My experience with Twitter began about a year and a half ago. I spent the first few months trying to find out what it’s all about and tweeted about trivial matters such as where I was vacationing, what beer I was drinking and about the conferences I was attending. I collected a few followers but lacked any focus in my Twitter social network strategy.
Then, my honeymoon period with Twitter began. I was mesmerized by the power of Twitter, captivated by the wealth of information flowing in the system and dazzled by the potential that Twitter offers. I was spending several hours a day on Twitter. I was gaining focus in my Twitter strategy and building up a quality following.
But after a while I started to experience Twitter burnout. After all, how much valuable information can I pump out in 140 characters or less. How many true friendships/associations can you forge with Twitter. And how much time should I be putting in to this thing? My tweeting became more sporadic, less focused. And once again I found myself contemplating what the true benefits of Twitter can be to me and my organization.
I can’t tell you that I found all the answers, but here are some of my own tips on avoiding Twitter burnout and getting back on track with using Twitter as a productive business tool.
- Plot your Twitter strategy. This is the most difficult task in Twitter. What do you want it to do for you? If you don’t know the answer to this question, you will be spinning your wheels a lot but not getting very far. Decide what you want Twitter to do for you and then plot your course accordingly.
- Use scheduled tweets. I use Hootsuite and I have heard of other good tools for this as well. Ideally, schedule 2 or 3 tweets a day for a week or even a month in advance. Intersperse the scheduled tweets with some real-time tweets when you get the urge. But even if you won’t see Twitter for a few days in a row, your scheduled tweets will ensure that you maintain a Twitter presence while you take a break. And taking a few days off from Twitter can really help you to avoid burnout. (@cindyking gave me the great advice about scheduling tweets in a blog post she wrote a while back.)
- Schedule your time on Twitter. One of my problems is that I use Twitter as a distraction from my actual ‘chores’ and just dip in from time to time. But I have found it hard to get a real read on things from a random sampling of the Twitter feed. Allocate a certain amount of time a day to Twitter and use this time to keep up with your followers, establish new relationships, search for information and so forth. Whatever your Twitter strategy tells you to do.
- Use Twitter lists to focus on the people you want to listen to. One of the problems in monitoring the Twitter stream (especially if you are following a lot of people) is that is very easy to miss important tweets that can help you in your endeavors. By creating lists and monitoring them, you can make sure not to miss the tweets of that key industry expert whose voice matters so much.
- Use Twitter search. Just like lists, you can use Twitter search to make sure you don’t miss out on important information.
Do you have your own tips to avoid Twitter burnout? Please share them with us by leaving a comment.
