Twitter is one of the best content marketing tools. In fact it is the only social media network that doesn’t care whether you are a brand or a human being. While Facebook and Instagram are getting increasingly monetized through limiting businesses’ channels, everyone can still generate free organic visibility on Twitter.
One of the most important steps in turning Twitter into an effective traffic-generating channel is making the sharing process “smooth” – and a good Twitter button inviting nicely to spread the word can be highly effective.
Twitter Buttons That Encourage Readers to Tweet Your Posts
WordPress Plugins
If your site runs on WordPress, you have a huge selection of sharing plugins that all support Twitter. This includes the official Twitter plugin that allows to add a Tweet button to each individual post by including the shortcode in the post editor.
It is a fairly popular WordPress plugin that lets users easily Tweet each post of the blog. It works like any social sharing button that allows to tweet a link with two clicks. Apart from basic tweeting functionality, it allows you to add a follow button, embed tweets easily, tie your blog to Twitter analytics for more insights.
Another popular social media sharing plugin is Social Warfare that also includes support for Facebook, Linkedin, Mix and Pinterest. The plugin offers smooth integration and a social media count option that would show how many times an article has been shared on social media so far.
Thanks to the lazy-loading functionality, the buttons don’t slow your site down. There’s also an option to create “floating buttons” that would remain on the screen even when a reader scrolls down to read your article further.
You can also create different rules for different types of your pages (home page, post, page, categories, etc.) There are also plenty of Social Warfare alternatives which may work even better for you.
Create the Button Yourself:
If you don’t like installing and using plugins, or if your site is not on WordPress, there’s an option to generate the code manually, to paste it anywhere you want the URL shared.
All you need is to follow these steps:
- Go to publish.twitter.com and select “Twitter buttons”
- Click “Share buttons”
- Optionally, use customization options to include any hashtag or your own Twitter name into each tweets originating from your site:
- Grab the code and paste it anywhere inside your site template where you want the button to appear:
Mind that the button will include the URL of the page it is currently located on.
For tech-savier website owners, Twitter offers more options to integrate the Tweet button inside their pages.
Create “Click-to-Tweet” Buttons
A click-to-tweet button is an in-line button that allows readers to tweet a specific quote from your article. They are highly engaging (if you do your job picking a great quote to tweet) and can help your article get tweeted more.
Here’s a click-to-tweet button in action:
There are various ways to add a click-to-tweet option inside your content. You can use a plugin that adds an option inside your editor and allows you to add a new block with click-to-tweet call-to-action.
The plugin lets you add a click-to-tweet section through a shortcode which means you have a full flexibility as to where you want those CTAs to appear:
The plugin also offers a few cool settings allowing you to customize the look and feel of those buttons.
Another option is to use Click-to-Tweet generator which is a good workaround if you don’t like installing any plugins. It is very easy to use the generator but the downside is that in case the site stops working, so will your “click to tweet” buttons.
No matter which method you choose, don’t forget to make the most of your tweeted quotes: Only use them for compelling sentences, stats or takeaways. Include your (or an author’s) Twitter handle inside the tweetable quote to tag them in each tweet.
Conclusion
Your readers may be willing to share your awesome content on Twitter. All you need to do is to make it easy and fast for them to tweet your URLs. Don’t underestimate the power of a well-integrated call-to-action: Unless you urge your readers to, they may totally overlook the possibility of including your content on their Twitter feeds.
Now imagine if those readers of yours have a vast and/or well-engaged following on Twitter. Your content will be tweeted and retweeted even more! The simple action of adding a tweeting option may have a great marketing potential. The results could be great, especially given this is a low-effort initiative.
Don’t be afraid to combine a few options. Even if you have a standard sharing button, adding an eye-catching click-to-tweet CTA will not hurt. Good luck!
Further reading on integrating Twitter to your site: