How To Increase Interaction With Your Facebook and Twitter Network
I received this question from a gal in my network we’ll call Sonia who’s wondering how she can increase the interaction and response from her Twitter followers:
“I really appreciate your down-to-earth personality. It’s no wonder you have so many followers and have become so successful… now to emulate you 🙂
“…Back to my twitter question, “How would you advise people to get to know the people they follow or that follow them? I have followers I would like to know but many don’t post or don’t always reply to my posts. Makes me wonder if they see my posts or what is going on??”
“I know there are times when I just like to read posts and don’t always reply myself… so maybe that is what they are doing? I don’t know… but I would like to have more interaction with my followers and am not sure how to get it? Any tips? Maybe I’m not posting personal enough stuff? “
Sonia raises a very good point here. I see many others faced with the same challenge.
Here’s the thing: everyone is super busy with our attention pulled in all directions. Often people simply do not have enough time to respond to everyone. So, for sure never take it personally. (Some members of my community tell me they stop following people on Twitter if they don’t follow back or respond. I say don’t be too hasty!)
Add on top of that the fact many people are still very new to both Facebook and Twitter and are not sure yet of all the features and protocol.
Here’s what I recommend:
- Friends on both Twitter and Facebook. Make sure when you’re following someone on Twitter you really admire and want to get to know that you also add them as a Facebook friend. And vice versa of course. (I look for the Twitter app on the person’s Facebook profile. I like this app as it displays the recognizable Twitter colors and logo. If the person doesn’t have that app installed, I search for them using Twitter Search or Twellow.)
- Include blogs. Go read that person’s blog and subscribe. Come back often and post intelligent comments.
- Monitor other feeds. Subscribe to their other feeds (Twitter, Facebook Status Update, FriendFeed, etc.) to monitor their activities and get to know the person a bit better.
- Send @ tweets. Along with posting blog comments when you read something that resonates with you, send an @message to the person on Twitter including a shortened link to their post. (I like http://is.gd for shortening URLs).
- Write on Facebook walls. Make a point of writing on their Facebook wall when appropriate. Not too often, always relevant and never with a big fat signature block. 😉
- Add Facebook comments.Take advantage of the new Facebook design and comment on Photos, Videos, Posted Items (links) and Notes the person posts on Facebook.
- Ask for an interview.If you have a teleseminar series, podcast, radio show or you’re making a product or you write a column – send a direct message on Facebook asking if you can interview that person (and maybe a ping about it by Twitter DM as well). Be concise, be clear. Make sure you state the WIIFM.
All of these activities need to be spaced out over time. Don’t come off like a stalker! Be clear on who you want in your professional network and why.
I share in-depth many other rapport and relationship building strategies in my Facebook for Professionals multi-media program.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Much of what I’m describing here is what my friend and mentor Kevin Nations calls “intellectual voyeurism.” Because of the vast amount of information we’re all sharing online these days, it’s very easy to find out a ton about a person without them ever knowing you…. yet. You can then appropriately and respectfully inch your way into relationship with that person.
I recommend always coming from win:win, no agenda, kind, helpful and, in fact, show others you’re willing to help promote them.
As for other people you just want to network with, the same suggestions apply however you can keep it a bit more casual and join in conversations where appropriate.
Also, as I talked about here, use TwitterSearch for variations of your name to be sure you don’t miss any @replies to you.
What’s your experience? Is it easy to get your followers to respond on Twitter? Are you developing the relationships you want on Facebook? Do you think personality style affects our experience of social networking?
Mari – as usual another great and helpful article — indeed as a newbie to both Twitter and FB, I began asking myself these questions — and now I have the answers! U R AWESOME! Blessings!
It’s “hard” getting peeps to respond on Twitter, because the system itself is so “in the moment”.
With Twitter, if you aren’t paying attention to the conversation , AND if you’re following a number of people, the message gets buried after a few hours.
In my Twitter account @DonnaFox presently the first page of messages represents a 33 minute window, and it’s not a high-traffic Twitter time.
There are times when messages older than 10 minutes don’t even show up on the first page.
And the first page in Twitter is like the first page in Google. There are exceptions, but if you’re not on the first page, you don’t really exist.
So while it is hard to get people to respond to Twitter messages, make them provocative and ask questions, and those who are listening, will.
In that way, Twitter is more like live conversation tthan many oother social media outlets.
Mari, Once again you have given us some great advice about how to increase socialization between FB & Twitter, between friends and followers. Some excellent points that I plan to utilize. Love your Twitter personal page. Well done.
I think its hard to get people who have NEVER been on twitter to get on and follow you. I am trying to convert viewers to twiter but I am not sure they get it
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Hi Mari,
Very helpful info and good reminders for developing relationships, not just doing “drive-bys”.
I have found so many amazing and interesting people on twitter, I’m having a great time reading profiles and blog posts and also learning alot from people like you and many others.
Now I am working on tying it in with my Facebook, oh so much to do and so little time 🙂
Thanks for your help!
Hi Mari,
One of the things I enjoy so much about you and other social media experts who understand the medium AND are willing to share their expertise so willingly (e.g., Deborah Micek) is that you are such good teachers.
You provide step-by-step tips that are directly to the point (that basic instructional technique is even overlooked by many), but then you integrate the individual steps into a cohesive strategy.
My colleagues in education whom I immediately gravitate toward are those who think a level or two above the basic steps when explaining, something so that when all the pieces are in place, the greater concept is apparent.
That you think of our social media world as comprising many unique but compatible elements is the concept that many miss in this exciting world. “Do this on Twitter and do this on Facebook” is quadruply strengthened when you utilize them as a team instead of individual entities.
It’s a real-world illustration of holding two candle flames together and producing four times the heat and four times the light (which, of course, equals four times the ENERGY from only doubling the efforts.)
It’s so easy to lose sight that social media networking is amplified almost infinitely by incorporating multiple techniques.
After all, isn’t “media” plural?
Thanks for the always great tips.
@DrTodd
TheAptitudeDoc
Thanks for always sharing such great info and advice Mari. I am fairly new to Twitter and FB so this should help me expand my networking skills both professionally and personally.
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Hey Mari,
Great piece but I have one question for you: how you do you manage the time it takes to do all suggested above? The very idea of being plugged into 40 or 50 blogs – yikes!
How do you manage, especially with your mobile lifestyle?
Lissa
@Sharon – thanks a mil for this beautifully demonstrated course of action. You took the time to read my post, make a comment and tweet with the link. I totally agree with what you say. It’s just helping to share the love! 🙂
I enjoy Buckminster Fuller’s concept around this: “Precession.” Like a pebble in a pond and the ripples go out. Like the bee enjoying the flowers who’s actually helping to pollinate. We never know our precessional effect: one tidbit we share on Twitter, Facebook or wherever could make all the difference to our peeps.
Hi Mari,
Your advice to “show others you?re willing to help promote them”, has definitely been the way that has worked best for me to increase interaction between myself and those I’m following. I take pleasure in passing along a “tweet” or blog post that someone has written, not to be a brownnoser, but because I honestly found it helpful, thought-provoking or amusing.
People like to know that their work is appreciated and by retweeting I believe I’m expressing my appreciation.