• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • ⭐ FREE Web3 Course
  • 🗓️ Our Events
    • Social Media Marketing World (Mar 13-15)
    • Other Industry Events
  • 💡 Society
  • ⚙️ Tools
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Web3 Business Podcast
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🎯 Partner With Us
    • Podcast Sponsorship
    • Email Sponsorship
      • Email Newsletter
      • Dedicated Email Blast
    • Event Sponsorship
      • Social Media Marketing World
    • Tools Sponsorship
  • 👋 About Us
    • Our Story
    • Articles
      • Web3
      • Instagram Marketing
      • Facebook Marketing
      • YouTube Marketing
      • LinkedIn Marketing
      • TikTok Marketing
      • Expert Interviews
  • Search
  • Social Media Marketing World10th annual. Biggest industry event. Get the recordings!IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING

    14 Ways to Make Your Twitter Updates More Creative

    by Aaron Lee / November 13, 2014

    social media how toAre you looking for creative ways to improve your Twitter updates?

    Do you want to spark better conversations with your followers?

    Coming up with interesting content ideas for tweets can be challenging for social media marketers.

    In this article I share 14 ways you can achieve more engagement with your Twitter audience.

    14 creative twitter updates
    Find 14 ways to publish more creative Twitter updates.

    #1: Questions

    Tweet out a straightforward question that's easy to answer and you'll likely see a jump in engagement.

    When questions are short and simple, it's easy for followers to respond because they don't need to spend a lot of time thinking about their answer or trying to fit a longer reply into 140 characters (or fewer if there's a hashtag).

    nbcthevoice tweet
    Fill-in-the-blank tweets encourage engagement.

    Fill-in-the-blank tweets get your followers thinking and challenge to them to show their creative side. The key to making fill-in-the-blank tweets work for your company is to make them relatable to your followers' interests.

    Another option is to ask followers to choose between two things. For example, ask Instagram or Pinterest? Cookies or chips? Coffee or tea? You get the idea.

    aeropostale tweet
    Asking fans to pick one or the other is a quick way to get retweets.

    To reach an even wider audience—and gain more engagement—ask your fans to retweet if they like the first choice or favorite the tweet if they like the second choice.

    #2: Product Photos

    While you want to mix things up, it's definitely OK to tweet about your products. It's one of the main reasons you registered a Twitter account, right? The problem is that people see products everywhere!

    To break through the noise, stay away from simply posting a corporate photo of your product. Instead, think about how you can include your product in different scenarios. Imagine what your product looks like in real life, how people use it, where they put it, etc.

    klm tweet
    Be creative and add different perspectives of your product on Twitter.

    Take the opportunity to be creative and add perspective to your product. Twitter is a very human platform, so you will need to adapt your product photos.

    #3: Videos

    Did you know Twitter allows you to tweet rich media? People sometimes forget they can share video on Twitter.

    What I love about video on Twitter is that followers can watch without leaving the platform.

    3 Days of World-Class Training—Zero Travel!

    Social Media Marketing World

    Travel to Social Media Marketing World off the table? Get all of the great content at a fraction of the price with an On-Demand ticket.

    That’s full access to recordings of every keynote, workshop, and session—the ones people travel thousands of miles to see. Don't wait. Get your On-Demand ticket and enjoy actionable content that you can watch anytime, anywhere.

    GET YOUR ON-DEMAND TICKET NOW
    questnutrition tweet
    Users can watch videos without leaving Twitter.

    Videos are a good way to share your thoughts on a topic, give followers a behind-the-scenes look at your company or present a short product tutorial. They're also a great way to launch a new product.

    #4: Slide Decks

    It can be hard to convey meaty content in 140 characters. Sharing slides solves that problem. Now you can tackle just about any topic and spur conversation.

    And since your followers don't have to leave Twitter to view your slides, it's easy for them to comment or retweet after they've gone through your deck. Deeper conversations are a great way to build relationships.

    slideshare tweet
    Your followers can go through your SlideShares without leaving Twitter.

    What kind of slides should you share? The options are endless. Let's say you're a new cafe that takes pride in how you make your coffee. You could create a beautiful slide deck about how to brew that perfect latte, what beans you use and why you heat your milk to 140° instead of that tongue-burning 158°.

    How did I come up with that example? I'm pretty sure I read a slide about it!

    #5: Reviews and Testimonials

    Retweeting public accolades from real customers provides social proof for you. Those reviews and testimonials help you build trust and help prospects overcome any skepticism they may have.

    aeo tweet
    Retweeting your followers' testimonial tweets helps build trust.

    One thing I like about retweeting testimonials is that it shows that you're paying attention to your customers and appreciate their compliments and contributions.

    #6: Other People's Content

    Sharing is caring! Retweeting is one of the easiest ways to update and it benefits both parties involved: You create relationships and they're exposed to a wider audience.

    Tools Resource Guide

    Looking for something to make your life easier?

    Discover the tools we recommend to drive engagement, save you time, and boost sales across your entire marketing funnel or business.

    Whether you need help planning content, organizing social posts, or developing your strategy, you’ll find something for every situation.

