Mainstream media and today’s pop culture are awash with Twitter; everything from breaking news to celebrity bunny slippers can be trending on the site.  Some might still look at this platform as just another way to instantly exchange messages, but this is hardly the case.  Twitter has evolved into a major newsfeed, a debate platform, and a major communication source.  Although it has become quotidian, Twitter is still a powerful tool in today's world.  Here are a handful of tips and tricks to help you in this giant world of hashtags and tweets:  

1. Use Your Own Words

Obviously, if you customize your tweets, they will be more noticeable.  Mundane, automated messages quickly grow stale, so try not to depend on blog plug-ins that automatically tweet your content: your followers will skip over your tweets if they are just automatic updates.  

2. Visuals Matter

A picture is still worth a thousand words.  Your Twitter feed shouldn't be a wall of text, it needs visuals too. Choose a background image that gives a little view into what you are like.  Why use a peace sign when you could have a cute little bunny with a big bow on its head striking a disco pose?  The more personalized your image, the more you will stand out.   

3. Don’t Waste Time 

Remember, every tweet is time-sensitive.  The majority of engagement over a single tweet occurs during the first 10 minutes after it is posted, so if you want the most engagement, don’t turn from your screen right away. 

4. Know What’s Up

Besides keeping up with this blog (wink), be sure to check Twitter’s official blog for what is new and what is happening.  In this age of social media, being in the dark about certain things can really make what you have to say unimportant, so don’t get left behind. 

5. Stay On Target

Remember what the purpose of your tweet is: do you want to inspire an action, inform your followers, educate them, challenge them?  Or do you want to simply entertain them?  Try to keep your tweets to at least one of these categories, but not too many to minimize clutter. 

6. Titles Do Matter

We know better, but let’s face it: we all have judged books by their covers at one time or another.  Same goes for headlines.  A really great headline will catch people’s attention, so spend some extra time on coming up with a great title.  This will help your headlines gain the maximum amount of impact in determining how many people will read your posts. 

7. Stagger Your Tweets 

Don’t tweet at the same time every day.  Test your account to see when the best time to tweet would be.  You don’t want to send all your tweets out at 12:11pm every Wednesday, when sending them at 4:05pm on Friday would get you more engagement. 

8. Follow-Up 

Tips are very handy to have around (hence this article), but they are simply tips.  Check to see what is working for you, don’t just set something up and then walk away.  Make sure that whatever changes you make are working.  Plus, it never hurts to keep track of what gets the most engagement.  Stay in touch with Twitter, and let the possibilities tweet to you. 

For more tips and ideas, check out Forbes, ExactTarget, and Hostway.