Debbie Weil, blogger and author of The Corporate Blogging Book, recently shared with readers at Mashable 5 Ways to Write Retweetable Tweets. For Twitter users, a “retweet” is the equivalent of a high-five. In essence what you are saying is, “I really like what you tweeted AND I think it is so valuable. I want to pass it on to my followers.”
Here is what Weil recommends for “retweet-ability”
- Always include a link.
- Don’t use up all 140 characters.
- When retweeting, add something original.
- Build credibility with your Bio and URL.
- Combine the personal and the professional.
Add Value with Tweets
In addition to Weil’s five, one of the most important concepts to consider when writing tweets is to ask yourself, “Am I adding value?” Some people think of value just as a lower price, but that is not the full meaning. You also add value by helping other people. For Twitter users, providing useful content is a way to add value and can result in more retweets.
As Weil recommends, when retweeting, add something original. When you bring more into the conversation, you make it more powerful than when it started. For example, it could be how you concisely summarize the content in your tweet, or it could be as simple as “check this out.”
Another way to add value is by pointing your followers to other experts and resources by including links in your tweets. What this says to other people is, “I know where the good stuff is and I want to help you find it.”
Finally, one more way to add value is to recommend other people’s services and products. Author and social media expert, Chris Brogan suggests promoting others as much as 12 times more than you promote yourself.
While it might be tempting to think, “The more I tweet about myself, the more successful I will be,” unless you are a celebrity or a sports figure, the exact opposite is probably true. The more you tweet about yourself, the more you will drive people away.
When you add value to the conversation, you have the opportunity to say a lot more than BUY MY WIDGETS! Writing tweets that are value-added shows that you are generous, helpful, connected, and you value your followers.
Ironically, that also sells more widgets.