    FIND YOUR NEXT FAVORITE TOOL

    I like to say, “Retweet someone once, they will notice you. Retweet someone a few times, they will remember you.”

    #7: News

    Twitter has become a major source for staying current with news and trends. In fact, many people rely on Twitter for their news updates (including me).

    If you're the one providing that news or retweeting it, people begin to view you as an important resource.

    marshacollier tweet
    Sharing useful content helps you build credibility.

    There's no Twitter algorithm to control how links and news appear in your Twitter stream, so the faster you can provide news or event updates, the better.

    #8: Your Thoughts

    Do you have recurring thoughts about a topic? Do you have ideas about your industry? Share them with your followers. You'll be surprised how many of your followers have the same thoughts as well.

    Sharing your thoughts is an effective way to spark conversations with your followers and build a connection with them.

    #9: Peek Behind the Scenes

    More brands are adopting the trend of giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at their company. It provides transparency and gives an authentic voice to your business.

    vaynermedia tweet
    Behind-the-scenes is a great way to humanize your business.

    You can easily use this idea yourself, and if you're launching a new product, this tactic can be especially useful. Giving your followers a sneak peek of a new product or event that's coming up keeps followers on their toes and makes them feel like they're a part of your inner circle.

    #10: Live Tweets

    Have you live-tweeted before? It's fast-paced and fun. It allows your followers to be a part of what's happening in real time.

    You can live-tweet anything that would interest your followers. It can be a niche-related conference or even a popular show or event (e.g., the Grammy Awards or the Super Bowl). Just be sure to use the appropriate hashtag (check that sidebar again to see what people are using).

    If you're live-tweeting something like the Super Bowl, there's a good chance your fans are tweeting it too, so you'll be sure to be part of the conversation. In fact, if the event hashtag is trending, you'll be reaching an even larger audience. Not bad.

    #11: Quotes

    Quotes are always popular no matter what social media platform you're on. The reason people like them so much is that they're often general enough to relate to a wide audience.

    koreanair_ke tweet
    Quotes are popular on most social media platforms.

    You may have noticed quite a few people posting motivational quotes. Fans definitely respond to those, but you don't have to limit yourself. Try posting quotes from your favorite books, TV shows or blog posts.

    #12: Memes

    A meme is a popular image paired with a funny phrase. They're great to share because readers respond well to visual content and like a little humor in their Twitter stream. It's not unheard of for a funny meme to go viral.

    questnutrition tweet
    A fun meme can easily spread on Twitter.

    It's fairly easy to find popular memes, but it's even better to create an original meme that fits with your company or product. That way you can entertain your followers while subtly promoting your product or service.

    #13: Tips

    Consistently posting helpful daily or weekly tips keeps your audience coming back, and the tips aren't too hard to come up with.

    Consider these questions as a starting place: What is a little-known feature of your product or service? How can using your product add value to followers' lives? What problems does your product or service solve and how?

    Use those answers to come up with a tip that can fit into about 100 characters (so you can include a hashtag and leave room for any commentary a fan wants to add to a retweet). Since your tips are short, they're digestible and easy to retweet.

    #14: Trending Hashtags

    Hashjacking (also known as trendjacking) is when you use popular hashtags within your own tweets in order to gain extra exposure. You can find trending hashtags on the left side of your profile. Pay particular attention to those that are trending in your area or country.

    Knowing which topics are hot allows you to tailor your content to match both your company message and the hashtag so you can jump into the conversation.

    digiornopizza tweet
    Using trending hashtags can get your tweets extra exposure.

    But before you use this tactic, there are two things you need to know. First, research the hashtag and the conversation around it. Second, make sure the hashtag (and conversation) matches your brand image.

    These tips are important because some brands jump the gun and use hashtags that are inappropriate. That mistake can create an extremely embarrassing moment for your brand and you may end up with damaging backlash.

    Over to You

    All of your tweets should fall into one of three categories:

    • Personal
    • Promotional
    • Purpose

    Personal tweets are about your business, while promotional tweets are about your products or services. Tweets that fall under purpose are those that add value for your fans.

    Each of the ideas I've shared here falls under one of those categories. Use them as stepping-stones to grow your tweet catalog and increase your follower count and engagement.

    What do you think? Have you used any of these tweets yourself? How did they work? Do you have ideas to add to this list? Leave your comments and ideas below.

    Get Your FREE Course: Web3 for Beginners

    Web 3 for Beginners

    Curious about Web3, but don't know where to start or who to trust?

    Introducing Web3 for Beginners, a course taught by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner.

    Learn the basics of Web3 and apply it to your business with this FREE comprehensive course.


    CLICK HERE TO GET FREE ACCESS

    Tags: Twitter

    About the authorAaron Lee

    Aaron Lee founded AskAaronLee.com & Short of Height, a fashion blog that shares style for short men. Follow him on Twitter at @askaaronlee.
    Other posts by Aaron Lee »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (39 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Web3

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Discover how marketers plan to change their social activities in the 14th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. It reveals what marketers have planned for their social activities, content marketing, and more! Get this free report now and never miss another great article from us. Join more than 400,000 marketers!

    Enter your email to get
    our free report:


    Footer

    Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
    Copyright © 2023 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS
    • Accessibility