Tag Archives: Dan Zarrella

Twitter

Want To Get Retweeted? MOST & LEAST popular RT’d Words

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Sharing is cool, especially when people share your Tweets. Did you realize that the WORDS YOU USE can help — or hinder — your Tweets from being Retweeted?

It’s scientific. Dan Zarrella reported his research in a slideshare presentation:

The Science Of ReTweets

View more presentations from Dan Zarrella.

Most Retweeted words and phrases:

  1. you
  2. Twitter
  3. please
  4. retweet
  5. post
  6. blog
  7. social
  8. free
  9. media
  10. help
  11. Please retweet
  12. great
  13. social media
  14. 10
  15. follow
  16. how to
  17. top
  18. blog post
  19. check out
  20. new blog post

Least popular words in Tweets

  1. game
  2. going
  3. haha
  4. lol
  5. but
  6. watch
  7. work
  8. home
  9. night
  10. bed
  11. will
  12. sleep
  13. gonna
  14. hey
  15. tomorrow
  16. tired
  17. some
  18. back
  19. bored
  20. listening

What’s wrong with these words?

[a little levity]

  1. game– Anyone who spends time gaming doesn’t have the energy to Tweet
  2. going -If you are always going to do something, chances are you won’t get to it.
  3. haha – The words Twitter and Tweet are funny enough.
  4. lol – People are laughing so loudly they get their fingers on the wrong keyboard keys and they spell RT as %*.
  5. but – No one likes to hear the contradiction.
  6. watch – If you’re looking at your watch, you’ve lost focus on what matters.
  7. work – Too obvious: WORK — call it “play” and people will share; call it “work” and people will avoid.
  8. home – Did you know that the word “home” can be an adverb? Maybe people are confused.
  9. night – Re-Tweeters are otherwise occupied at night.
  10. bed – see above
  11. will – In today’s culture, we want everything NOW. Will implies “later.”
  12. sleep– See #9
  13. gonna – Bad English; shows your ignorance?
  14. hey – “Hey[hay]” is for horses, as the proverbial saying goes. We don’t like to be “hailed” that way.
  15. tomorrow – You know: when you put things off for tomorrow . . . they don’t get done [or re-tweete].
  16. tired – No, I’m not getting lazy, it’s just that #’s 9,10,12 and 16 are all related. DON’T use them if you want retweets.
  17. some – It’s All or Nothing.
  18. back – With All Things Social Media, we’re looking ahead, not back.
  19. bored – Don’t worry, the “levity” is coming to a close.
  20. listening – Can’t figure this one out: _______________________________ YOUR TURN

And if you want to learn more about the science of social media read my last post on Dan’s webinar “Why do people do what they do online.”

Sharisax Is Out There

WHY People Do What They Do Online

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The Science of Social Media Marketing:

WHY THINGS GO VIRAL

To find out, you can read student Synang Chhan’s Tips on Going Viral, but you may also want to know the scientific, i.e. observed and verifiable reasons behind the huge audiences for some Internet content — besides the fact that they are just plain funny.

Social media scientist, Dan Zarrella, conducted a webinar highlighting his research results into peoples’ behavior on the Internet. Here is what we learned to help us with our marketing strategies:

1. MYTH: Ideas spread because they are good. In reality, plenty of good ideas go nowhere, while some bad ones spread like wild fire.

2. MEME: The term is used to describe ideas that spread from person to person. Our world is made of memes — contagious units of our culture. MEMETICS is the study of cultural transfer.

3. EVOLUTION: Who or what survives? Those who compete best. What is evolution? Variation + competition = Evolution.

4. ITERATION: Try lots of campaigns and stick with what works.

5. IDEAS: These must adapt to pressures of society and be easily remembered. Ideas will be successful based on two factors: Longevity and Fecundity [# of offspring]. When you construct a campaign, you need to decide whether you are going for Long Term or for Quick Spread.

6. SOCIAL EXCHANGE: Every human action is an exchange of value.

“The more valuable an activity shared between members, the more frequently members will interact.”

7. SOCIAL PROOF: We learn by copying others. We value things that others value: because we think they know what they are doing.

8. INFORMATION VOIDS: Don’t let “voids” develop around your brand — that’s where rumors develop. Just think about Tiger Woods.

9. VIRAL: Self-replicating. Give people a reason to replicate. For example, the only way by saving a victim is by spreading a message.

10. REMIXING IDEAS: Your brand should be a box of crayons, not a rubber stamp, so that people can input suggestions — for something totally new that could go viral. Make New structure for Old content, e.g., modern Romeo & Juliet film. Make New content from and Old Structure, e.g. using an old ad design for a different product.

11. FUNNEL OF MARKETING: Exposure at top, then Awareness, and at the base is Motivation. Here is one of Dan’s articles: science of social media marketing

12. SEEDING: To gain exposure, you must reach a lot of people. Big Seeds = giving information to influential people. If you “seed” to influencers, your growth is exponential. Basic PR/Marketing strategy: Find and target Influencers.

13. COMBINED RELEVANCE: Why do people share? One reason is because friends find things [e.g. links] that are appropriate in more ways than one. For example, if your friend’s hobby is photography and she likes yoga, then you would definitely want to send photos of yoga poses you found online.

Why do YOU do do what you do online? For example, why do you retweet? The answer is scientific and the next post will show you how.

photo taken at Sausalito Art Festival 2009 – Judge’s first place pick at show