Why Your Twitter Engagement Sucks (and How to Fix it with One Click)

Does Your Twitter Engagement Suck?  Do you think Twitter is a waste of Time?  

Mine did.  And I also thought it a waste of time once, too.  But that all changed when I started to do this one simple action.

Twitter Engagement - Socially Sorted So what changed?

How did I go from someone who just didn't “get” Twitter to someone who thinks it totally rocks.  Because I do. I think Twitter rocks.

By using this simple action (consistently) on Twitter, things started to change. I met great people. I had great conversations…and most of all….I stumbled across great opportunities. Those opportunities ranged from attracting followers to my list to fans becoming clients….to speaking and guest blogging opportunities. It also extended to some amazing joint ventures.

What was it?

I clicked.  

Clicked?, you say.

Yes. I clicked.

Let me put it this way. I decided to find out about people.  Rather than just letting a simple “follow” or @mention happen, I took it upon myself to do a 2 step process:

I would thank the person in a simple Tweet but before I would reach out to the person, I would click on their profile.  I would read their profile description, notice who they were, notice where they worked, notice what they are tweeting about.

I would check out any links, look at the hashtags in their profile, take note of their personal interests….Twitter Stalking (but in a good way).  These people have bothered to put their information on their profile for a reason – so that you can find out more about them and connect with them. Then (and only then) would I thank them. With the background information that I need to thank them with a personal touch. 

Why do it this way?  

Because if you stop at doing a simple RT (or thanking a person for an RT or mention) without bothering to find out who the person is, how can you truly engage with them?  How can you connect with them?

I want to share with you all the good stuff that happens when you do click on someone's profile and take the time to find out about them…and if you stick with me, be sure to check out the tweets at the end of this post which showcase (rather embarrasingly) what happened when I didn't do it one day recently – the reason why I felt compelled to write this post for you.  

If you do not click on their profile, how can you know that they are the one that will:

  • provide you with a service you have been looking for?
  • put you in touch with an influencer you have been wanting to meet?
  • interview you for their new show?
  • be a great person to network with because they live around the corner from you?
  • be attending the same conference you will and end up being a friend?
  • turn out to be an an Academy Award Winning Hollywood Director that you hugely admire? 
  • turn out to be the Fashion editor of Cosmo and judge on Project Runway with an audience of over 500,000 followers (and even though you don't write about fashion, her sharing of your infographic on Pinterest gets airplay for a big audience of fashion-loving Pinterest users)?
  • be organising an amazing conference that you will end up speaking at?
  • be the owner of a growing start up company that you can possibly do joint ventures with?

Guess what?  All of the above and more have happened to me.  Even the Academy Award Winning Hollywood Director.  Yep.  And had I not clicked on the profile of these people I would have missed these opportunities.  Got your attention yet?

What happens if you don't do this strategy?

It's pretty simple really. You risk missing out on some awesome connections. If you aren't convinced that it is worth taking the time, let's take a look at what happened recently, when I got a nice RT of my guest post on the blog of Social CRM, Nimble. I was flat out working, had to get to an appointment, and I quickly responded to some RTs, neglecting to click on the profiles as I usually would:

Here is the RT I received and I replied with a simple thank you for the RT, not checking the profile first:


and then Jon gracefully replied:


It was only later, that I clicked on the profiles I had missed out of curiosity. Guess who Jon was?

The CEO of Nimble.

Yep.  Had I not checked I would never have realised. I actually did recognise Jon's name when I stopped to think about it, but that couldn't really undo the fact that I had missed it in my haste.  Right then and there, I did two things:

  1. Decided to write this post.  
  2. Replied to Jon again to extend the conversation, as I should have initially, acknowledging his great CRM and also one of their team members, Alyson, who had helped me to organise the guest post:


If you don't click, how can you get to know the person you need to meet? or your ideal client? or the person that will become a fan, client or raving brand advocate for life? So the next time you are on Twitter, take some extra time to find out about people. You will be glad you did.

….and yes, I will be tweeting Jon to let him know about this post. I am sure he will find it amusing.  

I am going to call it.  For me, Twitter gets more engagement than Facebook… if you do it right.  Leave a comment below and tell me about a connection you have made on Twitter.  And don't forget to leave your Twitter Username in the comment so that I can check out your profile!  

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Donna Moritz

Visual Content Strategist & Canva Verified Expert at Socially Sorted
Donna Moritz is a Canva Verified Expert and Founder of Socially Sorted (a Certified Canva Training Partner). She helps organisations create on-brand high, impact visuals using Canva and is a sought-after keynote speaker and trainer in the marketing and tourism industries.

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