Replying to other people’s posts is a great way to make connections and gain new followers.
What is a Reply and how do I start doing it?
Replies are Tweets directed at other Twitter users. This could be as a response to a question or even just trying to get their attention.
To send a reply, start your Tweet with the @ sign followed by the username you wish to reply to and then write out the rest of your Tweet.
Example: @spazcer awesome post on the Magicomm blog. Looking forward to the rest of the Printer Tweet series.
The general rule of thumb is to include an @ sign before every refrence of a Twitter user.
Example: Just got back from @Magicomm hanging out with @RickLittrell and @gd85us
Twitter in turn takes your @ replies and hyperlinks the username to the appropriate profile so other users can jump into the conversation. Twitter also keeps a list of all @replies directed at you.
Conversation is key
When viewing your Twitter stream, if you hover over any Tweet you will notice a little star and a curved arrow to the right of the tweet. The arrow is a quick link to prepopulate the text box at the top of the page. Some applications even go as far as linking directly to the tweet you are responding to. This comes in really handy when looking back and managing conversations.
Replies take up roughly 1/4 of all tweets on Twitter. In the last post, I said that variety is key to a successful Twitter account.
What should I reply with?
You could reply to anything your heart desires. Here are a few just to get my point across.
- Event updates. A lot of people will Tweet themes and good discussions at events and replying to their tweets is a great way to participate without being in attendance.
- Interact with a webinar. Twitter has become a great channel for discussions during webinars. It’s a great way to get the attention of the hosts as well as give your professional two cents.
- Answers to questions. Become a resource and people will use you as a resource. This is one great way to establish yourself as an expert in your industry.
- Compliments. Flattery goes a long way. If you found someone’s Twitter account through their blog and you enjoyed their posts, let them know with a friendly tweet.
- Promote people you like. Help each other out. If a friend of yours just joined Twitter, let your followers know.
- Everything else. I basically reply to anything I find interesting from anyone who seems interesting.
So to practice what we’ve learned today, click here to send an @reply to magicomm thanking them for this great post about @ replies.
This post is part of the Magicomm series “Printer Tweet Tips“. To keep up to date on other posts in this series, don’t forget to subscribe to the blog feed.
