7 Ways to Make your Tweet Go Viral

November 9, 2010 by Douglas Idugboe
 
Tweets are the lifeline of Twitter. Any business planning to use Twitter for business purpose needs to have an effective tweeting strategy in place. There is no doubt that Twitter has redefined how businesses spread information online. In fact, retweets is one of the most common ways by which your business gets introduced to prospect customers on Twitter.
Viral tweets also help bring significant traffic to your business website, which in turn can boost your subscriber numbers. As a business, how do you ensure that your tweets are viral (in other words, retweetable). For a start, follow these seven simple tips.

1) Catchy, Interesting & Informational Content
I come across several clients who confess that they find the 140-character limit on Twitter to be a huge dampener for their business. Trust me; it's more than sufficient to get the message across to users.
I'm a frequent retweeter and I usually retweet messages which I find genuinely interesting and beneficial for my readers. It's a fine line between being catchy and losing relevance. So, make sure to get your balancing act right.
 
2) Call to action
Whether its polls, surveys or encouraging users to leave their feedback on your business' products/ services, dialogue tweets have a better viral effect as compared to monologues. It's often said that the best way to persuade people to do something is to ask them to do it and tweets follow this golden rule as well.
When your Twitter followers retweet your messages, your call to action gets reposted thereby leading credibility and user support to your messages.
 
3) Links
IMO, links are the most crucial component of business-oriented viral tweets. You may link to your business website, to a new product announcement, to an exciting promotion that you launched recently or to a customer satisfaction survey.
Of course, you should ensure that the embedded links are contextually relevant to your tweet content. It makes no business sense to link a tweet about apples to a link related to oranges. Viral tweets serve as virtual inbound links to your business website so make sure you make the most of this opportunity.
 
4) News
Tweeting news related to your business and industry is a great way to keep your followers actively engaged. It showcases your stronghold in the designated industry and increases your followers' awareness about your products and services. Whether it is business or politics, "breaking news" is one of the most sharable types of content. A quick word of caution – avoid small talk!
 
5) Avoid too many self-references
Self-referential tweets aren't optimal for viral marketing. If you focus too much on "me" and "my business", the tweets tend to lose their charm and resemble pushy sales pitches. Focus more on the "we" and "you" aspects rather than the "me", Twitter is after all a social platform!
 
6) Timing is critical
Not many users realize that timing is a critical aspect in determining how far your tweets can go. Tweets have a short attention span so an ill-timed tweet is more likely to lead to a miss rather than a hit for your business. Like every good comedian knows, timing is everything. Twitter ain't any different.
 
7) Consistency is key
Your tweets represent your point of view. Make sure that your tweets are consistent, non-contradictory and non-controversial. If your tweets smell of inconsistency, it doesn't reflect well for your business brand and you are likely to lose followers sooner than later.
What are the tips your business follows to ensure that your tweets have a viral effect? How often do your followers retweet your messages and why? Please share your experience by leaving a comment below this post.
 
http://smedio.com/2010/11/09/7-ways-to-make-your-tweet-go-viral