Nine tweets radio staff should be tweeting in 2014

Broadcasters and content-creators have their own problems with Facebook’s newsfeed changes at the moment, and that’s why Twitter is a strong prospect for social sharing, building your brand, being amazing and encouraging your target demographic to #JoinTheConversation.

Most social media training that exists today is focused on brands that sell products or services, not brands that wholly and solely create content. So here’s my list of things that radio stations should be tweeting this year.

If you can tick off every item on this list in the next month you’re well on your way to 140 character success.

1. A tweet from your personal account

You listened to radio, and probably called into a radio station, long before you ever worked in radio didn’t you. So why should you, or anyone else, be given the keys to the station’s Twitter account if you aren’t actively following people, tweeting and retweeting?

Start, or re-start, a personal Twitter account and actively use it. Simple. Follow people, unfollow people, search hashtags and local issues, find out who the popular Twitter users are in your town and say hi. Immerse yourself in the Twitterverse so you know what floats and what sinks in the firehose that is Twitter.

2. A tweet that no-one else could tweet

Your radio station has more resources, respect and a stronger brand than the average Twitter user. As a regular Joe I couldn't get Russell Crowe to call me, but on my first day on air at Star FM Port Macquarie I tweeted Russell Crowe from the station account and he called us right back.

Above and beyond celebrity access you’ve got skilled journalists, media professionals that have lived in the area for years, reputable researchers and talented individuals, right inside your building with access to a Twitter account. Use those resources to craft a tweet that no-one else can tweet.

This includes historical items, longer form opinion on news pieces, breaking news, traffic information, contextual traffic information that delvers not only fact but reason. Music stations also have some of the world’s biggest music nerds, if a song’s on air, tweet a factoid about the song with a listen live link.

3. A tweet worth retweeting

Retweets are the number one way to get new followers. So tweet something that your followers will read and think “everyone else needs to see this as well”. Like in radio where we aim for CUME, in Twitter we aim for retweets.

At the bottom of this post I'll share some of my most retweeted tweets, just as an example of 'retweetable tweets'. Not gloating, just sharing.

4. A tweet you’ve already tweeted

Twitter’s strength in it’s nowness (sound familiar radio people?).

Twitter is a now medium, what was tweeted before now almost certainly does not have a long half-life. Very few tweets get on the retweet bandwagon that lasts for days or weeks.

So with that in mind, if you tweeted something amazing, even a link to some of your content, tweet it again later, later that day, later that week, later that month.

Start using a few of the tools that help you manage this service as well. Tweetdeck, Buffer, Hootsuite, Coschedule are just some of the tools you can use to help you ‘tweet later’.

5. A tweet that doesn't start with a @username

This is a simple one, that’s best explained in text. One of the following tweets will be seen by everyone that follows @joshuawithers and one of these tweets will be only be seen by people that also follow @joshuawithers:

In five minutes @joshuawithers has five tips on how to rock the Twitterverse. Listen live at [joshbeatingthedrum.com](http://joshbeatingthedrum.com)
@joshuawithers has five tips to rock the Twitterverse in five minutes. Listen live at [joshebatingthedrum.com](http://joshebatingthedrum.com)

Tweets that start with a username are understood to be personal communication that will not be seen by everyone that follows you, only common friends between you and I.

6. A #BREAKING tweet

I’m joking, never tweet #BREAKING. If the news you’re tweeting isn’t breaking, why are you tweeting it? Put the hashtags away unless absolutely necessary because every news piece you tweet should be breaking, so starting the tweet with BREAKING: is like starting the tweet with TWEET:.

7. A grammatically correct tweet

Buy a dictionary, use Microsoft Word’s spellcheck, go back to school, it doesn’t matter what you need to do, just get your grammar right. Twitter is all about the text of the tweet and you’ve got to spell correctly, use good punctuation, correct you’re/rs and theirs/theres/they’res and learn what words need a capital letter and which ones don’t.

Arfter all,if you can’t get it wright let someone else get they’re rocks off on Twiitter.

8. A severely local tweet

Everyone, seriously everyone, is already tweeting about that funny story in America, or that crazy thing that just happened on the other side of the country. But no-one is tweeting about the local mayor or that road issue. Tweet your beat, no-one else is.

9. A paid tweet

This is an area to tread lightly, and carefully, and wisely, but you are allowed to tweet a commercial message from your Twitter account. There are millions of ideas here, and so many people have done it poorly already, this topic will probably make its way to another blogpost soon but I'll offer four tips on how to do this well:

Don't apologise for it
Make it look like a normal and natural conversation
Stay classy
Charge for it

Examples of retweetable tweets, from my account

Here's a few tweets of mine that have gotten good traction in the Twitterverse. If you can spot a

twitter.com/JoshuaWit…

I wish I was that funny all of the time …