Do You Make These 8 Mistakes When You Twitter?

Twitter is a great tool for extending your influence. You can engage your “tribe” in real time, offering leadership and assistance in a way that would have been impossible just a couple of years ago.

Girl with Shocked Expression on Laptop PC - Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/Stockphoto4u, Image #10235999

However, Twittering has not been without its challenges. I think I have made just about every mistake you can make. Assuming you want to grow your influence and increase your follower count (and I realize that not everyone does), here are eight mistakes to avoid:

  1. Using a difficult-to-remember username. In my opinion, your username should be as close to your real name—or your brand name—as possible. This facilitates engagement. If people can’t remember your username or have to look it up, most won’t bother. As a result, you’ll be left out of the conversation. In addition, a real name communicates authenticity and accessibility. Don’t hide behind a made-up name that is only meaningful to you. If you want to change your username to something better, you can do this in the Twitter settings panel without setting up a new account or losing your existing followers.
  2. Posting more than about 120 characters. If you want to be “re-tweeted,” thus extending your influence, you need to keep your messages shorter than the legal limit of 140 characters. A re-tweet, by definition, will carry the abbreviation “RT” plus your username. In my case, that would be “RT @MichaelHyatt” plus a space—seventeen characters total. If you subtract that from 140 you get 123. That means my messages cannot be longer than 123 characters without requiring people to edit my messages before re-tweet them. If you want to get re-tweeted, make it easy for your followers.
  3. Tweeting too little—or too much. Admittedly, this is a judgment call. Like the Story of the Three Bears, somewhere between too little and too much is “just right.” Personally, I shoot for 12–14 posts a day. (It takes less time than you may think.) I am not suggesting that this is the ideal goal. It depends on your goals and your audience’s expectations. However, if you are only Twittering a couple of times a day or less, it is too little to get on my radar. If you are Twittering too much, you become annoying, and I will eventually unfollow you. I am simply suggesting that you develop a strategy and be intentional about the number of messages you post.
  4. Asking for more than you give. Obviously, spammers and most direct marketers fall into this category. They mistakenly see Twittering as just another form of “interruption marketing.” However, here I am referring to legitimate Twitter users who use their account to converse. But they also post too many messages promoting their company, products, or services. You must think of the Twitter community as a “social bank account.” You can make withdrawals, but only if you deposit more than you take out. I shoot for a 20-to-1 ratio. In other words, I want to post 20 or so helpful resources or bits of information for every post in which I ask for help solving a problem, supporting a cause, or touting one of my company’s products, etc.
  5. Using the reply function when you should use a direct message. In my opinion, 90% of replies (where you address a person you follow publicly) should be direct messages (where you address a person you follow and who follows you privately). This is not because the information is confidential. Obviously, those messages should be private or—just to be safe—communicated via another medium. The problem is that it is too difficult to follow the conversation when replies are used. Your tweets become intelligible to anyone who can’t remember the entire conversation. They are just more noise. For example, if I reply with “@SteveJobs You totally rock. I love that idea,” no one knows what I am talking about unless they can recall Steve’s message to me. It just adds more clutter to my followers’ data stream. The key question to ask is this: is my reply relevant to anyone other than the person I am replying to?
  6. Posting when you are frustrated or angry. Twittering is so immediate, that it is easy to post something in a moment of frustration that you later regret. I have done it numerous times. The problem with all written communication—especially Twitter—is that it is difficult to communicate context or nuance in your messages. Negative emotions are better expressed in person if they must be expressed at all. If you Twitter these messages, you risk offending the person it was intended for and turning off a large percentage of your followers. Is this really the “brand impression” you want to create?
  7. Not creating a good profile page. Your profile page is the first thing that potential followers check. It should look intentional and be consistent with the brand image you are trying to convey. At the very least, upload your photo. This humanizes you by putting a face with a name. However, make sure the photo is consistent with your brand. In fact, I recommend that you come up with one “avatar” photo and use it with all social media. This delivers a consistent brand message. In addition, take the time to fill out the “bio” field. People want to know something about the people they follow. I even link to a custom About page on my blog that acknowledges that the reader got there via Twitter and goes into more depth for those who are interested.
  8. Failing to engage in the conversation. Twitter is not intended to be a monologue. In fact, the entire premise behind Web 2.0—of which Twitter is just one technology—is that people want to engage in a dialog. This makes it more demanding than other forms of media. In other words, unless you are a celebrity, you can’t just broadcast your message and walk away. But this is also what makes it more powerful. When you engage with your customers and constituents, you have the opportunity to learn from them and influence them. Admittedly, I don’t respond to every reply (i.e., Twitter “mention”), but I do respond to every direct message, unless it is clear that it is spam.

Hopefully, this list will enable you to avoid some of the common Twitter mistakes. If you are going to make mistakes, at least you can make different mistakes.

Question: What did I miss? What Twitter mistakes do you see others making?
Set up a self-hosted WordPress blog in 20 minutes or less by watching my step-by-step screencast. Also, get a discount on BlueHost web hosting. It is the only hosting service I personally recommend. Learn more ….

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, offensive, or off-topic. If in doubt, read My Comments Policy.

  • Linda

    I'm sure I'm in the category of under-tweeting. I'm lucky if I post three times a day, and I honestly have to work hard to get that many. I've found that tweeting just doesn't engage me. I have to remind myself to look at it and do something–and well, it just isn't fun or particularly creative for me.

