Maintaining a steady flow of interaction and engagement on Twitter is not as easy as it sounds. Some businesses have resorted to using automated online platforms not just for pre-scheduling posts, but favoriting tweets, sending direct messages, and following people as well.

Twitter business profiles full of automated tweets are not very attractive. Instead, talk about what’s relevant in a realistic, human, and non-automated way. This is what makes Twitter successful: real people talking in real time.

If you want to develop loyal fans, start by letting them know who you are as a business. Some automation can be very helpful and take a lot of work off your shoulders, but it’s hard to like a profile that’s over-automated. Here’s why you should not automate your Twitter all the way.

Cons Of Automating Your Twitter

Scheduled Posts

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If you have tweets that have any chance of being interpreted wrongly or being published at an embarassing time for some reason, simply don’t schedule those tweets. Lack of human input and real time interaction may lead to online disasters for your campaign.

Automated DMs

Damage can happen when businesses use automated tools poorly on Twitter, but they can be very useful when used appropriately. If you are one of those businesses that still send “Sent using @” then you might turn off some of your followers.

Automated bots can be easily tricked, as we’ve seen many times. Oreo got played when someone got them to tweet their racist name from their account:

Image credit: Digiday

If you can, create the time to send genuine messages yourself (or have your social media manager do it). You’ll give your followers a warm and fuzzy feeling by acknowledging their existence and saying that you genuinely appreciate their support.

Automatic Favorites

There are tools that will automatically favorite tweets of certain kinds. Perhaps you’d think that this is a great way to gain followers as more people will be aware of your brand. But you have to take caution as it may also hold a big potential for disaster.

Let’s say, for example, that you are a coffee brand, then the tool might favorite all tweets with the word, “Coffee.” If there is no on monitoring these actions on your Twitter account, then it may not turn out for the best.

Automatic Follow Back

Automatically following people back may have its own advantages, but they are limited and the attempt usually seems obvious. If your goal is to build a genuine and strong Twitter page, you have to choose wisely and only follow people and pages you want.

Tips To Appear More Human to Your Followers

Send A Genuine Response

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Responding when a user tweets you can go a long way, and a helpful, friendly message can be very powerful and effective. When they tweet or tag you in a post take this opportunity to engage, as it could generate an instant conversation with them.

This is most crucial when you get criticism or feedback from upset customers. Make them feel like a priority by responding to them as soon as possible.

JetBlue has dedicated customer service professionals for their Twitter account. Every single question tweeted at them is answered pretty quickly. A big high five to JetBlue for showing care and concern for your customers and followers.

Ask for a Retweet

Image credit: JetBlue Twitter

If you want something, you have to ask for it. If you ask for a retweet directly within your post, you’re more likely to get that engagement.

You can use phrases like “Please share,” “Please Retweet,” or simply, “Please RT” at the end of your tweets. You could encourage people to retweet by offering an incentive, like a prize, discount, or giveaway. This is most effective if you would like to spread the word about a sale, a new product, or an event for your business.

Asking for people to retweet can be a great strategy but remember not to spam your followers, as they are more likely to ignore you.

You can also take this strategy when you’re trying to spread the word about something, like a recent event. Asking the Twitter world to share news about a good cause can get massive engagement.

In the recent tribute concert for #OneLoveManchester, many brands and companies were asking their followers to RT their tweets to help spread the word. #OneLoveMachester was the top trending hashtag on Twitter that day.

RT if you're watching #OneLoveManchester and to help spread the word – Canadians can donate $10 simply by texting REDCROSS to 45678. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/H303OwQ3me — MUCH (@Much) June 4, 2017

Buy Followers and other Forms of Engagement

Building up your social proof will give people the perspective that you’re very popular and worth checking out. By purchasing Twitter Followers, Retweets, and Shares, you’ll draw people in who are impressed by all the attention you get.

Just be smart when choosing which service provider you use, so you can get the most value for your dollar. We have extensively tested and reviewed hundreds of providers to find the best on the net, so you can buy with confidence.

Ask Questions

One of the classic engagement-building strategies is asking questions. In the age of social media, people love to send in their two cents, often offering up their opinions and sharing their experiences without any prompting at all.

But you can take advantage of that tendency. Ask questions that are relevant, like what they think of your product or service or what are they’ll be doing for the Fourth of July. This gives you the opportunity to learn what they think of your products.

It will provide you with valuable insight into your followers that could have been an expensive process through market research. Asking them about their plans, and tying that into your product in some way, is an easy way to make them feel like there is actually a person behind the brand.

Evernote’s Twitter Poll was a great way to create engagement with their Twitter followers. Not only do they get to know the habits of their followers, but this is also a subtle way of encouraging their users to use its products.

Alright, #EvernoteCommunity. It's the beginning of the work week. What's first on your agenda? — Evernote (@evernote) October 10, 2016

Offer Personalized Encouragement

Customers love it when you devote time to interact with them. Giving them an honest response is already a sign of respect and appreciation.

You can read the timelines of 15 to 30 of your followers, and identify those with major milestones. This can be about a new baby, moving to another country, running a marathon, or getting married. You can craft a short message of encouragement. Make it more personal by not adding hashtags, but don’t come off creepy, like you’re stalking their page.

Make sure that your comments are sincere and not disingenuous. People desire human connections, so this is a great way to connect with and motivate your followers.

Nike is active on Twitter and replies to their followers often. Most of their replies are simple encouragement for their followers. This is very fitting for their slogan, “Just do it.”

Leave your worries behind one run at a time. — Nike (@Nike) June 13, 2017

Share Your Follower’s Tweets

Aside from the desire for connections, we also like the feeling of being validated. Share and retweet some of the tweets of your followers to show that you recognize them and value what they say. This way you show them that what they’re posting online matters.

When retweeting your followers, choose tweets that align with values of your brand, or that you think will be valuable in some way to your followers – maybe just for a laugh. You should also consider adding comments to your retweets to add more value to the conversation.

Netflix US tries to make their account creative and fun by sharing some tweets from their followers. Bonus points for replying with a funny, lighthearted message of their own.

Humanize your Twitter

Image credit: Netflix Twitter

If you want your followers to engage with your content more, the best way is to interact with them more. You have to make them feel like someone is actually behind that Twitter handle, rather than a bot. Respond, Retweet and Follow people intelligently.

When you give them the time of the day by actually responding and engaging with their tweets, they are more likely to see what you are posting too. They might even develop a love for your brand.

This not only increases your engagement, but it will help you build a better relationship between your brand and your followers even off Twitter. Stay real, and don’t substitute a human for a robot!

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