How To Spark Conversation On Twitter

The best social media platform on the internet for interlinked conversation is the universal water cooler called Twitter. While Instagram’s foundation is images, YouTube’s is videos, and Facebook’s is the ability to host a variety of many forms of content, Twitter has always been built for conversation. In realtime, businesses are sharing news, while customers are sharing their fleeting thoughts… and that is was marketers thrive off. If we can see what our customers are talking about, and the trends they are following, we can craft content and connect through conversation that fits into these interests and trends, all while using the right tone.

Here for your inspiration, we’re looking at 5 successful brands, and how they use Twitter to encourage conversation.

1. Everyday Conversation

On Twitter you can humanise your brand, without losing your professionalism. One way businesses tweet is to treat their audience as though they are their best friend. It’s an endearing take on connecting with customers.

Here’s how @CocaCola uses everyday scenarios to spark a response.

Think about what kind of everyday conversations your product or service could be slotted into, and use the old-age conversation starter of asking a question to reinforce the need to respond. Questions are one of the simplest ways to encourage engagement from your audience, but it’s important to ask questions that they will want to engage with, and that are relevant to your message.

2. Stating An Opinion

Best done in a lighthearted way when seeking to be diplomatic, stating an opinion almost always forces a response. This is because opinions elicit more opinions, whether you agree or strongly disagree. The emotional element of reading a tweet you also have an opinion on makes you want to make your voice heard.

Think about your products or services and how you can state an opinion. If you’re in the fashion sector, perhaps flares > skinny jeans. Or if you’re in the wine sector, it could be as simple as red > white. It doesn’t have to be lengthy or extensive to strike up engagement.

3. Pointing Out Preferences

Almost everyone knows someone who…

• Lives for the weekend
• Doesn’t like vinegar
• Always has a cup of tea in their hand
• Is the mother of the group

Telling your audience to ‘share this with’ or ‘tag this with’ is a great way of engaging with people in a personal level, whether they’re into your brand or not.

Twitter is a platform where many brands can notoriously get away with being a little bit cheeky. Here is an example of this by @ChipotleTweets.

How can you integrate something your business is known for into this kind of equation? Make sure it is relevant to your brand, but relatable on a personal level.

4. Sharing An Emotive or Embarrassing Situation

Every person has had an awkward or embarrassing thing happen to them, which is why it is such a relatable thing to tweet about. It’s why Mean Tweets by Jimmy Fallon is so popular. More than the mean tweet itself, the response from the brand/business/person is what captivates the audience and warrants a response. We’ve all been there and we all have stories to share of a similar nature.

What could you share that will relate to your customers on a human level?

5. Jump On A Trend

Trends tend to blow up with viral capability for a simple reason: it’s easy for people to get involved and apply them to their situation. Many of them require an element of creativity, which makes them fun, unique and interesting for those merely spectating or getting involved.

There have been many trends over the years; everything from ‘show me a picture of…’ to dance challenges. A recent trend to tickle the thought-buds of all your followers is the ‘tell us without telling us’ trend, as perfectly displayed by @DiGiorno.

Try these top tips for sparking conversation on your Twitter account. We hope they bring you and your audience even more value. To continue to track your growth on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, check out how we can help you at Minter.io