With all of the modifications to X (previously Twitter) over the previous couple of years, you’re not alone for those who’ve been searching for Twitter optimization ideas so you need to use it extra successfully for social promoting. Like the remainder of the world, I’ve been paying shut consideration to how individuals are utilizing Twitter since Elon Musk bought the platform and rebranded it as X.

Right here’s the reality — regardless of lots of fears about Twitter’s future, with greater than 95 million customers within the U.S. and 528 million globally in 2023, it stays a preferred social media platform. And, in consequence, it’s a useful channel for companies and entrepreneurs trying to improve gross sales, if you understand how to optimize your profile and posts.

So as we speak, I’m exhibiting you what you want to find out about optimizing X that can assist you current a reliable and educated entrance to your viewers. I’m sharing Twitter optimization ideas from consultants presently utilizing X for social promoting — and getting nice outcomes — so you may learn to apply the best methods in your corporation.

Desk of Contents

At first, X is greater than a social networking platform — I typically go to X to search out the most recent information that hasn’t but damaged on most information retailers. Or, I’ll go to get on-the-ground views from folks with firsthand information. And it’s not simply me — your viewers most likely does, too — together with 48% of X customers (2023).

However who’s the viewers on X?

In response to Search Logistics in September 2023, X customers skewed closely male — 68.1% in contrast with 31.9% feminine.

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And as of 2022, Statista famous that X’s largest person age group lies within the 25–34 vary.

Right here’s the factor — in my expertise as a marketer, figuring out the parts of your viewers most certainly to be on a selected platform is useful in terms of deciding the place to point out up and what to publish there.

However take that with a grain of salt.

Understanding Key Gross sales & Advertising Ideas

I’d like to shout this from the rooftops — utilizing X (or some other platform) for gross sales must be about optimizing your current gross sales and advertising technique for X — not creating a completely new technique for a completely new viewers.

If you happen to serve Gen Z or Gen X girls, despite the fact that they’re much less prone to be on X than millennial males primarily based on the stats above, your message could by no means resonate with millennial males.

As a substitute, concentrate on creating posts that can resonate together with your target market — in the event that they love X, they’ll be searching for accounts that talk to them — and that’s the place you may swoop in.

A phrase of warning — you additionally must just remember to’re not solely swooping in to pitch and promote. As with all the things, gross sales on X have a tendency to return from relationships, so ease into issues.

Draven McConville, CEO of Klipboard (@klipboard_io), illustrates this fantastically:

“Once you come throughout a prospect’s Tweet, don’t instantly go into gross sales mode. Start with a form query or a significant comment. Share info that speaks to their pursuits and desires to interact them. Your followers will get pleasure from your timeline’s authenticity, which highlights your business information and the worth your gadgets present. Do not forget that promoting is all about creating relationships, and Twitter might help you do it on a world scale.”

Publish Different Kinds of Content material

Even when I’m going to X for one thing particular, I often spend fairly a little bit of time scrolling via my feed to see what’s new inside my community. What’s fascinating is that the posts I work together with are sometimes a mix of spicy, punchy, or downright humorous sizzling takes and extra in-depth thought frightening posts.

I’ve been following Brooklin Nash of Beam Content material (@realBrookNash) for a number of years now, and love his insights — so I wished to make sure you pull his two cents into this text. Right here’s what he needed to say about publish varieties:

“Right here’s the laborious fact: there’s no technique for going viral on LinkedIn or Twitter. The silly meme that takes me 30 seconds may get 100k views. The in-depth content material technique publish that takes me half-hour may get 5k views.

“You want each; despite the fact that the latter publish won’t get almost as a lot engagement, it’ll communicate to these I’m trying to work with.”

And to me, that’s one of the crucial essential takeaways — you might initially catch folks’s consideration with a punchy publish, however they’ll stick round for the worth you present.

