Whether you’re a seasoned Twitter user or are still finding out how to use hashtags, chances are that you’re spending too much time on the social media platform. Like many other social media outlets, it’s easy to get sucked into Twitter, watching as new 140 character statuses pop up on Forbes, CNN, and your favorite guilty-pleasure celebrity.
Instead of sitting glued to your computer screen, think about how much more productive your day could be if you only spent 10 minutes a day building your brand on Twitter. You could use those minutes and hours caught in a never-ending vortex to reach out to new clients, read the latest content marketing articles, brush up on your SEO, or even construct a new blog post.
So, how is it possible to spend less time building your brand on Twitter than it takes you to cook a five-ingredient meal? It may seem impossible, but it’s not. Read on for tips and tools that will help you get your brand’s name out to the world in 10 minutes or less per day:
1. Stop watching your newsfeed
An average of 6,000 tweets are sent out around the world every second. If you’re following more than 100 people – which is very easy to do – chances are that you’re spending too much time trying to catch up with everyone’s tweets. Instead, glance through your notifications to see if anyone has directly tweeted or retweeted you. If there’s a particular subject you need to research, look up its hashtag. This is a much quicker way to find out what is going on that impacts you and your business.
2. Pre-schedule your tweets
Each time you open up the Twitter app on your phone or your computer, you’re wasting valuable time. It’s ridiculous to expect anyone to check all of their social media accounts several times a day. Instead of tweeting in real time, use a service like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule your tweets for the entire week or the entire month. By doing so, the bulk of your work on Twitter will already be done ahead of time.
3. Have photos ready to post
When building your brand, it’s important to provide visuals that people can relate to. It’s been shown that tweets with pictures reach an average of 35% more people than solely word-based tweets. Therefore, you should have a batch of photos on hand that you can easily use. Organize them into different folders based on the subject so you don’t have to dig through thousands of files.
If you’re not a graphic designer – and most of us are not – use a tool like PicMonkey to put together professional, eye-catching photographs and collages to use with your tweets and improve your visibility on Twitter. You can also repurpose these photos for your other social media accounts, maximizing your time and effort.
4. Use your own hashtag
If you’re not already using your own hashtag, it’s time to create one. This will be your signature on Twitter, helping people to recognize your tweets, and also to find whenever people mention your brand. If you need inspiration for creating a hashtag, check out Ad Espresso’s article on the subject.
5. Stay focused
It’s all too easy to lose your concentration on social media when there is so much information floating around – especially when it’s filled with bunny videos and the last update on U.S. politics. Be sure to follow your editorial schedule and stick with your content marketing strategy. Remember the tactics you originally designed to build your brand, and stay on track. If you get distracted, just remember what you could be doing to improve your business with the time you will save.
6. Watch the clock
Many things are relative, including time. You may think that you’ve only been on Twitter – or any other social media channel, for that matter – for five minutes, when in actuality an hour has already passed. Just as you would do with a conference call or a meeting, schedule the time you will devote to Twitter and put it on your calendar. Set a timer for 10 minutes. After the time is up, take a look at what you’ve accomplished. If you’ve done nothing but browse Rihanna’s home page, you know you need to adjust your priorities.
7. Keep track of your followers
Chances are that you have followed dozens of people who are either inactive on Twitter or who have unfollowed you since the day you first signed up. While building your brand, you need to be aware of your appearance to potential clients, as well as competitors. This includes keeping tabs on your following ratio – how many people are you following in comparison to how many follow you?
When your followers get into the thousands, this is not always easy to do on your own. However, by using tools such as Crowdfire or ManageFlitter, you can quickly see who you are following unnecessarily. People who are sharing nothing but spam, who rarely post, or who don’t interact with you should be unfollowed. Similarly, others who are in your niche and provide useful information are potential allies or clients, and deserve to be followed. By utilizing the tools mentioned, it will take only a couple of minutes per day to keep your follower stats up to par.
Even though Twitter has a wealth of information flowing around at any given minute, you don’t need to absorb every character of every tweet in order to get ahead. By following the seven tips above, you can easily build your brand on Twitter in just 10 minutes a day.
How long do you usually spend on Twitter? Do you have any tips of your own that you use to minimize your time on social media? Please share in the comments below!
