• 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

    How to Use Twitter Lists for Business

    by Aaron Lee / February 19, 2015

    social media how toAre you using Twitter lists for your business?

    Want to better organize your Twitter experience?

    The right Twitter list can help you find, monitor and interact with the right people easily.

    In this article you’ll discover how to create Twitter lists and ways to use them for your business.

    How to Create a Twitter List

    use twitter lists for business
    Discover how to use Twitter lists for business.

    Listen to this article:

    Where to subscribe: Apple Podcast | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS


    To create a Twitter list, start by going to your Twitter avatar and clicking Lists.

    lists in twitter menu
    Click the Twitter avatar, and scroll down to lists.

    In the right-hand sidebar, go to Create New List.

    create new list in twitter menu
    Next, click on Create New List.

    Name your Twitter list, add a description if you'd like and set the privacy. Name and description are important, especially for public lists, as other people may want to follow your list.

    Now, save your list.

    naming a new list in twitter menu
    Name your list, add a description, set privacy and save the list.

    After you create a list, populate it with the handles of those who fit into that category.

    To add someone to a list, go over to his or her Twitter profile. Click on the Settings icon. Scroll down to Add or Remove From Lists.

    add to or remove from a list in twitter
    To add someone, go to his/her profile, click the Settings icon and then click Add or Remove From Lists.

    Now, check the box of the Twitter list, and the person has been added.

    adding to a list in twitter
    Simply check the box next to the desired list.

    Now that you know how to create a Twitter list, here are eight ways to use them for your business.

    #1: Monitor Competitors

    Keep your competitors' Twitter accounts in one handy list so you can easily monitor their tweets. It's an excellent way to see how they interact on Twitter: scope out their activities, view their updates, check out their offers and stay on top of their news.

    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

    Use these insights to improve your own Twitter strategy. See what works for them and adapt it for your business. It will also give you a competitive advantage, as you're always a step ahead of their game.

    This is an instance where you want to make your Twitter list private. That way, your competitors won't know you're monitoring them.

    #2: Connect With Industry Leaders

    Keep track of the leaders in your industry by putting them into one powerful list.

    Use this list to manage and improve your relationship with these leaders. When you follow their tweets, you can engage with them consistently. Retweet their content, mention them and when they ask a question, be the first to respond.

    Creating a list of industry leaders also adds value to your account. Creating a list with all of the top influencers makes you a valuable resource. Share your list with your followers and recommend they subscribe.

    a list in twitter
    Create Twitter lists of industry leaders. The more valuable the list, the more people will follow it, which raises your profile in your industry. This list has 256 subscribers.

    Looking for more industry leaders to follow? Visit the Twitter accounts of your competitors and follow people on their influencer lists.

    #3: Stay on Top of Trends

    To keep up with the latest news and trends on Twitter without getting distracted by irrelevant tweets, create a list.

    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

    Add the top websites and users who constantly share breaking news in your industry to one news-oriented Twitter list. Also, find out-of-the-box sources and up-and-coming news sites to make your list unique.

    This is an effective way to unclutter your Twitter feed, while also increasing your profile's status as an industry leader.

    #4: Engage With Employees

    An employee list is a great tool for helping your employees get to know each other better. It's a great way to integrate new employees into your current team, because they can easily find and connect with others in your company through the list.

    tweets from a list in twitter
    Use Twitter lists to follow your employees as a way for everyone to get to know each other and/or as a resource for tweetable content.

    The type of list also works as an internal tool to see what your employees are up to and retweet their content (when relevant) to your audience.

    Plus, if you want to encourage your business connections to follow your employees also, include the list link in your Twitter bio.

    #5: Create Lists for Events

    If you're planning an event, create a Twitter list of speakers and attendees. This is a great addition to event marketing. And it helps everyone connect with each other prior to the event.

    Additionally, those who can't attend will be able to develop relationships with attendees, as well as follow the activity from the event in real time.

    tweets from an event list in twitter
    Create Twitter lists leading up to events so attendees can follow each other and connect ahead of time.

    Share the link to this list ahead of time and throughout the event on Twitter and other social platforms.

    #6: Maintain Customer Relationships

    Social media has improved customer service immensely. If people can't reach someone for service, they go right to the company's social media links. Nurture your relationships with your most active social customers by adding them to a list.

    Whenever customers mention you, simply add them to your Twitter list. That way, you can follow their tweets and interact with them regularly by retweeting, responding and asking how they are doing.

    Also, reach out directly to these loyal customers to share promotions they may have missed.

    #7: Follow Bloggers and Media

    These days, the Internet has greatly expanded information sources over the traditional publications of the past, so create a list that encompasses everyone who writes about your industry. This includes influential and up-and-coming bloggers, journalists and reporters.

    tweet from a media list in twitter
    Use a list of bloggers and media from your industry to stay in touch with them.

    Use Twitter as a platform to build relationships with media people. This could lead to direct opportunities to pitch to them. After you reach a certain comfort level, they may even come directly to you.

    #8: Reward Your Biggest Fans

    Use a Twitter list to share some love with your most active followers.

    Create a list of people who share your blog posts and/or those who actively retweet your content. Engage with these fans on a regular basis by thanking them and sharing their tweets.

    This positive reinforcement also serves to increase the chances of them continuing to share your blog posts.

    tweets from an engaged users list in twitter
    Keep your most active followers engaged by including them all in one Twitter list.

    Plus, the list can also be used to monitor from which other sources your most active users tweet.

    Conclusion

    Twitter is a widely used resource to collect and share information, as well as interact and develop relationships with others in your field. To fully utilize the benefits of Twitter for your business, you need to get organized.

    As Twitter continues to branch out, information will get even more random and difficult to filter. Well-kept lists act as a permanent filter for each of your points of interest.

    Creating lists helps improve your Twitter experience. And building lists isn't a one-time activity. They need to be developed, nurtured and grown over time.

    What do you think? Do you use Twitter lists? What types of categories do you have for your Twitter lists? How do you use lists for better engagement? Please share your thoughts and recommendations in the comments 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 Âť

    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 ExaminerÂŽ
    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