My colleague Francis Nayan (@francis_nayan) has had lots of success with X, filling his freelancing group teaching program virtually solely via the platform. And, he’s a giant fan of utilizing X in a less-traditional method — sharing long-form content material:

“Twitter was famously the place for less than letting customers write as much as 280 characters. These days, we have now the long-form perform that offers you far more wiggle room to share content material. I encourage you to USE IT. Make the most of the increase in characters by going DEEP into your authority and character content material. You may current lengthy authority content material like a researched case examine and character items like a web-based journal.”

Provide Twitter-Unique Presents & Promote Offers

In a world the place most individuals are on a number of social media platforms, it may be a good suggestion to “reward” folks for sticking round, which can imply creating Twitter-exclusive gives on your viewers. Even when your offers aren’t unique to X, you need to use it successfully to advertise all your gross sales.

Take Captain Creps for instance (@captaincreps). They use X to share related info in addition to ideas and tips. Director Josh Herbert says:

“Twitter / X is a superb software when speaking gross sales messages, or further information comparable to ‘in inventory’ or ‘new launch.’ By build up a following of individuals which are within the gadgets your corporation sells, these fast promotional tweets on X can get your level throughout concisely.”

What’s additionally fascinating about Captain Creps is that additionally they optimize every account for particular audiences, making a number of X accounts particularly for various sub-categories, like girls sneakers and clothes, to allow them to tailor messaging and merchandise.

Use X to Construct Relationships

Draven McConville touched on this above, however whereas a part of X is about getting folks’s consideration, it’s not a very powerful factor.

The truth is, one thing I continuously say is, “Crucial a part of social media doesn’t occur on social media.”

Right here’s the factor — folks purchase from folks they like. It’s true whether or not you’re in B2B or B2C. Gross sales is all concerning the relationships. So sure, use X as a one-to-many advertising software to scale your attain and construct authority. However don’t sacrifice potential connections in favor of “engagement.”

Whereas engagement triggers the algorithm, for my part, it’s typically an arrogance metric that doesn’t imply a lot if it doesn’t result in gross sales.

My recommendation is that this — concentrate on all one of the best practices to get seen, but in addition have interaction with folks, whether or not meaning inviting them to a Zoom name, commenting on their content material, or asking them considerate questions.

And that’s one thing @realBrookNash agrees on, saying, “For me, social posts are sometimes simply the gateway to some superior DMs and Zoom calls with freelancers, entrepreneurs, company house owners, and different tech professionals. Certain, perhaps I’m much less protecting of my calendar than others, however I actually suppose it’s these private conversations which have led to the referrals, gross sales, publicity, and belief.”

Discover Influential Accounts to Comply with

Following any of the parents I’ve already talked about is an effective way to see how individuals are utilizing X for gross sales. Along with following people who find themselves influential in your circles or industries, listed below are another accounts I believe are worthwhile to comply with.

1. Elon Musk

Account: @elonmusk

Why I advocate following: Look, Musk will be controversial. However love him or not, he’s typically top-of-the-line sources of details about what’s occurring with X / Twitter. So it’s completely worthwhile to remain knowledgeable.

2. Kim Garst

Account: @kimgarst

Why I advocate following: As a high social media influencer who teaches others construct, develop, and monetize, Kim is at all times posting useful ideas and really feel good content material.

3. Gary Vaynerchuk

Account: @garyvee

My pal Grace Baldwin @heygracebaldwin does an ideal job of utilizing the characters in her title to set herself aside — utilizing an emoji to face out within the feed and together with her title within the title character depend.

4. Use your bio to face out.

Merely inserting your title isn’t terribly fascinating. Use the primary line of your X bio to spotlight what you do.

You may take @realBrookNash’s method as a dialog starter — who doesn’t wish to join with a Chief Em Sprint Czar?

Alternatively, you need to use it to showcase your worth proposition. Who do you assist and the way do you assist them? It is a lot extra informative and interesting to prospects than “gross sales rep at Firm X.”

5. Add your organization Twitter deal with.

Whether or not you’re in gross sales or just have a number of X accounts on your firm, ensure that to hyperlink the deal with of the larger account in your bio.

I picked this instance of HubSpot Builders as a result of it exhibits how the subaccount hyperlinks properly to the larger account — because of this your profile will pop up when folks seek for your group.

