Comedians love Twitter. They don’t necessarily understand how to use it, but they love it.

While lots of comics treat Twitter like a virtual open mic, there are lots of strategic ways you can use the platform that will help you a whole lot more in the long run.

Here’s a few simple strategies to help you get the most out of your 140-character outbursts.

1. Stop Chasing Followers And Looking For Shortcuts

Even if I’ve never met you, I know you’re too obsessed with your Twitter follower count. That’s because everybody is (including me – I’ve even written about how to get more Twitter followers).

But while there are things you can do to slowly build a following, there’s no “magic bullet” to get you mass amounts of followers in a hurry, so stop looking for one.

Yes, you can always buy fake followers (as we’ve discussed in the past), but that doesn’t ultimately do you any good. So my first tip is to stop wasting time worrying about how to get more followers and start concentrating on how you can use Twitter more effectively – if you do that, the followers will come eventually and the ones you get will be MUCH more valuable.

2. Reference Other Twitter Accounts In Your Tweets

If you’re on Twitter and somebody mentions you in a tweet, I bet you notice it and check out their account, right? Well, so does everybody else.

That means mentioning people who you want to know that you exist in your tweets is a fantastic way to get them to at least check out your account.

This is true for everything from journalists, to bookers, to venues, to brands, to other comedians. Sure, the more often somebody is mentioned the less likely they are to notice you mentioned them, but you’d be surprised. Even people with huge followings tend to notice when they get mentioned – even if they don’t necessarily reply to you.

Now, this isn’t to suggest you should just randomly reference people in tweets, but rather you should look for genuine and interesting ways to reference the people you want to see you in your tweets. And when you do mention a person, brand, or place in your tweet, you should ALWAYS use their Twitter name so they get a notification about it.

3. Don’t Be Afraid To Post The Same Stuff Multiple Times (Especially Links)

Because Twitter shows every single post from people you follow in your timeline (as opposed to Facebook), it’s very easy for people who follow you to miss your tweets. It tends to be a platform where users dip into their streams a couple times a day and see what they happen to see in that moment – they don’t usually go back very far to see everything they missed.

This means if your followers don’t happen to be checking Twitter when you post your amazing tweet, they’ll probably miss it.

To counter this, it’s a good idea to post important tweets multiple times during the day/week to ensure that more people see it. Stats have proven you’ll get just as many clicks/interactions the second or third time as you do the first and sometimes more.

Don’t go crazy with it, but in general you don’t have to worry about duplicating tweets and scaring away followers because most of your followers won’t see all of your tweets.

4. Use Relevant Searches To Find Stuff To Retweet

Here’s a tactic that I’ve used recently to great effect. Choose a couple of key words/terms that fit the interests of your target audience/followers and regularly do searches on Twitter for those terms. You’ll inevitably find some tweets from people you don’t know (and don’t know you) that are interesting or entertaining. Then go ahead and Retweet those to share with your followers.

This does a couple things:

First, it gives you great targeted content to share that your followers will probably enjoy. Second, it alerts the original tweeter (who clearly has a shared interest with you and your audience) that you exist and does so in a way that positions you as a person who was generous enough to retweet their creation – which basically means they will be predisposed to like you.

The other thing that happens is your followers may wind up further retweeting your retweet. Each time that happens you get a notification and essentially it’s flagging for you more people who are interested in what you’re interested in and may be worth connecting with.

It basically turns into a tip sheet for you, recommending potential new fans/followers.

For example, my audience is comedians so I regularly do searches for “comedians,” “comedian,” and “standup,” and then retweet whatever interesting content I come across. It’s worked very well and most of the people I retweet wind up following me, plus their tweets get a couple extra retweets from other people which then lead me to new people to connect with.

5. Follow People Who RT or Fave You

This might seem obvious, but if somebody takes the time to favorite or retweet something you posted, that means two things – they not only liked your tweet (and hopefully you), but it also indicates they’re the kind of person who actually retweets and favorites stuff (lots of people that use Twitter don’t).

Both of those things are indicators that you want a closer relationship with that potential fan and it’s probably worth following them – especially if they’re not already following you, because it might be that little nudge they need to do so.

On a side note, remember that people who RT or Fave tweets are more valuable followers than people who don’t, because they can help spread the word about you. Not all followers are created equal.

6. Check Out Twitter Analytics

Did you know that Twitter provides you with a breakdown of all the stats on every tweet you post? Just go to Analytics.Twitter.com account to see exactly what’s happening with each of your tweets – it’s a great way to learn what’s working and what’s not over a long period of time.

7. Use Buffer Or Another Service To Schedule Your Tweets

There’s lots of services out there that enable you to schedule your tweets so that they are getting posted throughout the day as opposed to just a bunch at one time and it’s worth it to use them. I personally recommend Buffer, but whatever you choose to use it’s a great asset because it will ensure that more people will ultimately see your stuff and allows you to plan some stuff in advance if you’re too busy to tweet on a regular basis during the week.

Did you find this post helpful? Then please share it on Twitter – thanks!