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If you’ve been reading the Loud Media blog for any time at all, you know that we put a great deal of emphasis on engagement when it comes to social media.

Social media is an important part of your Internet marketing strategy, but it’s not enough to talk at your audience. You must engage them!

Now you might be wondering how to do that…especially if you are connected with hundreds or even thousands of other people via social media. When you follow someone on Twitter, you are subscribing to their insight and opinions. Everything they share will show up on your Twitter feed. But unless you can stare at a screen watching the feed update 24 hours a day, there’s a good chance you will miss out on what they have to say.

One way you can increase the odds of seeing what your connections are saying is by using a program called Hootsuite.

Not only will it allow you to divide and conquer your Twitter feeds, it will also help you increase your engagement with others. And isn’t that the entire point of social media? Oh yeah, we already said it is!

First, you’ll want to sign up for a free account with Hootsuite. This will allow you to monitor your Twitter, Facebook and other feeds (called streams) as well as schedule updates for your social accounts.

By using Hootsuite to schedule your updates, you can be sure that what you want to say will be shared at the time you want it to be. This way, you won’t have to be tied to your device for sending updates.

Hootsuite organizes Twitter content into streams or columns across the dashboard. One is your home feed, which displays everything from all the users you follow as well as your Tweets and retweets. Other streams in Hootsuite are mentions (when someone is talking about you on Twitter) and sent (these are any Tweets you have sent).

Hootsuite also allows you create streams for searches you have performed as well as streams for a particular hashtag in case you are participating in a Twitter Chat.

Another way to organize your Twitter connections is using the List Feature within Twitter. Twitter introduced lists in 2009 as a way to segment the people you following into more specific groups. It’s easy to add a Twitter user to a list by clicking their name to bring up a profile window and then selecting “Add or remove from lists” option.

Hootsuite offers a list feature as well.

Now you might be wondering how to start creating these lists so they best suit your needs.

A few examples of types of lists that might be helpful include:

  • Friends you know in real life
  • Professionals in your industry
  • News or sources for daily deals
  • Blogs you follow
  • Favorite actors or celebrities

Adding lists like this (and others) to your Hootsuite tab can allow you to create an ideal dashboard for monitoring the Twitter users you want to engage with most.

Maybe this seems like a lot of trouble, but trust us…it’s so worth it! If you feel overwhelmed about social media and Twitter, take our advice. Start small. Make one list and add 25 to 50 people to it that you want to engage with most.

Now, monitor this list. If those Twitter users ask a question, answer it. If they tweet a link, check it out. Make friends with these folks. Engage with them. As you begin to do this, your circle will grow. It will be more natural to you to segment your social media in this way.

Follow this link if you want to: Try Hoostuite Today For Free

And if you need some extra help with social media or anything else that has to do with Internet Marketing, just let us know…

Want more Awesome marketing tips? Join our community of Internet and Social Media Enthusiasts

Contact us or leave a comment and we’d love to help!

If you would like any help or have questions, contact us anytime.

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Oliver and Sam
Co-Founders and Hootsuite Honchos
Loud Media Solutions

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