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At first glance, Twitter looks like a giant party. You are encountering a variety of people all with different thoughts, directions, interests, lifestyles, and it’s all coming at you at full speed! Focusing seems impossible with all of this diverse traffic! So how exactly do you focus on making connections that matter?
Focus on your message
Nice to meet you! So, who are you? What do you do? How can you help me? Whenever someone comes across your Twitter profile, expect these questions to be running through their minds. Let the answers to these questions be known, allow for some transparency. The more that people know the more that they will trust your message.
Communicate your message
After you have mapped out (in writing!) the message that you will be delivering to your audience, the next step is to translate it into tweets! Here is a list of ideas that will help guide your tweets in the right direction:
- Talk about your agency’s core values – why should people choose you over your competitors?
- Be inspiring. Share favorite quotes, pictures of your community, or what your agency is doing to make a difference.
- Post about your favorite things to insure, (ours is classic cars!)
- If you have a blog, share your post in a tweet.
Maximize your message
If you’re going to tweet without using hashtags, then don’t bother. You need to put your message to work. Use relevant hashtags in your tweets so that your message can be found. For example, instead of just saying: “Today our agency is dressing down for charity” you could say “Today our agency is dressing down for #charity. #giveback #connecticut”. Something to keep in mind when using hashtags is to keep them to the point, and don’t overuse them. If you start hashtagging your post with every hashtag you could think of, it will look spammy.
Keep maximizing on that tweet! Use tweets to drive traffic to your website or other social media platforms. Do this by including the link to your website in the tweet. Buffer is a great tool to use that can actually shorten the link so there is more space for your message. Last but more certainly not least, use pictures! According to HubSpot “Tweets with images receive 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites and 150% more retweets”. Now there is some incentive for you to pick up your camera!
Connect with your message
Your Twitter presence must reach beyond merely tweeting. It is absolutely necessary that you connect with people! The more connections you have, the more your message will get in front of your audience! Here are some tips that will help you gain the audience you are looking for:
- Use the search bar. Type in a keyword tailored to your agency’s message to find relevant accounts to follow. For example, we would type in “small business” or “veterans”. Our agency likes to take a step further in targeting our audience and search for activity near us. To do this type in your keyword in the search bar> hit search>select “more options”> select “near you”. This makes it possible to connect with others in your area that are tweeting about your keyword. You can also take it a step further and experiment with “advanced search” under “more options”.
- It is also very helpful to find your audience by location. Search accounts in your state/town to stay updated and connected. Type your location in the search bar (for example “Connecticut” or “Stafford Springs”) > search> select “accounts”.
- Let your location be known. When you compose a new tweet you have an option to turn on your location, so people will know where you’re tweeting from.
- Ask people you already know if they are on Twitter and connect with them.
- Tag people using the “@” sign followed by their Twitter name. Your message will automatically be directed to them. For example “Thanks @stateauto for your support during Flag Week!”. If you are looking to send a private message, go to their page and select “message”.
- Engage with your followers by retweeting them, favorting them, and replying to them. People will see what you are sharing, and if they like it they will follow you!
Being an independent insurance agency in the social media world isn’t always an easy task. Use these tips and tricks to have a stronger social media presence and get noticed by the right audience!
