Want to get more user engagement on Twitter and increase your retweets? According to Twitter’s recent study "What fuels a tweets engagement?" there are 5 easy ways to improve your chances of a retweet. Here they are:
Photos
According to Twitter’s recent study, simply including photos is the best way to increase retweets providing a 35% boost. The 35% was a general increase across all industries: government, TV, news, sports and music. Look for images that both attract your followers’ attention while also appealing to your ideal demographic, and quickly reflecting the content of your tweet.
Videos
Including a video link is the #2 way of generating more retweets among followers. As we know, video is an excellent way to engage users and communicate a message. Twitter is no exception! Including a link to a video within a tweet will generate a 28% increase in retweets.
Quotes
Quotes resonate extremely well with users and across all industries providing a 19% increase in retweets. Similar to most features, keep quotes relevant and be sure to provide context around your use of a quote. Whether inspirational, from a respected source, or very funny, including quotes should be considered as part of your regular tweeting schedule.
Numbers
Tweets containing a number such as an official statistic, sports score or a list, produce a 17% increase in retweets. For most users, a number constitutes a hard fact, which users seem to find particularly useful if they are looking to Twitter as a source of reliable information.
#Hashtags
According to Twitter, Tweets with hashtags receive a 16% increase over those without. The important thing to remember with hashtags is that while using them will increase your retweets, overusing them will actually reduce your retweets. Twitter recommends not using more than 2 per Tweet. Be sure that your hashtags are relevant to the message you are communicating and serve a specific purpose.
Now that you have these tips, you should be able to increase your engagement in almost any circumstance. But - successfully engaging users on Twitter doesn’t have a one size fits all approach. Users engage differently depending on whom they are following, what industry they're interested in and any number of user demographics. The key is to try different types of content, listen to your audience and above all provide valuable information that your followers would be proud, excited or inspired to share with others.
