At the beginning of the semester, my Twitter presence was simply non existent. I had 336 followers from when I actively used my Twitter throughout high school but I had not posted anything in a couple of years. Since taking COM 427, not only has been Twitter presence resurfaced, but I’ve learned how to use the platform successfully and effectively.
Due to Professor Grygiel’s lectures and practice assignments, both my number of Twitter followers as well as my Klout score have significantly increased. I’ve gained 50 Twitter followers (totaling 386) over the course of the semester and my Klout score went from 14 to 40. I believe I gained followers by posting engaging content but also mostly because of my effective use of popular and trending hashtags. For example, I noticed I would be much more likely to gain followers if I included hashtags with high audience engagement such as #WednesdayWisdom or #MondayMotivation.
Here's some #wednesdaywisdom to help you get through the rest of your week #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/NZrOJrIQK4
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) March 22, 2017
For example, this tweet not only received high engagement because of the picture I included, but because #WednesdayWisdom was a trending hashtag at the time in which I posted it. I created this post by searching for inspiring quotes on Pinterest in order to find an engaging image that would go along with the #WednesdayWisdom theme.
I believe my Klout score increased because of my more consistent posting schedule. I was usually posting a minimum of 4 tweets every week when I had been previously tweeting nothing and because of this, I was able to increase my score by 26 points. In addition to raising my score, I also became an expert in several subjects. Before this semester, I was not considered an expert in any area. Now on Klout I am recognized as an expert in the subjects Boston, Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Microsoft Office, and Syracuse University.
I believe I became an expert on the New England Patriots when I received high engagement from the tweets I posted during the super bowl.
Watching the #SuperBowl with my roommates who don't like the #Patriots. Wish me luck with these nonbelievers. #NHsmc
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) February 5, 2017
By using #SuperBowl and #Patriots I was able to get likes from people who did not previously follow me and therefore was able to get more profile interactions and engagements.In general, I found tweeting about popular events at the time in which they were taking place to be extremely effective. For example, my most successful tweets of the semester (although it did not include the #NHsmc class hashtag) took place during the Bachelor Finale.
Rachel handled that extremely awkward situation like a champ. Another reason why I can't wait for her season #TheBachelorFinale
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) March 14, 2017
"Nick and Vanessa are happy together" #TheBachelorFinale pic.twitter.com/Bhvjll5XLU
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) March 14, 2017
These two tweets received more engagement than anything I’ve ever tweeted before and it was because I took part in live tweeting during a highly popular show. While watching the show, I noticed the hashtag #TheBachelorFinale was not only trending but that every tweet that incorporated it was doing extremely well and getting a very high number of likes and interactions. Due to this observation, I decided to take part in the live tweeting action and gained almost 20,000 impressions on one tweet and over 10,000 impressions on the other. I found it interesting that the second tweet did not receive as many impressions or likes as the first, but it had a much higher number of engagements due to the media incorporated along with the tweet. This furthermore proves that including pictures in your posts increase your chances of engagement. This tweets drove users to my profile, helped me gain followers, and really taught me how beneficial it can be to use trending hashtags and tweet about relevant, timely topics.
Although my followers and Klout score have both increased, I believe the knowledge I gained of the Twitter platform and what works versus what doesn’t is much more valuable.
Through our various Twitter assignments I was really able to get a grasp on what kind of posting techniques were received the best by my followers. For example, in addition to using trending hashtags, I found posting colorful images to be the one of the most effective techniques.
This was the food I ate all last semester. Tonight I had Ramen for dinner. That is all. #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/RsMTLuu6Kp
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) February 13, 2017
I believe this tweet received a large number of likes because not only were the images colorful, but there were multiple of them and they were all pictures of high quality food. I created this tweet by compiling several photos of my study abroad food experiences and placed them with a relatable message that college students (the majority of my followers) could connect with. I believe pictures of food do noticeably better on the internet because it is a common interest among a large number of people and that held true for this particular tweet because as you can see, there was a significant amount of media engagements.
This technique of incorporating high quality colorful images proved to be successful for other tweets as well.
