How To Write Top Tweets

April 24, 2015
|In Audience Engagement, Audience Strategy, Twitter
|By Peter Bordes

Use this guide to make your Tweets rise to the top!

A top Tweet delivers the right message, to the right audience, at the right time.Tweet: A top Tweet delivers the right message, to the right audience, at the right time -> http://bit.ly/1GeYgaG via @connect2life #twitter

It doesn’t have to go viral, nor does it have to be shared across all the Twitterverse to be a top Tweet.

Well-crafted top Tweets can connect with one person and make a huge impact for your business or personal brand.

Writing top Tweets requires practice…A LOT of practice! The skill to write short takes time to develop. One of the best ways to hone your Tweet writing skills is to read Tweets! Take note of those that resonate and those that fall flat.

Begin to shape your style. Your audience will start to recognize your unique Tweeting personality and want to share your Tweets with their audiences! 

 

Writing top Tweets begins with a solid foundation and adding key elements to personalize each Tweet.

 

Ready to get started?

Tweet: Here's your go-to guide for writing top Tweets! http://bit.ly/1GeYgaG via @connect2life #twitter #socialmediaHere’s your go-to guide for writing top Tweets! 

The Bones - Create the foundation for your Tweet:

Choose the type of Tweet you want to write:

  • Headline - A newsworthy headline is always a Tweet winner. I like to change up the article headline just a bit to make it my own. I also like to shorten the link to keep it clean and neat. Tag the author whenever possible: content creators work hard and deserve a shout out.

 

  • Quote - Quotes are a big hit on all social platforms. Inspirational quotes, industry influencer quotes, and even your own wise words are always popular on Twitter. Make sure to give credit where it’s due. Tamara McCleary knows how to write a top quote Tweet:
  • Stat - A powerful stat generates curiosity and encourages further investigation. Be sure to add a link to the resource.
  • Opinion/Commentary - Sharing your opinion can be a dicey endeavor. Think twice before you Tweet. There’s a fine line between demonstrating thought leadership and authentic passion, and being a social media troll. Be very clear about what you want to say and be prepared to backup your comments.
  • Tips - A tip Tweet is another popular format. Either cite a tip article or share your own top tips with your audience.

The Muscle - Move your audience with strong calls to action:

Strong directives pack a literary punch. Flex your Tweet muscles using one of these intro calls to actions:

  • MUST Read!
  • Powerful Tips ->
  • Smart Advice via @handle
  • Don’t Miss This!
  • Do This Now ->
  • Know This Now ->

Heart Of The Matter - Use the power of persuasion:  

Why do you click on some Tweets and pass on so many others? Appealing to the reader’s emotions with sensory words and phrases can encourage engagement. Persuade your readers and turn a maybe into a must!

  • Secret
  • Confidential
  • Surprising
  • Best
  • Worst
  • Have You Heard?
  • Insider
  • Magical
  • Remarkable
  • Strongly Recommend
  • Inspiring

Jeff Bullas uses two power words: “Amazing” and “Surprise.” Who doesn’t love an amazing surprise?

 

Brain Teasers:

Appeal to your audience’s collective intelligence with some intriguing question Tweets. Questions are a great way to engage your audience. Use questions for customer feedback, to generate a conversation, or to take an informal survey. 

Here’s one from NewsCred:

Eye Candy:  

Eye-catching visuals are a must for your Tweets! Give your audience some eye candy with powerful visual content. 

I love this one from Jay Baer:

 

Images can be tricky on Twitter. Many images are truncated and the user only sees part of the image. Twitter’s answer to an improved visual experience comes with their latest embedded Tweets redesign. The redesign supports full-width photo and video for better visual integration with surrounding content.

I use 3 tools to create my Twitter images:

  1. Pixabay: Free high quality images.
  2. Pablo by Buffer: Create a custom image in less than 30 seconds? YES! Super easy and fun to use.
  3. Canva: Takes a little more time and practice than Pablo, but the creative options are unlimited. Worth investing the time to learn how to use this tool.

Hashtag Tips & Tricks:  

Hashtags make your Tweets discoverable, giving your audience the opportunity to RT, Favorite, add you to a list, or engage you in conversation.

You can usually find at least one relevant hashtag for your Tweet. But don’t force it if it doesn’t fit: not every Tweet needs a hashtag.

Hashtag strategies are just as diverse as Tweet writing strategies. Here’s my quick and dirty strategy to get you started:

  • Keep it to 1-3 hashtags/Tweet.
  • Use caution with trending tags - make sure it’s “on-brand” and relevant to your audience.
  • You can add a string of hashtags at the end of a Tweet. To save characters, work them into the text of the Tweet.
  • I use the following tools to help me find relevant hashtags:
  1. Hashtagify - Hashtag search engine - find related hashtags and top influencers.
  2. spiderQube - Analytic reports identify top hashtags in a conversation, around a website, or an individual piece of content.
  3. Twitter #Discover - Twitter’s own hashtag discovery search. This feature may see some changes in the near future. Twitter has rolled out an updated trends feature on mobile.

Grammar School:

With only 140 characters, sometimes you have to get a little “creative” with grammar and spelling. I often use abbreviations, acronyms, emojis, emoticons, and special characters to save space and make my Tweets a little less formal.

  • With = w/
  • Because = bc
  • Between = btw
  • And = &
  • Through = Thru
  • Tonight = 2nite
  • Today = 2day

There are dozens of “rules”, formulas, and best practices to write top Tweets. The only hard and fast rule I keep is to have FUN!  

Are you ready to write some top Tweets?

Tweet your best to @connect2life and share your top Tweets with me!

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