Useful Twitter Marketing Campaign Tactics for 2018

Twitter is changing in 2018, and social media marketers need to keep up with the times.

It seems that Twitter, like other influential social networks, has made some resolutions for 2018. Like Facebook’s most recent changes, Twitter desires a move toward higher quality content. Additionally, they want to find a way to cut down on the number of fake accounts.

With these changes, the microblogging platform also intends to tackle issues concerning hate speech and harassment. On December 18th, 2017, after a month of preparation, Twitter finalized its new rules to more heavily moderate and purify controversial content.

Read More: How to Adapt Your Marketing Strategy to Facebook’s News Feed Changes

At this point, it’s not Twitter stats that matter to a social media marketer. Instead, what concerns them is Twitter and how it is changing. A good marketer is looking to learn how to adapt their Twitter marketing strategy.

Twitter is Changing, and Marketers Should too

In the second quarter of 2017, Twitter reported a 12% increase in daily active users despite losing 2 million American users. In comparison to the 66 million new Facebook users during the same period, this is an interesting statistic.

However, the number of users isn’t the only important metric any longer. Instead, we suspect that platforms like Facebook and Twitter are also looking for ways to improve their price-per-ad volume and growth. As we have pointed out, Facebook’s price-per-ad growth has stagnated since a wildly successful 2014-15.

If Twitter’s user base isn’t growing anymore, this 12% increase in usage must have come from more committed Twitter users.

For marketers: don’t look at Twitter as a way to generate new leads. On the contrary, use it to consolidate your reach and develop the loyalty of existing followers.

Twitter Isn’t Dead!

Some of the biggest names of digital marketing have called it quits with Twitter. In a podcast, Neil Patel said: “Twitter is basically a waste of time”.

Patel laments the fact that only 2% of his 230,000 Twitter followers make it to his website. Conversely, that number jumps to 38% when you consider his Facebook following.

First, comparing Neil Patel’s Facebook and Twitter results isn’t quite fair as he said he spends over $12.5 K per day on Facebook ads.

We won’t question Patel’s expertise, but he might just be using Twitter the wrong way because other marketers are actually doing good business with Twitter.

According to Thesocialms.com, Neil Patel fails on facebook because he:

• isn’t tweeting enough
• doesn’t use hashtags
• isn’t the most engaging Twitter user.

The key word there is engagement. You might be able to gather lots of likes and shares within the Twitter platform, but a lack of traffic to your website means zero conversions.

Get Retweeted

Driving traffic and boosting lead conversion from Twitter isn’t guesswork. Yet, it isn’t an exact science either.

The most central thing to focus on is to upgrade your tweet content and work on headlines. Avoid pushing out hollow tweets that are pure advertising with no value to them.

Also, if you want to maximize your chances at satisfying results, start using #hashtags. Don’t overdo it.

Try including images if you’re not already.

Tweets with hashtags and images are far more likely to get retweeted.

Plan ahead, tweet regularly, and schedule your tweet time. While no one can tell for sure what time is the best for tweeting, you should avoid peak hours that see an avalanche of tweets. Also, experiment with your posting schedule and see what times are the best for your content.

Some additional pro-tips:

1. Tweet to your audience asking what they think about your blog post or video
2. 50% of your tweets should be replies to other users
3. Link to other’s content when it’s relevant–and add your own insight in the tweet
4. Tweet mostly questions

While you’re at it, also ask for retweets and don’t underestimate a simple “Please Retweet!” where it seems worthwhile. Of course, you don’t want to explicitly ask for engagement too often, but it is something that is often overlooked and could increase your exposure substantially.

It’s Time to Start Using Twitter Chats

As we’ve seen above, it’s more about engaging with followers than getting new ones. One way to be active with your fan base is Twitter chats. If you have never participated in or launched one before, they are a great potential resource to begin tapping.

People who participate in Twitter chats are there to interact and engage with others in the first place and are most likely to spread the word (a.k.a. retweet your content).

Of course, you don’t want to waste your time on whatever chat just appears on your feed. You have to find incoming chats and conversations that are relevant to your business.

Use the advanced search feature on Twitter, or one of the many free tools like TweetChat.

Can’t find any? Start your own Twitter chat: choose your topic wisely, launch the conversation, add value, and play the authority card!

Above all, remember that this is a social network, so be social. Businesses and companies with an “official” vibe to their posts are often overlooked or ignored.

Focus on connecting and engaging with your target market rather than trying to reach the largest audience. If you make your content fun and engaging, the audience itself will spread it for you.

What do you think the future Twitter will look like? Do you think it will become more focused on user engagement and discussion or content consumption and absorption?