I’ve managed Ahrefs’ societal media accounts for 9 months now—and it’s been a journey, from experimenting with contented formats to figuring retired what engages radical the most.

To support things succinct, I’ll beryllium focusing connected our superior societal media platform: Twitter.

I’ll besides marque it wide present that I won’t cover my contented instauration process successful excessively overmuch depth, since galore radical expressed much involvement successful learning astir our maturation strategy and however we measurement engagement.

Twitter’s a convenient mode to physique camaraderie, pb conversations, get contiguous feedback, arsenic good arsenic respond rapidly to mentions and/or related news. Mind-blowing, right?

Now let’s get to the reasons for Ahrefs’ absorption connected the societal media platform:

It’s the spot for marketers to be

If you’ve been successful the SEO abstraction for a while, you’ll cognize that galore salient marketers and influencers walk their clip connected the platform, including Lily Ray, Rand Fishkin, Amanda Natividad, and scores more.

It “humanizes” us 

We get to interact with our followers intimately and successful a much casual manner. This reminds radical that we’re actively listening to their concerns and engaged successful the SEO space.

Brand-building 

In all, 47% of radical who sojourn a Twitter illustration besides sojourn the website linked successful that profile. In our case, we get an mean of 113 nexus clicks per time crossed our tweets.

For versatility’s sake

We’ve got a wide assortment of contented and resources: merchandise updates, blog posts, videos connected Ahrefs TV, free courses successful Ahrefs Academy, and escaped tools similar Ahrefs Webmaster Tools.

Twitter allows america to amplify each of these successful caller formats, positive screen them successful some breadth and depth. They’re besides easy shareable (e.g., via RTs and punctuation tweets).

And due to the fact that it’s intolerable for america to screen everything wrong our ain content, we sometimes make threads based connected others’ content—I’ll get to this later.

It’s communal cognition that arsenic agelong arsenic you usage a societal media platform, you’re astatine the mercy of its algorithm. So however to ace it? Is determination a look to triumph the game?

Unless you spell the Google Sheets hacks route, the answer’s… no. (Were you truly surprised?)

The Twitter algorithm is perpetually evolving, conscionable similar our societal media strategy. So your champion playing cards are experimentation and gathering feedback from your followers.

For instance, I effort to people each blog station successful astatine slightest 2 formats connected Twitter and stagger their publishing dates to trim contented fatigue.

Take these examples that are based disconnected a blog station connected promoting your website for free.

As you tin see, numbered lists are 1 format that consistently gets a decent fig of likes and RTs. That’s 1 measurement of occurrence successful our books. 

Still, the concealed isn’t to instrumentality to 1 look that works. Rather, it’s to support uncovering caller formulas implicit and over. That’s due to the fact that repeatedly utilizing the aforesaid format could tyre retired your followers by making you look uninventive and boring. (Fight maine connected this one!)

In fact, immoderate of my biggest hurdles see 2 cardinal things.

First, finding a mode to archer effectual stories done tweets and threads. Capturing an audience’s attraction erstwhile oregon doubly is good, but getting them to presumption Ahrefs’ Twitter relationship arsenic a go-to for SEO-related topics is the bigger challenge.

Second, not pandering to trends. Memes aren’t truly our thing, and neither are snarky tweets. My colleagues, Si Quan Ong and Rebekah Bek, acceptable the code for Ahrefs’ societal media pages aboriginal on—and ultimately, we’ve benignant of stuck to it. 

That isn’t to accidental things won’t change, though. Our CMO, Tim Soulo, and I person discussed adopting a much casual code of dependable successful the coming months and perchance experimenting with non-educational tweets. It’s each astir trying things retired to spot what sticks.

(I kinda similar some of what Shopify is doing connected Twitter. Would you beryllium averse to that if we took cues from it? Our DMs are unfastened to suggestions. 👀)

Still, these realizations equipped maine with immoderate lessons that volition assistance you to sharpen your Twitter selling strategy.

Lesson 1. Develop a thick skin

I primitively joined Ahrefs arsenic a contented marketer, with a absorption connected producing and peer-reviewing contented for our blog. Sure, I did things connected the side—like tally our Instagram accounts—but my cognition of Twitter champion practices was embarrassingly paltry.

After all, I hadn’t been progressive connected Twitter since 2016 and lone had a basal instauration of SEO to get things rolling.

So erstwhile I transitioned into looking aft each of our societal media pages, it was daunting—especially erstwhile it came to responding to our users, seasoned SEOs and, sometimes, trolls. 🥲

If you tin subordinate to this, I’ll promote you to talk with radical who’ve been successful the manufacture for some time. 

That whitethorn see reaching retired to your colleagues oregon marketers whom you respect oregon adjacent putting retired a tweet (#DidABraveThing).

Make it wide you’re looking to larn and past physique retired your web from there. And inquire questions, due to the fact that nary question is silly.

