So you might be using Twitter, or thinking about using Twitter, to promote your event and connect with fans. Now that Facebook’s changing algorithms are showing your fans less and less of your content (from 16% back in 2012 to less than 2% today), it is a good time to step up your Twitter game.
We’ve created a Social Media Guidebook for Race Directors chock full of content on Twitter and many other social channels. You can download it here, or read on for Twitter tips. (Here’s another blog covering Facebook, too).
Who’s on Twitter?: There are over 255 million active users on Twitter. And those users post an average of 500 million Tweets every day. (Twitter)
What do people do on Twitter?: Share updates and discuss…well,anything… in the form of pictures, videos, and text. This is like watching the stock market ticker. Updates are limited in length (140 characters) and happen so quickly that there’s less of a commitment to throw something out there.
What should I do here?: Pictures still rule, and a lot of what you post on Facebook is relevant here as well. Try Sharing more details: parking tips, training ideas, unique info about your course, what you’re working on during any given week, inspirational quotes. Open your doors and let people share in your planning. You’ll build your online community, and ultimately your participant numbers.
Five ideas for growing your twitter engagement and getting the right audience
Lists
You can now search lists on Twitter. It is sort of hidden, but here is what you do. Start at your Twitter home screen. Use the twitter search window to type in your search term. Once the results come in you will notice a list in the left hand column of search categories. Everything is the default selection. Narrow your search to “Timelines.” Once you do that your main feed will default to “Lists.” By checking out other people’s lists you will discover influential Twitter users. By searching “Race Organizers” I found this great list with lots of events I had not been following. Now they are part of my Twitter feed and I can start interacting with them, and build relationships.
Don’t Hate, Appreciate
Build goodwill by rewarding good Twitter content. Show the people you follow some love by favoriting and retweeting their posts you enjoy. Everybody loves to feel noticed on Twitter. Just don’t go crazy with the favorite button. People can see what you have favorited and it doesn’t look good if you are just throwing them out there to everybody. There are some apps that will automatically favorite tweets with specific hashtags and mentions, we recommend avoiding those. You can end up looking like a fool when you auto favorite irrelevant content without reading it.
A picture is worth more than 140 characters
It is sooo easy to hit the share button from Instagram and have the tweet go out from there. You will notice that it just shows up as a link in your Twitter feed. Pictures get more engagement and Twitter wants to be a more visual platform. Post your pics directly to Twitter via your desktop or mobile device. By doing so your feed looks great and you up the likelihood of getting the post retweeted, replied to, and favorited.
Hashtags are #awesome!
Why create a hashtag for your event? Primarily, to control the conversation. Hashtags allow you to promote, monitor, engage and analyze the people talking about your race. So, how do you go about selecting and promoting a hashtag? Here’s a quick rundown:
- Take two minutes to do some research (Google). Don’t use a hashtag that’s in use or has been used
- Don’t go crazy with characters – you’re already limited to 140
- Create a custom hashtag and make an announcement each year to get people excited
- Give people a reason to use and follow your hashtag (i.e. the most up-to-date information on parking, logistics, etc.)
- Use it! Get sponsors, vendors and third parties involved
Track it
Want to know which type of post resonates with your audience? There’s an app for that. Lucky for you it is the Twitter app! Go to Twitter analytics and see how your posts are performing. The tracking will give you insight into impressions and engagements. Do more of the posts that create engagement. This is also a fantastic way to see if your audience has your sense of humor or prefers a more expert tone.
Be sure to download the full guide to social media for Race Directors here:.
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