In recent years there’s been a lot of bad press about Twitter. Some rightfully so, some not so much. Until around 2015 it had been known as one of the most popular social media platforms, with a strong 300 million monthly active users.

Since then, growth has been slow, to say the least. It now stands at a mere 12th in the most popular social channels, overtaken by the likes of Instagram and Facebook Messenger. In fact, since 2015 Twitter’s user base has grown by just 30 million, reportedly losing users on numerous occasions along the way.

(Source: Statista)

Saying all of that, the social media platform has started to pick things up again in the last few months. In its Q1 2018 earnings report, it even announced a profit for the second time ever. Its monthly active user count is finally starting to grow again too!

Now you can make of this what you will. But regardless of whether you love Twitter or hate it, I’ve got one use for the social platform that will help take your social media and general content strategy to the next level. Twitter Lists.

If you’re new to Twitter Lists, they essentially allow you to create a custom timeline that only shows the posts from any specific accounts you select. These lists have various uses, but they can be incredibly effective as content curation tools.

In this blog, I’m going to discuss some of the different Twitter Lists that you can set up for your business…

Client List

Having a Client Twitter List can be a great tool, simply because it allows you to easily keep track of what’s going on with your clients. You can also use the list to share any relevant posts and just give their content a bit of a push. Of course, If you have a large client base this may not be completely realistic, so it could be easier to choose some of your most loyal or highest-spending clients. It’s a great way to show some appreciation for your top clients and can also encourage a stronger relationship with them. It could be wise to keep this list as private to avoid any sneaky competitors trying to steal your clients.

Team

If you have an internal newsletter or some form of notice board where you share staff achievements and news then you’ll definitely want to take note of this. Why not craft a Twitter List with all your team member’s Twitter accounts? You can keep an eye on it for any specific updates that could make the newsletter; for example, if a member of staff is celebrating a birthday, or has recently become engaged. This can also be a good tool for discovering some unique insights about your team. From here, you can use the insights to drive your company culture and set up team-building events around the interests of your employees.

Content Resources

Now for the big one. As I mentioned in the intro, Twitter Lists can be incredibly effective as content curation tools. Put together a series of lists, each focusing on a specific topic that your followers may be interested in. For example, at Flaunt Digital we have a ‘content marketing’ list and a ‘social media’ list, amongst others.

From here you can simply go through each list, searching for relevant articles or topic ideas. If you find an article that could be useful for future blog content then make a note of it in your blog calendar. If you find an article that would work well on social media, simply use the Buffer Chrome extension to share it across your social media accounts with a customized message. You can use this tool to schedule your posts in advance, which can be really useful if you don’t have much free time to monitor your social accounts. Add to these lists on an ongoing basis to ensure the content stays relevant, and don’t be scared to create some new content resource lists with time.

One quick tip to increase your reach on Twitter; if you’re sharing a blog or article from an external website spend a few minutes researching the author to find their Twitter account. From here you can simply include their username at the end of your post. From our experience, they’ll retweet your post about 50% of the time, which isn’t bad for a few minutes’ extra work.

Competitors

Whilst you’re obviously not going to want to share content from any of your competitors, a Competitors Twitter List can still be extremely useful. Monitor the topics that your competitors are discussing and use these insights to influence your own social content. For example, if you see one of your competitors posting about an industry event that you had missed, you could put together a quick post wishing everyone a fantastic event, including the event hashtag and username.

You can also use this as a content curation tool in a similar way to the ‘Content Resources’ lists. Just ensure the articles you share aren’t from a competitor website.

Influencers

This is another great list for content curation, but it also has other benefits. Influencer marketing is only getting more powerful and this can be one great way to boost your relationship with any relevant influencers, whilst simultaneously giving your followers relevant content to take in. Simply share any articles or posts that your audience may be interested in, ensuring that you tag the influencer. If you really want to make the most of this, you can even ‘like’ posts and reply with your own thoughts on the topic to start a conversation with the influencer.

Local

Finally, if your company has a local customer base or a community focus then why not consider putting together a list with a range of local businesses and news accounts? Use this as a content curation tool to keep your social media followers up-to-date with any local news and events etc. Capitalising on this sense of local community can be a great way to boost engagement with any potential clients in your local area. Again, make sure that you tag in any relevant accounts to increase your reach.

As you can see, there are plenty of different uses for Twitter Lists. Whether you’re anti-Twitter or a loyal user, you can make the most of these content curation tools for your other social media channels, your onsite blog, or any other content that you may be producing.

Do you have any other creative uses for Twitter Lists? Why not drop a comment below?

About the Author: Lee Fuller is an enterprise level marketer that operates as the Co-Founder & CEO of a Leeds-based digital agency, Flaunt Digital. He’s worked with a range of global clients including the likes of The New York Times.