  • Pingback: Most Tweeted Articles by Christianity Experts

  • George Kyros

    I think I've made most of those mistakes! Thanks for an interesting article,i will take note.

  • http://twitter.com/melvintercan @melvintercan

    Question: how can I give in a 20/1 ratio if I shouldn't @reply at someone? Rules 4 and 5.
    My recent post <?php echo ‘Hello World!’; ?>

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/michaelhyatt Michael Hyatt

      If you look at my Twitter feed you'll see. Thanks.

  • http://blog.knightsquest.org Buddy Knight

    One mistake that I see regards photos. For TWITTERERS that are trying to attract business and such, you need to make sure you have a BUSINESS-LIKE PHOTO.
    My recent post SEXTING!What’s The Big Deal??? Part II

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/mosaicmercy David A Knapp

    My twitter name is my real name so I got that one covered. I have been prone to commenting way too much and not enough. Sometimes I feel too inspired and other times twitter bores me to tears.

    I do reply when I should direct message but for a reason. I get so many direct messages that are from people who have just started following me. I call these Pseudo Direct Messages. I end up ignoring these and would rather people respond to my tweets instead of direct message me.

    In my opinion I think there are too many twitter rules of engagement. Just like opinions people have their own preferences when using twitter.

    One suggestion I think we should all follow is keep tweets between 12-14 a day. Great article :)
    My recent post Divine Eyes

  • http://quillsandzebras.wordpress.com anna

    An interesting post, but I disagree with the DM suggestion. As you point out in #8, Twitter is about engaging in conversations. By DM'ing someone, you close off that conversation entirely. My followers will only see my replies to people they also follow — and if they're anything like me, they'll want to know what their friends are talking about.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/landoncreasy landoncreasy

    Michael,
    How right you are! If we consider first impressions to vital in our normal lives, shouldn't we be more careful when trying to create one with 140 characters or less? I'll be passing these general guidelines along to my network…

    Thanks,
    Landon Creasy

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/crispone crispone

    Good points. I've been thinking about changing my username, and this post pushed me over the edge.

  • http://marianlibrarian.com Marian Schembari

    My biggest Twitter pet peeves:
    1. Incomplete profiles
    2. Infrequent tweets
    3. Bios that are completely unhelpful (or no bios!)
    4. Private profiles

    * These are more reasons why I won't follow someone in the first place, but I totally agree with you on why I would UNFOLLOW someone. Great post!

  • Pingback: How To Be Annoying On Twitter: Be Me « Off the Cuff & Other Stuff

  • http://www.doughraisingmom.com Grace

    I am still confused about how to actually get involved in the conversation on
    Twitter. It seems merely tweeting something on my mind does not relate to
    all the conversation flying by. How do you talk to other people, many who are
    merely pitching a product?

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      You have a choice. You can either send them a direct message, which is private, or reply to them, which is public. You might want to check out my Beginner’s Guide to Twitter.

  • http://www.rpmministries.org Bob Kellemen

    Great post. On your 12-14 per day, does that include RT or only your own Tweets?

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Only my own.

  • Pingback: Do You Make These 8 Mistakes With Twitter? | Church Sports Outreach | Sports Ministry | Recreation Ministry

  • Pingback: 8 Links to Improve your Online Communication

  • http://twitter.com/askmepc Linda Lee

    I just have been getting the hang of it recently, and I noticed right away a friend of mine only tweets about her own site and products. It became glaring obvious once I used tweetdeck and actually understood how twitter should work in an idealized fashion. Don’t self promote, give back and it will come back to you. I like your ratios on #4. Build trust and give freely is what I tell my clients about working online and using forums, facebook, linkedin, and now I will add twitter into the mix.

  • http://twitter.com/Sonita_Lewis Sonita Lewis

    I think it depends too why you are using twitter. It is social media, I use it to connect to people with similar interest-a great side effect, if you will, is it can drive traffic to my blog. I do post links to my blog but I’m not spammy.
    I think a lot has to do with your niche market as well. As a homeschool mom blogger, connecting to other homeschool mom bloggers, I think even in our effort to use it as a promotional tool, we use it differently than someone in the corporate world, or an author or someone selling their handmade items…
    Like for me-I totally disagree with #5 (it’s easy to follow a convo back with a few clicks-and maybe even jump in) but #8 is spot on!
    Enjoyed the post!

  • http://LookingForPurpose.com Dylan Dodson

    Good points.

  • http://twitter.com/dbonleadership Dan

    One of the things I am working on right now is having a balance of posts. I try to post throughout the day and between 10-15 times.

  • Pingback: The Blogger’s Guide To Being A Self-Absorbed Jerk On Twitter | David Santistevan

  • http://www.forward-living.com W. Mark Thompson

    Good twitter advice. I can’t seem to make myself tweet though. Seems like a personality thing. I lean a lot more heavily on Facebook. Twitter has gotten so ADD in my mind. That’s why I like this post. Helps with twefficiency.

  • Pingback: Twitter 101: Tweets, @’s, RT’s, #FF, and more | From: The Little Pink House

  • Pingback: Twitter 101: A Few Do’s & Don’ts | From: The Little Pink House

  • Pingback: Why Twitter? | From: The Little Pink House