Social Media Boot Camp Day 16: What Makes a Good Tweet? Dissecting Some of the Best

November 21, 2010 at 07:00 PM
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As you get more acquainted with Twitter, you may be asking yourself, "What exactly am I supposed to tweet about?" Although the specific content you include is entirely up to you, certain things – such as statistics, links, or hashtags, for example – can make your tweet more noticeable to other users. To help you on your way, here are five great tweets, followed by an explanation of what makes them outstanding.

Great Tweet #1Tweet from @LTCTeresa

Why it works: Tweets that include some kind of information, statistic, or fact are much more interesting than tweets that share what you had for lunch. This tweet shows that @LTCTeresa is knowledgeable about her subject, while at the same time demonstrates to her followers that long term care insurance is important – without shoving it in their face.

Great Tweet #2

Tweet from @skip_weisman

Why it works: This kind of tweet works well to communicate to your clients that you're invested in their financial future – and the financial future of their family. In this case, @skip_weisman forwarded on a message originally sent by @jcarole (this is called "re-tweeting") that he thought his followers would find useful. Not only does this help establish his credibility and trust with his followers, it also earns him points with @jcarole, who no doubt appreciates having the original tweet passed on to an even larger audience. Re-tweeting is a great way to share information on Twitter, and a feature you should use strategically whenever possible.

Great Tweet #3

Tweet from @FargoInsurance

Why it works: Here, the tweeter is engaging followers by seeking their input. With a question like this, no doubt the user will receive strong responses, and maybe even a few that he can't help with. But he might get a response – like "I don't qualify" or "It's too expensive" or "I haven't found the right plan" – that he can turn into a prospecting opportunity (taken out of the stream, of course, via direct message). He can also use the responses to see if there are areas within his own business – such as customer service issues, product offerings, etc. – upon which he can improve. Social media is all about interaction, and tweets that encourage it are great.

Great Tweet #4Tweet from @advadvisor

Why it works: After the financial crisis, a lot of your clients probably saw their retirement savings plummet, at least a bit. A headline like this reels those people in and gives them great advice with an unobtrusive tone of, "Need an advisor to help you with these tools? I can help!" Another great thing about this tweet is that the link first directs followers to teaser text on @advadvisor's blog before sending them on to the article, which is a MarketWatch piece. That way, followers will stop on the tweeter's website and see what he's all about before moving past the teaser and on to the full article.

Great Tweet #5

Tweet from @albanyinsurance

Why it works: Even if you don't sell certain insurance products, it's still a good idea to tweet about them. In this case, @albanyinsurance does offer homeowner's policies in addition to health and benefits options, so he wrote a blog post, then linked it to his Twitter account. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, you can simply re-tweet information from someone else's feed. Twitter is a great opportunity to position yourself as the go-to expert in all financial matters. Another great thing about this tweet is that it includes a hashtag, which is a specialized keyword used on the Twitter site to make similar tweets easier to search. The hashtag in this tweet is #insurance. If you ever want to use a hashtag, simply include the "#" symbol before a keyword, such as #health or #LTCI. You can also use common abbreviations, like #PPACA or #HCR, to help your tweet stand out.

Heather Trese is the associate editor of the Agent's Sales Journal. She can be reached at [email protected] or 800-933-9449 ext. 225.

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