Twitter is packed full of tweets by people who all want their tweets to get noticed. How can you get your little tweet noticed? To reach its maximum audience, your tweet needs retweets. A tweet is retweeted when it gets sent out by another Twitter user and is linked back to you. It is the most coveted tweet response, because it sends your tweet beyond where you could send it alone. If you follow some basic Twitter guidelines, you will be able to turn your 140 characters into a viral message.
The best way to get someone to retweet your Twitter message is by retweeting one of theirs. Do not overdo retweeting on any given day; keep your retweets within a limit. Establish a good relationship with fellow tweeters, thanking them for retweeting your messages.
Another important point to get your message circulated as widely as possible is to ensure you build a strong follower base. Your tweets are likely to get more attention if they are of interest to your followers. Build a base of followers that are in your niche. For instance, if you were to tweet about cloth diapers, you are not likely to make an impression on a group of nuclear scientists. Tweets that don’t match the followers’ interests will definitely not make it to the retweet hall of fame.
The character limit on tweets is quite short, only 140 characters, so make sure you use each one wisely. Retweeters need room for your Twitter username and the retweet code, RT, so keep posts down to 120 characters. Shorten links using a link shortening site like bit.ly. Do not be excessively wordy, but still make the post readable. Posts cluttered with excessive hashtags, misspellings, and unclear abbreviations will not make it as a retweet.
As you construct your tweet, use keywords that are familiar and easy to search. You can find some great ideas on Twitter’s trend list, or run searches to find popular topics. Try to make your tweet as catchy as possible to really make it stand out.
What time do you put out your posts? Timing will determine how many of your followers see your tweets. To get the best attention you should put up your posts during the hours that your followers are most likely to read them. Late night tweets may not reach anybody, so that 3 a.m. tweetfest is probably not a good idea for garnering retweets. During work hours, people are also quite busy and less likely to respond to tweets. If you put your posts up too early, you might be forced to repost them hours later. Don’t repost excessively or you may be cited for spam.
Tweeting about trendy media topics or celebrity news often gets a response. If it is intriguing and relevant, it is more likely to be retweeted.
A major key to getting your posts to go viral is to give people what they want. People will be more likely to retweet a funny comment or an astute observation than they will updates on your laundry. Naturally, if you are a famous sports star, actor, or music icon, you could talk about your ear hair and still get retweeted. Your mundane activities, however, are probably not as interesting. That leaves you with your unique personality, wit, and intelligence to sculpt retweetable tweets.
Retweets are a great way to find yourself with high follower numbers on Twitter. There is a lot of work involved, but it will pay off. With a few well-chosen characters and a unique twist, Twitter can be your retweet playground.