It’s never a bad idea to learn some new ideas and tactics to set yourself up for success, whether you’re just starting out with a new Twitter account or have been tasked with expanding an account for an existing business.

That’s why we put together a list of some of our favorite Twitter beginning advice. We’ve got you covered on everything from avoiding embarrassing Twitter blunders to increasing engagement and figuring out what to tweet.

Here are ten Twitter starter tips you’ll wish you’d known sooner:

• Engage Your Audience More Than You Broadcast

Brands appear to have forgotten that Twitter is a social network, not merely a content distribution medium, somewhere along the way. As a result, Twitter feeds are clogged with marketers and brands solely posting links to their respective websites.

Sure, some larger firms can get away with broadcasting messaging continuously throughout the day. However, if you want to grow your following or utilize Twitter for more than just spreading marketing messages, you must engage.

Ask questions, participate in Twitter polls, or join in on public discussions.

• Early and often are the best times to tweet

If you’re just getting started with Twitter, this tip is especially vital. You don’t have any benchmarks for how frequently to tweet or when to tweet in the early stages. While there are some broad principles (we’ve done our own study), the truth is that you won’t know when the optimum moment is to reach out to your audience until you experiment.

You should also keep in mind that not all of your followers use Twitter at the same time. Some people may check in the morning and then wait until later in the evening to check again. Instead of attempting to get all of your tweets out during business hours, try tweeting throughout the day to maximize your reach.

• Get a Head Start on Relevant Trending Topics

Joining in on current subjects is an easy way to get started when it comes to interacting. Take a peek at Twitter’s trending topics, which are usually accompanied by hashtags. Then, when it’s appropriate, join in on the dialogue.

Many corporations and organizations, for example, utilize Twitter to support causes and movements like Women’s History Month.

Don’t be scared to think outside the box when it comes to participating in discussions about hot subjects. It’s important to remember that the topic doesn’t have to be directly relevant to your products or services. It might be something that relates to your brand’s values or simply something amusing and unique that you can use to develop content around.

• Take Advantage of 280 Characters

The character limit on Twitter was increased from 140 to 280 in 2017. While people may disagree on whether it was a good or poor idea, the fact remains that it allows you to put more information into each tweet. Take nothing for granted.

You can now expand on your tweets beyond a few phrases and be more creative.

• Become a Resource for the Industry

This Twitter tip is probably very similar to what you’re already doing. Since the beginning, content curation has been a key component of many brands’ social content strategies.

However, we’ve included this advice on the list to encourage you to be more thoughtful about what you curate.

Take the time to hand-curate the content you share rather than automatically tweeting every new article from a blog’s RSS feed.

• Become a member of the Twitter community

One thing we emphasize a lot is that Twitter isn’t just a platform for sharing material. It’s a social media platform that businesses may use to engage with their customers. Being a part of the community is a big part of that.

Too many businesses make the mistake of wasting time learning about the Twitter ecosystem.

Getting involved in some relevant Twitter chats is one of the finest methods to get accustomed and interact in the community. If you’re wondering if it’s okay to participate in Twitter discussions from your brand’s handle, the answer is yes!

• You can Automate your Account

Social media automation has both positive and negative aspects. It can be a very useful tool for increasing productivity, or it might convert your Twitter account into a full-fledged chatbot that no one wants to deal with. The key to getting the most out of Twitter automation is to be cautious about what you automate and how you automate it.

The following are some good examples of Twitter automation:

• Using Twitter chatbots to make your customer service process more efficient
• Instead of manually tweeting everything, schedule tweets ahead of time.
• Using a social media management platform to tag incoming Tweets with a specific hashtag automatically

On the other hand, here are some terrible examples of Twitter automation:

• Spamming new followers with automated DMs including links
• Managing consumer concerns exclusively through automated tweets

Try to automate time-consuming chores that don’t necessitate a lot of manual labor as a general rule.

• Make Reusable Graphic Templates

With all of the amazing design tools out today, such as Canva or Adobe Spark, creating graphic templates is simple. Choose one quote template and use it consistently. Create a template specifically for publicizing the event if you hold a lot of them.

Examine your company’s blog postings if you have one. Choose three quotes for each post that you believe will pique someone’s interest and make them want to learn more.

Your audience will recognize the graphics as originating from your brand as you employ more quotation graphics. For any of your photographs, you may also put a little text and/or logo in the corner.

While the logo is obvious on the images, a decent template will gently prompt the reader to notice the statement.

• Don’t mimic what other companies are doing

When you’re first starting out on Twitter and trying to grow your brand, it’s normal to conduct some competitive research to discover what’s working for your competitors. The issue arises when, rather than being inspired by what others are doing, you simply duplicate their entire method.

For example, after hearing all of Wendy’s adoration for her clever and caustic responses, you could be inspired to adopt a similar persona. If that isn’t your brand’s personality, though, you shouldn’t feel forced to adapt your strategy altogether to fit the current trend.

• Use the Retweet With Comment feature

When you wish to share something noteworthy that someone else tweeted, it’s become rather normal practice to Retweet people or brands. However, instead of utilizing retweets with comments, you may go a step further and layer on interaction by using retweets with comments.

The distinction is that you can add commentary to the retweet rather than merely retweeting what someone else said. It becomes more tailored and valuable to your audience as a result.

Follow These Twitter Success Tips

While these Twitter suggestions are intended toward beginners, they can help businesses of all sizes.

So brushing up on the fundamentals or staying up to date on platform features like Twitter trending topics is always a good idea.