What You Should and Shouldn’t Share on X (Formerly Twitter)

Building a dedicated audience on X (formerly Twitter) requires strategic content sharing that resonates with your target audience while fostering trust and engagement. Not all content is suitable for this platform, so it’s crucial to know what to share and what to avoid. Here are comprehensive guidelines and tips to help you create a strong presence on X.

What You SHOULD Share:

Valuable Content

Why It’s Important:

Sharing valuable content establishes you as a credible and knowledgeable source in your industry. This type of content can include tips, insights, best practices, and in-depth articles that provide genuine value to your audience.

Tips for Sharing Valuable Content:

• Understand Your Audience: Know what topics are relevant and interesting to your followers.
• Provide Solutions: Offer practical advice that addresses your audience’s pain points.
• Be Consistent: Regularly post high-quality content to keep your audience engaged.
• Use Data and Research: Back up your content with credible data and research to enhance its value.
• Engage with Your Audience: Encourage questions and discussions to deepen engagement.

Personal Insights

Why It’s Important:

Sharing personal insights and experiences helps humanize your brand and builds a deeper connection with your audience. People follow people they relate to and trust.

Tips for Sharing Personal Insights:

• Be Authentic: Share genuine experiences, both successes and challenges.
• Use Storytelling: Craft your insights into compelling stories that captivate your audience.
• Reflect and Inspire: Share lessons learned and insights gained to inspire your followers.
• Show Vulnerability: Don’t be afraid to show your human side; it builds trust.
• Balance Personal and Professional: Keep a good mix of personal insights and professional content.

Industry News and Trends

Why It’s Important:

Keeping your audience informed about the latest industry news and trends demonstrates that you are knowledgeable and up-to-date, making you a go-to source for information.

Tips for Sharing Industry News and Trends:

• Curate Credible Sources: Share news from reputable and reliable sources.
• Add Your Commentary: Provide your own analysis or opinion to add value.
• Stay Relevant: Focus on news and trends that are directly relevant to your niche.
• Use Hashtags: Utilize industry-specific hashtags to increase visibility.
• Schedule Regular Updates: Keep your audience consistently informed with regular updates.

Visual Content

Why It’s Important:

Visual content is more engaging and shareable, helping you reach a broader audience. High-quality images, videos, and infographics can capture attention and convey information quickly.

Tips for Sharing Visual Content:

• Invest in Quality: Use high-resolution images and professionally edited videos.
• Keep It Relevant: Ensure visuals are relevant to your content and brand message.
• Use Infographics: Create infographics to simplify complex information.
• Add Captions: Provide context and enhance understanding with descriptive captions.
• Optimize for Mobile: Make sure your visuals are optimized for mobile viewing.

What You SHOULDN’T Share:

Controversial Content

Why It’s Risky:

Sharing controversial content can alienate some of your followers and potentially harm your brand’s reputation. It’s important to steer clear of divisive topics unless they are core to your brand’s values and messaging.

Tips to Avoid Controversial Content:

• Know Your Audience: Understand what topics may be sensitive or divisive for your followers.
• Stay Neutral: Avoid taking sides on controversial issues unless it aligns with your brand.
• Focus on Positive Content: Share content that uplifts and inspires rather than divides.
• Review Before Posting: Double-check content for potential controversy.
• Monitor Responses: Be prepared to manage any backlash if controversial content is shared.

Irrelevant Content

Why It’s Ineffective:

Sharing content that is not relevant to your audience or industry can dilute your brand message and decrease engagement. Stick to topics that align with your audience’s interests and your expertise.

Tips to Avoid Irrelevant Content:

• Stay Focused: Clearly define your niche and stick to it.
• Create a Content Plan: Outline topics and themes that are relevant to your audience.
• Review Performance: Regularly check analytics to see what content resonates most.
• Solicit Feedback: Ask your audience what they find most valuable.
• Avoid Trend Chasing: Only participate in trends if they are relevant to your brand.

Spammy Content

Why It’s Damaging:

Overly promotional or spammy content can turn off your followers and damage your credibility. Your audience seeks value, not constant sales pitches.

Tips to Avoid Spammy Content:

• Balance Promotions: Mix promotional content with valuable, non-promotional posts.
• Provide Value First: Focus on helping your audience before promoting products or services.
• Use CTAs Sparingly: Avoid excessive calls to action in your posts.
• Engage Naturally: Build relationships and trust before promoting.
• Monitor Frequency: Ensure promotional posts do not dominate your feed.

Inappropriate Content

Why It’s Harmful:

Sharing inappropriate content, such as offensive language, images, or videos, can severely damage your reputation and lead to a loss of followers. It’s essential to maintain professionalism.

Tips to Avoid Inappropriate Content:

• Set Guidelines: Establish clear content guidelines for what is appropriate.
• Review Before Posting: Always double-check content for appropriateness.
• Stay Professional: Maintain a professional tone and avoid controversial humor.
• Know Platform Policies: Familiarize yourself with X’s content policies to avoid violations.
• Seek Feedback: If unsure, get a second opinion on potentially sensitive content.

Conclusion

Creating a successful audience on X requires a strategic approach to content sharing. By focusing on valuable, relevant, and engaging content while avoiding controversial, irrelevant, spammy, or inappropriate posts, you can build a loyal and engaged following. Remember to use tools that help streamline your content creation and management process.

Top 10 Tools for Content Creation and Management:

1. Canva – Design engaging graphics and infographics.
2. Hootsuite – Schedule and manage posts across multiple social media platforms.
3. BuzzSumo – Discover trending content and analyze its performance.
4. Loom – Create video tutorials and personal insights.
5. Piktochart – Design professional infographics.
6. Buffer – Schedule posts and track engagement.
7. Snappa – Create social media graphics quickly.
8. Google Analytics – Track and analyze website and social media performance.
9. TweetDeck – Manage and monitor multiple X accounts.
10. CoSchedule – Plan and organize your content calendar.

By leveraging these tools and following the content guidelines, you can effectively grow your audience and establish a strong presence on X.