To insert yourself into an existing conversation, be tactful—just as you would be in person. This reminds of a saying we used as kids when people butted into our conversations:

“This is an A and B conversation. C you later!”

Inserting yourself into conversations may feel awkward. You might even feel like an outsider. However, Twitter is a very public platform, so people are used to others popping in on their discussions. Don’t be shy!

4. Be Personal

One of the best ways to differentiate yourself from your competitors is to engage as yourself.

People are on social platforms to connect with others and be social. That’s why showing up as yourself is so powerful. It’s easier to build relationships online when people know they are talking to another human, not just a logo.

You know that to increase sales on social media requires sharing the personal stuff because that’s what attracts people to you. When you’re engaging as yourself on Twitter, act like you normally do when meeting people for the first time and having conversations.

There’s no one quite like you! Take advantage of that fact. You’ll attract more relevant fans on Twitter when you’re being yourself!

Twitter Engagement Tips

Now you’re ready to engage on Twitter to boost your business! Just in case you’re still worried about how to use Twitter engagement to form relationships, here are some final suggestions.

• Engage to provide value—not to make a sale.
• Use first names to personalize your tweets and come across as friendly.
• Use emojis and images to express emotion so people understand you better.
• Share the kindness that others show to you.
• Be generous with your engagement.
• Remember: your customers are on Twitter to be social, not to be sold to!

Twitter Engagement is Only One Piece of the Puzzle

Hopefully, you now have a starting point for Twitter engagement. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it.

Remember that relationships take time and effort. And social media is ALL about relationship building and forming connections that eventually lead prospects into your sales funnels.

If you’re using Twitter for marketing, then be prepared for a long-term commitment because social selling requires more than just tweeting. Your audience wants to see that you’re invested in them as humans versus using them for quick sales.