I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love Twitter. Words are my thing (hello, blog readers) and Twitter is all about words. But I hear a lot of bloggers say that they don’t know what to post on Twitter other than promotions for blog posts. While that can be super helpful, you shouldn’t post ONLY blog post promotions because people don’t have much of a reason to follow you unless they just want promotions.
I schedule 90% of my Twitter content in the day(s) before it goes up. I’ve written about social media content calendars before so I don’t want to repeat everything. I’ve recently switched from Hootsuite to Buffer for my scheduling needs because Hootsuite went from lots of posts available for free to only 30 posts a month. So if you only schedule one thing a day for an entire month, use Hootsuite. I’ve made the switch to Buffer because their monthly plan is cheaper than Hootsuite’s.
PS – Scroll down to get a free Twitter content calendar for a month.
How do I use Twitter as a blogger?
Build relationships with your followers – When you’re blogging, other than responding to comments, it can feel a lot like talking at people and not talking with them. Twitter lets you do that! I feel like Twitter is less formal than Facebook, and Instagram can really be more of talking at people instead of talking with them if you’re not careful. But Twitter is a great place to build relationships and have conversations.
Share tips – This can be for anything you could possibly be an expert it! Share your tips for writing posts, shooting and editing images, time management, coming up with post ideas, pitching brands for sponsored posts, etc. This will also help establish you as an expert, which will make people more likely to directly ask you a question and lead to (you guessed it) building relationships.
Connect with other bloggers – I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anyone in person in my life who is a blogger. My family and friends don’t really get the struggles and wins of blogging unless I explain everything about it. Sometimes I just want to be like, “Ugh, I’m so frustrated that my bounce rate is higher than I want this month,” without having to explain what a bounce rate is and why we want it to be lower. Twitter gives you a platform to connect with other people who understand your blogging life.
What do I post on Twitter?
Engagement – Ask questions! This helps you build relationships, but only really if you respond to the answers.
Get feedback on ideas – Want to know if a blog post idea is actually something people will like before you do the work for it? Ask! You can something simple like, “If I were to write a post about using Twitter as a blogger, would people be interested?” Alternatively, it could be more open-ended such as, “Would anyone be interested in a post on blogging and social media?”
Insight into your life – Obviously you should only share what you’re comfortable sharing, but giving little insights helps build relationships. I like to post about things that I’m reading for school, what I’m up to that day, the TV show I’m watching, etc. A common theme for those of us in Boston is complaining about the MBTA, something that anyone who has used it understands (if the busses could actually be on time, that would be great).
Show your personality – This is one of the best parts of Twitter because you can really get a feel for what a person is like through the words they use. Let your personality shine!
Share other people’s content – This is one type of post that helps build relationships with other bloggers. Share content that you genuinely like and tag the creator so they know!
So what are some examples of what I should post?
Looking for specific examples? Good news! I’ve made a content calendar for you for the month of November! It’s free and has lots of different ideas of what to post to get you started getting your Twitter ready for awesomeness and to give you an idea of what else to post afterwards.
This calendar has a question to ask on your Twitter every single day in November (but it also works for every other month; that’s just the next one). It also has a topic to discuss on every week to help you get your creative juices flowing.
Get the Twitter content calendar here.
What is your advice for posting on Twitter?
Like this post? Check out:
8 Tips To Get More Twitter Followers, Why You Need a Social Media Calendar, 9 Reasons Why Tailwind Is Worth the Money, How I Promote My Blog Posts
Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.
Great tips! I’ve visited Boston once before, and I imagine we in Chicago complain about the L (CTA) the way you guys do about the T (MBTA). 🙂 (It is the T, right? Too many systems! Haha)