6. Share a mini perception.

At the moment’s high salespeople don’t simply take orders from prospects — they really train them one thing new. I really like this bio from Colleen Francis (@EngageColleen), which crops the seed that her viewers must redraw their gross sales maps — and she or he’ll present us how.

Because you don’t have lots of room to work with, skew towards easy and attention-grabbing.

7. Sprinkle in hashtags.

I really like Mike Kunkle’s X profile (@Mike_Kunkle). Along with linking his firm (Tip #5), he makes use of hashtags that his target market may search or monitor. In the end, I need you to recollect — X is a search engine, so you want to make your profile findable.

8. Share a private tidbit.

Discovering area for a non-work curiosity helps your viewers join with you on a private stage. And that is precisely why Ian Brodie’s profile makes me smile each time. Along with an excellent enjoyable cowl graphic (Tip #2), his profile exhibits off his love for chilis in his title (Tip #3) and his bio.

9. Share your web site.

Your X bio ought to hyperlink to your web site — that method everybody who visits your profile can get to your website the place they will take the motion you need.

10. Publish persistently.

X’s algorithm rewards you for posting recurrently — and persistently. So for those who drop 15 posts one week and nothing for months, there’s a very good likelihood folks received’t see you as a lot as for those who publish as soon as a day. And after I’m folks, in the event that they haven’t posted in the previous couple of weeks or they solely publish sporadically, it appears like they use X solely as an afterthought.

11. Retweet viewers content material.

That is much less about constructing your individual authority, and extra about exhibiting your viewers — those you wish to construct relationships with — that you just care. So positive, you may smash that retweet button to assist unfold the phrase.

Nevertheless, one factor that I’m seeing increasingly more in algorithm’s in all places is that extra folks see — and work together with — posts the place you add your feedback. Thought management and opinions are gaining traction.

12. Use hashtags.

Now, I do know you’ve seen posts which are nothing however hashtags. I’ve additionally seen posts which are simply enjoyable hashtags #IknowyouknowwhatImean. The enjoyable ones can be utilized sparingly for humor’s sake, or to tie into a selected occasion — like a marriage between Ashley Doe and John Nottingham the place their hashtag may be #tiethenottingham.

Nevertheless, a very powerful factor to find out about hashtags is that you need to use ones your viewers sees as useful and searchable. X Analytics will be useful in terms of choosing hashtags.

13. Get verified.

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One of many greatest criticisms I’ve seen of X’s Blue Subscription is that it’s obtainable to anybody. Whereas that is true, the blue checkmark nonetheless offers you added credibility. And there are some checks and balances in place to be sure you meet eligibility standards.

14. Construct followers by following your goal accounts.

There are lots of how to construct followers, however top-of-the-line methods is to search out accounts of potential prospects and colleagues and begin following them and connecting with them. They’re extra prone to comply with you again — then while you share nice content material they’re extra prone to see it. And the algorithm is extra prone to recommend your content material to their followers.

Probably the most essential elements of utilizing X to construct relationships is that you just by no means know who’s watching or paying consideration — and who could develop into a very good referral companion even when they’re not a possible buyer.

15. Use photos and images.

As I scroll via my Twitter feed, I’m extra prone to click on on posts with images. All of us are. So whereas not each publish wants a photograph, a meme, or a picture, know that those that do will doubtless draw extra folks to your account.

And don’t low cost video. In response to Twitter (2023), there are 2 billion each day video views, and “Tweets with video attracted 10x extra engagements than Tweets with out video.”

No matter the way you appeal to followers — do your greatest to create participating content material so folks comply with you and look ahead to the worth you carry — and ultimately develop into prospects or referral companions.

The Backside Line

Twitter (or X) continues to be alive and kicking — and it’s an ideal place so that you can get gross sales! By utilizing the gross sales recommendation and optimization ideas I’ve shared with you, you may increase engagement and join together with your target market. If you happen to use your X account to construct relationships together with your viewers, the gross sales will comply with.