If you are posting consistently on Twitter, you might find it hard to create your own content all the time. That’s why you can also share other people’s content in the form of retweets. Retweets have been on the platform for a very long time, but they have changed over the years.
People use them because sharing other people’s content has a lot of advantages. But doing it too much might be harmful to your account. It is all about finding the balance.
How many retweets vs own content do you need to post on Twitter?
You should create about 75% of the total content that goes on your Twitter account. This includes retweeting your own (old) content and everything you upload. The rest 25% is for retweets.
Why retweet on Twitter?
To give your followers a variety and provide their feed with interesting content
Twitter followers are precious and you don’t want to lose any one of them. That’s why it is important to post relevant and entertaining content. But sometimes, your content isn’t enough. People want to see more or they want to see something a little bit different (but still relevant). It is up to you to provide the variety your audience desire and make sure that they are engaged with your feed, even with your retweets.
To build a relationship with the person on the other side of the tweet
If there are people in your niche, that you admire, who also create great content, you can use the retweet option to get their attention and build a relationship with them. After all, you get notified when someone retweets your content, but you can also easily find the information yourself. And, you never know – the person might retweet some of your content as well.
To give a fresh look to your Twitter feed
You never know who is looking at your feed at the moment, but whoever that is, make sure to provide informative and entertaining tweets. There are some very nice infographics and other informative posts on Twitter that you can reshare to give your feed a nice makeover.
To add your own input to a situation
If you agree with someone, you have something to say or add your own input to a certain topic/situation, you can do that by retweeting the post and adding a comment with what you have to add.
To connect with the right people from your industry
You can use retweets to connect to the people you need for your business. For example, if you are in the technology industry, you will want to build relationships with the journalists who write about the latest technology products and news.
And don’t forget a tweet can cause a ripple effect. When your friends see your tweet, and their friends do the same, you can get a viral tweet in a very short time. That’s the power of retweets.
How to find the most suitable retweets for your profile?
Start with the hashtags you use in your posts. They will show you other creator’s work in the same niche as you. Search for other relevant hashtags that you find interesting as well. But don’t forget to think about your target group and their preferences.
You might also find some of the influencers in your niche and share their content. That’s another great way to keep your followers’ interest.
As a business, you can spread positivism. You can retweet inspirational and motivational material, talk about success, business or just be funny with them. People like posts that touch their hearts and arise emotions.
What NOT to do when retweeting?
That one is easy – don’t share poor quality content. Don’t retweet something you haven’t read. Check the website where the tweet is leading to and make sure that it is exactly what it says it is. Otherwise, you will mislead your followers and the tweet won’t look good on your Twitter.
Also, don’t only promote yourself. Sure, you can reshare your own throwback Thursday tweet, but don’t do it too often. It looks very narcissistic. Plus, there are so many people with good content that you can help. And who knows, they might return the favor.
Anyways, be selective with your retweets. Think about your audience and don’t overshare because this can get annoying for your followers.
Happy Tweeting!