How To Use X (Formerly Twitter) – Tools, Tips, and Tactics

If you want to build a small, meaningful audience on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that you connect with regularly, then this advice is for you.

We use Hootsuite. When it comes to posting content, we prefer HootSuite over the browser version of X because it offers more info at a glance. There are also some nice features:

• HootSuite allows you to shrink URLs and makes reposts and direct messages as easy as one click.
• You can follow specific conversations without a lot of effort
• You can schedule posts for peak times when you know people are active
• There are also some cool click stats you can look at
• You can use Hootsuite to manage multiple profiles

Use lists to prioritize. In HootSuite, you can create a list of people/accounts that you can display separately. Create a private “faves” list to save time and get right to what you’re interested in.

Adhere to the 19-20 rule. There’s an X rule that someone smarter than us came up with called 19-20. For every 20 posts you publish, 19 of them should re-post. Just like the best conversationalists in real life listen much more than they talk, the best X users share other posts with their own comments a LOT.

Follow people relevant to your niche. Frankly, we think this is the key to X.

Compare the social platform to a big university campus. While there are some people who will become known campus-wide, most of us will only be known to a specific subset. Would you rather try and be one of the people who is known campus-wide or would you rather be viewed as the person in your immediate group of friends?

While both have their benefits, it’s much easier to be known in a small group than it is to try and be known worldwide. Focus on a specific topic area – like auto enthusiasts – and don’t bother with following or engaging people who are outside those bounds.

Follow quality profiles. Aside from relevance, only follow people when:

• They have a complete profile. No picture? No chance. No bio or profile info? Nevermind.
• Their profile shows re-posts. Look at that person’s profile to be sure. If they don’t re-post content, they’re probably not listening…so why follow them?
• They’re not spammers. If the last post was “Learn how you can make $418 a day from home,” skip it.

Post like crazy at events. At auto shows and conferences, spend significant time posting and engaging with others about the event. It’s an easy way to gain relevant followers and maybe even connect with people in real life. Make sure you use the appropriate event-specific hashtag.

Jokes get re-posted pretty nicely. A good joke can be reposted dozens of times, and it’s a great way to introduce your profile to someone who has never heard of you. If you can be funny in less than 100 characters, you will build a following on X.

Post in 100 characters or less. Even though there is no longer a 140-character limit, if you want people to repost you, make it easy to scan.

Post at people directly on a limited basis. If you want to get someone’s attention on X, post directly at them (not a direct message, mind you, but a public post that’s directed toward someone). Since we all monitor our mentions closely, posting at someone is a great way to get their attention. However, there are some criteria: If you do it too often, you will be ignored. If you do it out of context and/or without building a relationship, you will get un-followed.