I besides get regular feedback from the squad astir my published tweets—including from Tim.

When penning threads based disconnected blog posts, I stock my drafts with the respective authors via Typefully too; past I refine them accordingly.

Keeping a choky feedback loop helps maine larn much quickly.

Lesson 2. Normalize making mistakes

Sometimes, you will inevitably worldly up. Think astir it: The much you post, the higher your chances of making a mistake… but that’s portion of the process. 

Here’s a tweet I enactment retired that divided our followers—yet gained plentifulness of engagement.

Regardless, it was a mistake connected my portion due to the fact that I near retired immoderate discourse erstwhile penning it. My volition hadn’t been to beryllium divisive for the involvement of it.

Lesson 3. Talk to radical extracurricular your circle

I besides began lurking successful selling communities to person a look-see astatine what radical were discussing and looked astatine apical tweets for applicable hashtags (e.g., #SEO).

After doing this for immoderate time, I noticed immoderate patterns.

People love:

• Relevant recommended reads.
• The “I’ve been a [marketer/SEO] for XX years. Here are XX lessons I’ve learnt” format.
• Infographics and cleanable charts/visuals.
• Google updates—these are astir ever a talking point.
• To work things that reaffirm their points of presumption oregon are truthful grossly contrasting that they are irked capable to permission a response.

In fact, the second reflection holds existent careless of the taxable you’re broaching. But don’t bash it conscionable for the involvement of it.

You request to adhd worth to the conversation, similar this tweet by SparkToro’s Amanda.

It takes subject to stay progressive successful communities—and guts to scope retired to seasoned marketers! But support astatine it, and you’ll soon spot however overmuch you’ve learned from moving beyond your comfortableness zone.

You whitethorn adjacent commencement your ain selling community, similar what I did. (Drop maine a DM via Twitter for invitation details!)

And present to the fun part!

If you’re mounting up a Twitter leafage from scratch oregon are caller into your relation arsenic a societal media manager, you whitethorn wonder: How to get traction?

That’s a loaded question, but I’ll effort to usher you by sharing my workflow.

At the commencement of each week, I program the contented docket for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Doing this play alternatively of monthly makes much sense, arsenic things determination truthful rapidly astatine Ahrefs and successful the SEO space.

As portion of my research, I look at:

• Our upcoming publishing schedules for Ahrefs TV and the Ahrefs Blog.
• Product updates and announcements (in Slack).
• The astir caller variation of our newsletter, Ahrefs Digest.
• Brand mentions connected Twitter.
• Top-performing tweets connected our account.
• Past Ahrefs blog posts and different pieces of contented that whitethorn beryllium worthy sharing.

In my opinion, you’d beryllium remiss to support each societal contented on-brand. Sharing contented from others is simply a win-win: You tin amplify different voices portion introducing your followers to caller ideas. (Obviously, usage your discretion erstwhile doing this!)

This is wherefore I besides look into promoting outer content, including:

• Trending SEO tweets, threads, and discussions connected Twitter.
• Newsletters: Growth Marketing by Demand Curve, Swipe Files, #SEOFOMO, and more.

A contented calendar isn’t a necessity

I’d initially maintained a contented calendar successful a spreadsheet but soon recovered it to beryllium needlessly time-consuming.

My existent process involves penning and scheduling contented straight successful scheduling instrumentality Hypefury—then adapting my tweet for LinkedIn and Facebook. Much of the contented is mirrored, albeit successful antithetic formats. 

Contentious opinion: I ditched my contented calendar due to the fact that keeping it updated was hampering my productivity.

If it feels counterintuitive to neglect maintaining a contented calendar, you’re close to person your doubts. Still, my existent strategy works amended for me.

My advice: Do this lone aft you’ve figured retired however often to people contented and astatine what times of day.

I established these by studying Ahrefs’ Twitter analytics. Our play integrated impressions thin to highest connected Wednesdays and Thursdays, truthful I effort to queue astatine slightest 5 (or more!) pieces of contented connected each of those days.

Refine the process

Speaking of giving my contented calendar a wide berth—I’m moving connected an SOP papers to amended my workflow.

My purpose is to iterate each measurement of the process (plan → constitute → docket → update Notion cards with transcript → beforehand → way engagement) truthful that, eventually, I’ll person a leaner and much businesslike strategy for readying our socials.

Many of you showed curiosity astir however we analyse performance.

Our main extremity is to support dependable maturation to our Twitter page. A larger assemblage means we get to showcase the inferior of our toolset, content, and ideas to a wider excavation of marketers.

The extremity end volition past beryllium conversions. For instance: get radical to effort Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, instal our SEO Toolbar and, eventually, person into a paying lawsuit of our toolset.

Here’s the thing, though:

We don’t measurement our goals oregon way conversions

(Phew, that deserved a subheading successful itself!)

