The ability to schedule tweets has resulted in many people neglecting the importance of tweeting at the moment. The first time we learned about tweeting at the moment was when Oreo decided to send out a tweet during the black out. Ever since that tweet, we have all taken tweeting at the moment more seriously.
However, people only take tweeting at the moment more seriously when special events such as the World Series and the Olympics are live. This kind of tweeting at the moment does generate more engagement. However, tweeting at the moment–whether there is a special event going on or not–will result in more engagement with your followers.
Everything started to change when I decided to tweet with pictures. I sent out tweets about Dr. Seuss, making decisions, and Apple. Before I sent out those tweets, I was getting 1 or 2 retweets and favorites per tweet. Those tweets ended up generating more retweets and favorites than my average tweets. I sent out those tweets at the moment instead of scheduling them.
In addition, I ask questions at the moment. My tweet asking people what their favorite book is generated more responses than my average tweet. Tweeting at the moment allowed me to engage with more of my followers than before.
Scheduling tweets allows you to tweet consistently. However, engaging with your followers is also important. By tweeting at the moment, you will interact with more of your followers, and that will lead to more retweets and favorites.
Scheduling tweets is not enough. We have to be human on social media and interact with the followers who read what we say.
Great post Marc! Funny thing is, I have never used an automated tweeting service as of yet. All of my tweets or retweets as of now, are in the moment. 🙂 I have thought about looking into scheduling my tweets, but always find something else more important to do, like writing content etc… Probably would be smart to automate some, but now I feel better about spending the extra time I do “tweeting in the moment.” 🙂
Automating tweets has been critical towards this blog’s success. Based on the time you commented on my blog, you visited my blog while I was in school. However, tweeting the right tweet at the moment can lead to more retweets than a tweet that gets automated. In addition, tweeting at the moment leads to longer conversations.
Couldn’t agree more, Marc! Great point. I think it’s great to schedule tweets, especially for those days when we can’t check Twitter as often as we’d like. But there’s nothing like interacting and tweeting when something catches your attention and requires a response as it happens. That’s the TRUE intent of social media– to interact with others!