5 Things You Can Learn From Ashton Kutcher About Tweeting

With 7 million followers, it could be said that Ashton Kutcher has more social credibility on Twitter than any SEO you might be able to hire. What’s the secret of his success – and how can you work to replicate it?

Even if you’re not a TV star, there are a few things you could learn about Twitter from Ashton Kutcher (or should we say @aplusk?). Here are just five to start with.

Use Twitter your own way

Ashton Kutcher uses Twitter to communicate, but he doesn’t worry about being consistent or predictable. One day he might tweet ten times, and the next day he’s silent. He live-tweets through events like soccer games, and shares links he’s excited about. He also makes sure that his followers know about the times that he or his wife, Demi Moore, will be making public appearances.

By using Twitter as a person instead of as a business, you can let your followers see a more personal side of you, including the occasional mention of who you’re hanging out with or what you’re doing, as well as publishing links to articles or movements you care about. Assume that your followers want to know when you are doing significant things like going on TV, but be selective and don’t let self-promotion be the only reason you tweet.

Talk about people

Retweeting, responding, and mentioning people are all ways of engaging with your friends and fans on Twitter. Though Ashton Kutcher doesn’t come close to engaging on Twitter with everyone who mentions him, he does retweet tweets that he finds funny or engaging, and he also replies to occasional tweets that catch his attention. He also mentions the people in a photo whenever he posts one, especially by using the w/ iPhone app.

When you’re trying to establish yourself on Twitter, it is even more critical to engage with your followers. Make sure to connect with the people you know in real life, and mention them in the context of relevant events. Reply to any message directed at you, and interesting messages that you see in your Twitter feed. Find ways to mention individuals and make a personal connection.

 

Twitter and Facebook can work together

Though Ashton Kutcher is notorious for having Twitter followers, he actually has even more Facebook fans. Though many individuals and businesses find that syncing their Twitter stream with their Facebook page is detrimental, apparently it works fine for Ashton Kutcher. Because he often tweets links with photos or other multimedia, his Facebook Wall is easy to scan and interact with.

Reconsider whether to sync your Twitter feed with your Facebook page. In some cases, it does work! Make sure that when you are using both Twitter and Facebook, you are continuing to incorporate multimedia elements, including links and photos. Catch your followers’ eyes and encourage them to respond.

 

Have an opinion

Talking politics on Twitter is not surprising, but taking a position on unpopular political issues is still a gutsy move as a celebrity. When Ashton Kutcher tweeted about the New York decision to legalize gay marriage, he made it clear that he was serious – and then followed his comment with a political joke!

Though you might not choose to make your political opinions public, you should still take a stance on some position. Comment on local news or claim a favorite burger place. You might be surprised how many people respond when they see that they have something in common.

 

Do something for your fans

When Ashton Kutcher realized that his fans wanted to engage with him more on Twitter, he got creative and found a way: he co-created a new Twitter desktop app. Not only can fans now view his Twitter stream, but they can also access channels of information that Ashton Kutcher selects. These channels  display everything from causes that he cares about to random things that he thinks are cool. Plus, the app includes all the normal Twitter capabilities, so users have a new choice of a fully functional Twitter app.

Though you might not create your own app to distribute to your followers, don’t forget to use Twitter as an arena for other giveaways and promotions. Spread the love with a coupon code, a drawing, or a free ebook, information product, or app. Start thinking about what you can do for your customers!

Do you follow @aplusk? Are there any other tips you could learn from him?