Twitter has become a global sensation. It is growing at a phenomenal rate, more than 300,00 new users daily! More and more people are sharing content, quotes, daily happenings using Twitter. Getting retweets is a sign that your followers are indeed following you and that they find your tweets interesting enough to retweet. What is a retweet you may ask? Retweets are posts by your followers based on the original tweet posted by you or someone else. Retweets are usually reposted starting with “RT” which means retweet followed by the twitter name of the person it originated from. For example; here is a tweet that I posted this morning and it was retweeted many times in this format; RT @kimgarst: Got negative people in your circle of friends? Tighten the circle! Don't let others dictate who you are. Stand up and be YOU!
What is the value in getting more retweets on Twitter? First, your exposure increases when someone retweets your posts. Your original tweet will be shown on the feed of the person who retweets you and all those that follow that person will also see your tweet. If your content is something of interest to them, chances of them following you are very high. It increases your reach as well as the number of your followers. For example, if you have 50 followers, you would have a reach of 50 without the value of retweets. If some of them or all of them would retweet your posts, your exposure will increase expotentially based on the number of followers your followers have. If you expand this one more level; suppose one of your followers followers retweets the same message? You have increased your reach even more! The viral power of social media is extremely explosive!
How to Get More Retweets on Twitter?
1. Great Content
How to get more retweets on Twitter starts with posting messages and content that will be of interest to your followers and have a high probability of being retweeted. It is pretty simple; people retweet info they find interesting. Find out what your niche market is interested in and then give it to them.
2. Retweet Button
Place a retweet button on your site to give your followers an option to retweet it if they find it interesting enough to share it with others. TweetMeme is a great plugin for your blog site and it makes it very easy for your visitors to share your post on Twitter with one click. Make sure that you place the button at the top of the page so that your visitors see it and act on it.
3. Hash Tags and the @
You can also use the @ sign to tag people in your network so that they would be notified of your new post. For example; @kimgarst I appreciate the info! A hashtag may be a keyword that is utilized often. For example, I use #TWITTERTIPS to identify all my Twitter tips. You can even start your own hashtag! Using these two items increases the chances of your message gaining attention and to possibly get retweeted. Some people overuse hashtags so use them sparingly. Hashtags help others identify quality content quickly; again increasing your chances of obtaining more followers.
4. Ask for the Retweet
You can also simply ask your followers to retweet. Most people are willing to do favors by retweeting if they are asked to do it.
5. Be a Retweeter Yourself
You can start by retweeting your followers content. Many of them will reciprocate by retweeting your content as well. If you always look to give more to others than you expect in return, the return is always greater in the end.
6. Reaching Other Time Zones
If you would like to reach people in different time zones, you can schedule some of your posts to be posted while you are away or sleeping. This is a great way to broaden your reach and have an opportunity for retweets in other areas of the world. You can schedule your retweets using SocialOomph or Twufer.com.
7. Show Appreciation
Do not forget to thank the followers who have retweeted your messages. People appreciate the recognition so posting a message thanking the people who have reposted your messages goes a long way in building the retweet relationship.
8. Short Tweets
Make your posts as short, but meaningful, as possible. Short messages are easier to post and the retweeter would be able to add some comments as well. A good rule of thumb is to keep your tweets to 120 characters leaving 20 characters for those who retweet you to add a comment. There are approximately 55 million tweets posted daily to Twitter. Your aim is to make your tweet as interesting as possible to those that follow you.
9. Don't Flurry Tweet
Somtimes tweeters post multiple tweets in one fell swoop. They dump 10-15 tweets into their feed all at once. Whenever you do this, it makes it hard for people to concentrate on your post simultaneously. Additionally, some view this as spam when they see someone posting multiple tweets on the hour every hour. To maximize your retweet chances, space your tweets out.
10. Be Social
After all it is called "social media' for a reason. Respond to direct messages, retweets and interact with others who share content that you find engaging. Building relationships is my ULTIMATE retweet tip.
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Great tips Kim! I especially like the reminder to use hashtags. I use them sporadically at best. This is the most concise and thorough list of Twitter tips I've seen. I'll be sharing this for sure.
Hi Kim, Thanks for all the tips. I just recently got started on Twitter and wondered how I could get others to retweet my posts. I will certainly take these ideas to heart. Have A Great day!
Hashtags are so important! I'm glad that you speak highly of them in this article. I still have a lot to learn about them myself… thank you for sharing some good info 🙂
Thanks for the tips, just got back into twitter as I had stopped most of it for a few months, so this is perfect timing!
Awesome tips Kim! I like the idea of using a hashtag for the keywords I mention often. I will start doing that for sure!
Thanks Kim! These tips are great and simple to implement!
Kim, as always, I love the posts. Pure educational and easy to understand. I understand the concept of RT's, @, and # a lot more now. Thanks!!
ouch got me on the "Flurry!" When I am having healthy tea or coffee int he am, sometimes I get on a roll of thought or inspiration and let it fly! (Twitter, fly, hehe) I'll have to watch that flittering and flurrying! Thanks so much!
Fantastic Tips and Focus Kim. I have learned and continue to learn so much from you. I LOVE RT others however I am still getting my head around how to be 'effective' with Hash Tags and creating my own, I think I am still a bit random lol. I am looking forward to getting into "Twitter Muscle" I am sure that I will have a lot of questions answered within the training. Thanks for all you give Kim.
Great information, Kim. I loved the tip about spacing out your tweets. I like to schedule retweets over time. Also, I need to start using hastags again! Thanks so much!
I was very reluctant to embrace Twitter initialy. But, I have actually grown to love it far more than Facebook! I am stil learning a lt about it but thanks to posts like this, I'm making progress and enjoying the journey!
Love this post Kim! I'm desperately trying to learn more about Twitter and this article has helped out tremendously. Thanks so much for sharing! So blessed to know you!
It’s really not as hard as you might think. Lead with great content and if you don’t have content yet, find someone who does and tweet their stuff. You will find that you will quickly start to generate retweets. If you don’t have a system for building your twitter following I would suggest https://kimgarst.com/twittermuscle. I share all my secrets for not only building a huge targeted list in a short amount of time but I also share tons of other great info that will help you monetize your Twitter following.
Kim, I commented earlier in the week, but again, a great post, packed with tips I need! Thank you!
Your twitter advice is always spot on. Thanks for another great post with great reminders.
Kim – thank you for making this so clear and easy to understand! Your tips are fantastic! I didn't think I would enjoy using Twitter but with tips like this, it makes it so much more fun!
Those are great tips Kim. I've been finding a lot more success since I've been focusing more on retweeting other peoples content, or thanking them for sharing their content.
This is awesome, Derek!
I don’t do it on every tweet but for things that I would love more exposure for, I do ask and many honor the request.
LOL, love it 😉
I would like to say this was very informative as a new freelance graphic designer and a new twitter user. Thanks bunches for the tips!
Glad the tips were helpful!
You are right! It’s definitely quality over quantity.
Thanks for sharing Kim. This helps! 🙂
So glad it was helpful Borje!
I can attest that all of these tips work. I've been getting a TON of retweets on several articles on my blog lately but it took time: following and becoming regular readers of the people who eventually found my content useful was a first step. Hashtags are incredibly powerful doors which open up one's content to new readers too. Also, I use Hootsuite for scheduling tweets (2-3) when I'm asleep.
Thanks for the validation on the tips and I am so glad that they are working for you!
I use Hootsuite in the same manner…it’s all about the engagement piece in my opinion.
That is a great one! Thanks for stopping by!