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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
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To create a Twitter list, start by going to your Twitter avatar and clicking Lists.
In the right-hand sidebar, go to 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.
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.
Now, check the box of the Twitter list, and the person has been added.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
