Twitter is now firmly established as a valuable social network in its own niche. For anyone wanting to connect quickly and freely with a wide range of folks, its 140 character limits and open follow model make it the platform of choice.

Despite all of this, I still see many dismissive attitudes towards Twitter from artists. Be it the simplicity or perceived echo chamber effect of the platform, a lot of creators are missing out on a channel that offers an outstanding way to connect with new fans from all walks of life. Even those that do take the plunge tend to simply feed through updates from other social networks, creating a very robotic profile with little chance of winning new fans.

So what can be done?

Photo Credit: The Paradigm Shifter

First Impressions

Get over the first impression of Twitter, for a start. Yes, indeed, it starts out a pretty lonely place. Few followers, and uncertainty of how to start conversations to build a following, both contribute to the early drop out factor that can plague the network. But persevere, get over that hurdle, and really start conversing with friends, fans, and followers will flock to you in a relatively short period.

Once you get going, you’ll be eager to amplify your tweets, spreading them farther than your own core following by connecting with other groups. Here are 7 pointers to get you sharing your messages far and wide:

1. Use hashtags: In tweets you want to emphasize & share more widely, research relevant hashtags that others are already monitoring and tailor your tweet to fit that tag.

2. Spread tweets & repeats: It’s okay (and indeed important) to repeat your key tweets at different times though the day, as people are online at different times and tweets are fleeting. Tweak wording and delivery to maintain variety, but be sure your core message gets acoss.

3. Ask for help: If something is truly important, don’t hesitate to ask for a retweet or for your followers to recommend to their own following. Don’t ask too often, but don’t be scared to ask, either.

4. Retweet others. Often: When you’re asking for help from others, it helps if you’ve already done the same for them in the past. Sharing the work of others that you enjoy not only adds variety to your Twitter stream, it builds goodwill for others to do the same for you.

5. Strategic @’ing: The @ mention has a more ‘personal inbox’ feel to it for most of us, so it can be used to get the attention of someone you’d ideally like to read and share your tweet. Use it sparingly and with subtlety for promotional tweets, though, as it’s easy to cross the line into spam. This is also 10x more true if you barely know the person to whom you’re tweeting.

6. Join communities: …or build your own! Again, hashtags tend to lend themselves to communities – #oTable, #UsGuys, #TweetDiner, to name just a few – as do chats and trending topics sometimes. Find the areas that others gather and begin to participate. If the crowd gathered there is a good fit and it feels comfortable to do so, you can begin to recommend your art or content to members of these communities. In addition, you can explore tools such as Triberr, which joins you to other like-minded content producers and their followers.  

7. Interact and influence: The first and last tenet of Twitter being that the more you tweet in, the more you’ll get out. Participate on a wide range of subjects, in a wide variety of ways, to both build your following and amplify your reach in the longer term. Join in with other established influencers in fields that interest you to boost your message still further.

Start Building

Twitter amplification is a strange beast.

In theory, it takes a slow and steady build up of relationships and reciprocation to have a significant audience sharing your messages. In practice, the serendipity of just one well placed tweet, attached to a valuable message or content, can take off like a bottle rocket and explode into all the results you desired.

Your best bet is to follow the tips above, tweet quality regularly, and enjoy the relationships that you build…all the while anticipating that one explosive tweet that shares your glorious creativity to the world!

What ways have you found to extend the reach of your tweets?