I take so many pictures of campus half the time I feel like a tourist at my own school #cusenation #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/SGfC5Zl9bg
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) March 8, 2017
I executed this tweet by gathering several high quality images of the Syracuse University campus I’ve taken over the past couple years. The tweet performed very well because of the media I chose to use. As you can see it received 50 media engagements and 72 total engagements which was higher than most of my tweets. I believe this is because of the colorful nature of the photos as well as the incorporation of Syracuse through the hashtag of #cusenation. Since a great deal of my followers are Syracuse University students, they were able to relate to the tweet and therefore were more inclined to like it.
My last example of a visually appealing photographic based tweet was the one below.
Craving some 02066 #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/YVOd7n96KR
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) April 12, 2017
With this tweet, I was able to learn how using certain filters depending on the photo subject matter can really enhance the posts performance. For this post, I followed the guide that illustrated which filters perform best for nature photos. I took one of my favorite photos of my hometown, and added an appropriate filter to it. The post gained a large number of media engagements and a decent amount (7) of likes.
I also found that adding text to a photo is more likely to drive engagement.
Celebrating the week being halfway over with some #wednesdaywisdom #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/G0Bb4pWpSm
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) April 5, 2017
I created this tweet using the Over app that Professor Grygiel showed us in class. I took a photo I had from my camera roll and found an appropriate quote that went along with the theme of the photograph. The Over app adds something extra to what would be just a plain photograph and because of that, people are more inclined to engage with it.
Whether it be photos, videos or gifs, it is clear that using engaging media alongside your copy is extremely beneficial on Twitter. In fact, one of my favorite skills I learned throughout COM 427 was how to create a gif.
Trying to save my grades like #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/hAGQRqLleB
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) February 8, 2017
For this tweet, I used a time relevant subject, the Superbowl, in order to create my gif. I chose one of the most memorable plays of the game and created a relatable caption for my followers. I posted this tweet 2 days after the Superbowl and because it was still timely/relevant and had engaging media, it performed very well in comparison to some of my other tweets.
I was also able to find previously existing gifs on the internet in order to create some of my tweets.
Me every single Monday morning #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/lr9spy7S3T
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) January 30, 2017
For this tweet, I found a gif on Giphy.com that I found to be extremely relatable and tied it into the theme of Monday mornings. Since it’s from a popular show, Gilmore Girls, its more recognizable and therefore more likely to receive high numbers of impressions and engagements. This is actually a tweet of mine that I retweeted and it did noticeably better the second time it was posted in comparison to the first time.
In addition to gifs, I found memes to perform well on Twitter as well.
Mood today and every Wednesday. #NHsmc pic.twitter.com/EzCUHX5LdS
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) March 22, 2017
I think one of the most popular trends in social media today is memes and because of that, I found it important to incorporate them into my tweets. The combination of a funny picture with relatable humorous text is more likely to provoke a positive response from followers. Due to meme popularity, this tweet got 7 likes and a large number of impressions and media engagements.
Lastly, on the subject of memes, I created a Twitter poll in an attempt to figure out which meme(s) was a most popular amongst my followers.
So far 2017 has been the year of #memes. Which one is your favorite? #NHsmc
— Meredith Sullivan (@meresullivan) March 21, 2017
Although this tweet only received 1 like overall, a total of 22 people voted on it, which I believe to be successful. I think that Twitter polls are a diverse, interesting way to get engagement because it is simply requiring the audience to interact with your tweet.
Overall, throughout the semester I’ve learned very useful tips and tricks to help me post engaging content. I’ve learned that it is much more useful to incorporate any kind of media possible whether it be photos, videos, gifs or memes and that if this media is colorful and high quality it is even more likely to get high numbers of impressions and engagements. I’ve also learned how to create original gifs and memes which I believe to be a very useful skill in todays world of social media. Lastly, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how important it is to post relevant and relatable content. Taking part in live tweeting or using trending hashtags is how you not only keep in the loop, but gain more engagement to your tweets and your Twitter profile.