We don’t way immoderate of these goals. These see click-through rates to blog posts oregon YouTube videos which, frankly, is simply a large load disconnected of the selling team. This allows america to absorption connected consistently creating prime contented that resonates with our audience.

Tim elaborates connected the rationale down this process:

We do, however, effort to place palmy posts—tweets that get >100 likes oregon much RTs/comments/quote tweets than the mean post. But we don’t obsess implicit numbers. 

This brings maine to my next point.

Vanity metrics aren’t our last root of truth

“Likes,” follower numbers, and impressions are utile indicators of what our followers and imaginable followers (literally) like, but they inactive are vanity metrics. So they aren’t our lone markers of success.

Not each your contented tin oregon volition resonate with all of your followers astatine immoderate fixed time. Relinquish the dense obsession with numbers and absorption connected sharing invaluable yet unsocial contented instead.

For instance, I dug into Ahrefs’ past tweets to place contented formats and topics that were worthy pursuing.

Researching top-performing tweets connected Ahrefs’ relationship utilizing the highlighted hunt operators.

I past categorized them successful a spreadsheet and repurposed immoderate of them accordingly:

Reporting connected performance

Every 4 weeks, Tim and I reappraisal the past month’s tweets and their engagement. Our discussions halfway astir contented formats that worked, what didn’t enactment (and why), and the types of topics that got traction.

Here’s however I unfastened a emblematic report. You don’t request a fancy platform to get the job done.

The 3rd conception (“tweets”) is further categorized into:

• Repurposed blog posts.
• Monthly contented picks (a thread).
• Ahrefs TV + merchandise updates.
• Quick SEO tips/did-you-knows.
• Question tweets/Ahrefs trivia.
• Guest tweets/threads (external contented sourced from newsletters and Twitter).
  

Tl;dr: effort everything astatine slightest erstwhile (within reason).

Many of you besides asked astir moving ads connected Twitter and however overmuch they lend to our growth.

Hold your hats, due to the fact that I’m astir to present yet different disappointing kicker: We don’t way advertisement show each that closely.

(Breathe! Let that descend in, past read on.)

Amplification is lone a portion of the process, and it helps successful raising consciousness astir the worth we tin bring to the user. But conscionable similar vanity metrics, we don’t trust purely connected ads for growth.

Every 3 weeks oregon so, I survey our advertisement performance. Then I revisit promoted tweets that achieved an engagement complaint of 20% oregon higher.

Doing this has helped maine make a amended knowing of what our assemblage wants.

Of course, this method whitethorn alteration successful the adjacent future—but for now, it’s what we’re rolling with.

Frequency

We besides beforehand each of our blog posts and YouTube videos astatine slightest once, careless of however good the archetypal tweet performed organically. Each advertisement typically runs for astatine slightest 3 weekdays.

If thing performs astronomically poorly (e.g., 10 likes oregon less aft aggregate RTs from our account), I rewrite it successful a caller format and way its show earlier moving an advertisement for it.

We’ve besides got a somewhat higher fund for moving ads for merchandise updates and diagnostic releases. Unlike our content, I effort to beforehand each announcement astatine slightest doubly (once with a static representation and different clip with a screencast video).

Tracking the future

I’ve besides begun looking into:

• Studying marketers’ apical tweets. 
• Brand mentions (via Sprout Social).
• Responding much actively to users’ tweets, including method questions and antagonistic feedback. (This is simply a squad effort! Some questions proceed to baffle me, which is wherever Tim and the selling squad assistance to capable the gaps.)

If you’re curious, these are immoderate of the tools to marque my workflow a small spot easier.

Hypefury 

Hypefury is large for penning and scheduling tweets and threads. Also includes an auto-RT function.

Hypefury lets maine trade and preview tweets and threads easily, arsenic good arsenic presumption my publishing docket astatine a glance.

Typefully 

This lets you create, preview, and stock draught tweets and threads. Typefully is particularly utile if you’re looking to get interior feedback.

Loom 

Loom is utile for screencast recordings (with oregon without audio). You tin besides trim your clips. I usage these chiefly to make elemental merchandise extremity videos and to item merchandise features.

Others 

I’m tinkering with Sprout Social and Napoleon Cat to way marque mentions (especially erstwhile we aren’t tagged straight connected Twitter).

Recommended reading: 13 Top Digital Marketing Tools (Incl. Tips connected Using Them)

Closing thoughts

By the clip this blog station is published, our strategy volition apt person shapeshifted successful immoderate way. No Twitter selling strategy is foolproof after all.

Once you’ve recovered a look that seems to resonate with your audience, you request to support experimenting to find more formulas that work. Iteration will yield results.

If you amusement that you worth your followers—and tin connection them worth and solutions done your contented and product—you’ll person a acold amended accidental astatine success.

Have questions oregon thoughts? Ping maine on Twitter.