Re-tweetable tweets!
What is a retweet, why retweet, and tips for getting more retweets…
Do you (re)tweet? There’s no denying the massive growth in popularity and power of Twitter in recent months, and as more and more people become Twitter-savvy they are starting to use the service in new and better ways.
One type of tweet which is definitely on the increase in the reTweet (RT) which is where a user likes your tweet so much that they send it out again, to all their followers! This is not only a massive compliment, but it means extra exposure and often new followers.
Format of a retweet
The usual format for a retweet is to start with the word Retweet, or more commonly just RT, then @username (the person who you are retweeting), then the original tweet.
If the original tweet is short enough that you have a few characters to spare then you can add a comment before the RT:
Comment here RT: @username original tweet goes here
Why retweet?
Retweeting is good for you, your followers, and the person you retweet, here’s why…
When you retweet you’re taking a useful/interesting tweet that many of your followers won’t have read, and allowing them to see it. Since you found is useful/interesting/funny/etc and your followers by definition are interested in similar subjects to you, chances are they will like it too!
So you’re helping your followers by giving them content, you’re helping the person you retweet by exposing them to your followers who will likely be interested in what they have to say. This in turn helps you by increasing your own followers loyalty, and probably getting the attention (and probably a follow) from the person you reteweeded (is that a word??) A win, win, win situation!
Getting retweeted
Of course the most value when someone retweets is for the original tweeter, so how do you get more of your own content reteweeted? Here are 4 top tips to get more retweets…
- Firstly, post high value tweets which help people. Usually tweets which link to useful articles, videos, blogs or software tend to get retweeted often - any links to free things tend to get retweeted!
- Use keywords in your tweets. The more targetted your keywords the more chance they will get picked up and retweeted by new followers.
- Keep your tweet short. With only 140 characters, if your tweet is too long there won’t be enough room to add RT @username at the beginning which means people will have to edit your tweet… and people are lazy! make sure you use shortened URLs for links and leave at least enough characters for your username and four extra (for “RT @”)
- Lastly - don’t be shy about retweeting other people. If you retweet often you’ll probably find that other people retweet you back!
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start reTweeting!
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