If someone mentions your name in conversation, maybe your curiosity is piqued a little — but you should be more than a little curious when it’s your brand that’s getting Twitter mentions.

Twitter mentions are a key way customers interact with brands on the platform. Customers use them to share positive opinions or express disappointment in the less-than-positive experiences they’ve had with brands.

When customers take the time to give you feedback in a Twitter mention, they expect a reply — and they expect it fast. Like, within a few hours fast.

That’s why it’s important that you get a handle on Twitter mentions. If you’re new to the concept, this post will help you understand all you need to know. We cover:

  • What is a Twitter mention?
  • How to find Twitter mentions, search Twitter mentions, see others’ mentions and delete Twitter mentions (spoiler: you can’t delete them)
  • How to mention someone on Twitter
  • Valuable things monitoring Twitter mentions can tell you about your business
  • How to monitor Twitter mentions

Let’s get to it!

Bonus: Download the free 30-day plan to grow your Twitter following fast, a daily workbook that will help you establish a Twitter marketing routine and track your growth, so you can show your boss real results after one month.

What is a Twitter mention?

A Twitter mention is a way to get another user’s attention, likely to try and start a direct conversation with them on the platform.

In a nutshell, a Twitter mention is any Tweet that contains the @ symbol followed by another person’s username.

For example, actor Daniel Dae Kim uses a Twitter mention to bring Nike directly into his conversation:

You can include mentions anywhere in the body of your Tweet — at the beginning, somewhere in the middle or at the end:

You don’t have to mention just one user, either. You can mention as many users as makes sense, as long as your tweet stays within the 280-character count.

How do I find mentions on Twitter?

Not sure how to see Twitter mentions? Twitter collects them for you. You will get a notification for each new mention your brand gets.

If you’re unsure how to check your mentions, know that all Twitter mention notifications show up in the All tab, which you can see by clicking on Notifications (the bell icon) in the Twitter menu.

You can also go to the Mentions tab in Notifications to view all your brand’s Twitter mentions. This is where you can see all the Twitter mentions your brand received in one place:

mentions tab in notifications

Do other Twitter users see I’ve mentioned them in a Tweet?

Simply, yes.

Anyone you mention on Twitter will get a notification. If you mention more than one user in a Tweet, all of them will be notified.

Because all Tweets are public by default, anyone can see the Tweet with the mention. But depending on the mentioned person’s privacy settings, their reply to your Twitter mention might not be visible to the public. For example, if the user has protected their Tweets, the reply will only be visible to their immediate followers.

What a Twitter mention isn’t:

A reply to Twitter users
 Mentions are different from replies. In mentions, you always include the @ symbol and the username. But in replies, the username isn’t needed. Twitter automatically includes the username in a reply, so you just have to type out your response:

A chance to buy a bigger following
 Don’t spend money to cut corners — don’t buy Twitter mentions! Let conversations happen naturally.

Hashtags or keywords

Officially, Twitter mentions are the @ symbol and a username. Informally, users might mention your brand by:

  • sharing links to your content, like how this user shared content from the magazine Slate.

  • using a branded hashtag, like in this example where a user included the branded hashtag for Emma Watson’s gender equality movement:

  • simply including your brand’s name without the @ symbol in a Tweet:

Pokemon Nintendo Switch

These will all show in Twitter search. But keep in mind, these aren’t technically what is meant by a Twitter mention.

How to mention someone on Twitter

Adding mentions to a Tweet is straightforward. This is how you can mention someone on Twitter in three easy steps:

1. Open the Tweet composer box

And begin typing your Tweet.

example Tweet composer box

2. Type @ and the username of the person or brand you want to mention

A Twitter mention works anywhere in the body of a Tweet.

Hootsuite brand mention body of tweet

3. Then, click Tweet

This sends your Tweet out into the Twitter-sphere. And the user you mentioned will get a notification.

Yup, it’s that simple!

Can my followers see my mentions on Twitter?

Sometimes.

If a user visits your Twitter profile, they won’t see your mentions. Twitter mentions don’t display anywhere on your profile — not under your profile’s Tweets tab and not under the Tweets & replies tab.

But followers can see mentions on Twitter by using the search function. If your followers type the @ symbol followed by your username, they can search Twitter mentions. And all mentions your brand received will show up:

LUSH brand mention search bar

Remember: it’s a different story if someone has protected their Tweets. For users with protected Twitter accounts, mentions will never show publicly — even if that mention is from a public account. In other words, you can search Twitter mentions, but protected Twitter accounts won’t show up in your search results.

Can you remove yourself from a mention on Twitter?

Nope!

All Tweets are public by default. And Tweets that mention you are created by another person, so you can’t just delete the Tweet.

The only way to delete Twitter mentions is if the Tweet itself is problematic or violates Twitter’s Rules in some way. In that case, you can report or block the user.

Bonus: Download the free 30-day plan to grow your Twitter following fast, a daily workbook that will help you establish a Twitter marketing routine and track your growth, so you can show your boss real results after one month.

Get the free guide right now!

What monitoring your Twitter mentions can tell you about your business

Now that you know what Twitter mentions are and how they work, let’s talk about why your business should monitor them.

The short answer is that mentions from other users provide you with a lot of valuable insights that can help you improve your social media marketing strategy.

Let’s look at what you can learn from Twitter mentions in a bit more detail:

You will know how customers feel about your brand

Twitter is often used as a customer service tool. Customers might reach out on Twitter — and get your brand’s attention using a Twitter mention — to share an experience they had with your brand.

And they might use it to voice a negative experience, which would require the attention of a brand rep:

Monitoring Twitter mentions means your brand can quickly address concerns and problems, satisfying upset customers.

You will know who to engage with

As well as addressing concerns, tracking mentions also allows you to engage with customers who are sharing positive experiences with your brand. Don’t leave positive mentions unanswered!

When your brand gets comments like this…

…interact with the happy customers to build a loyal and engaged following.

You will see which users are growing your reach

Monitoring Twitter mentions will help you keep track of your top mentions. The top mention is a tweet published by another Twitter user that mentioned you, and that had the most impressions in a 28-day period.

Especially if the sentiment is positive, be sure to reply to these mentions! They’re doing you a favor by expanding your reach more than any other user-generated Tweets in the given month.

You should also remember that when you reply to top mentions, you are making your account more visible. And that might get you new followers or help you raise brand awareness.

Finally, you should keep engaged users with wide reach on your radar for potential collaboration opportunities.

You could get more Twitter mentions

Like all social media, Twitter is a social platform. Engaging with the mentions you get is a way to start a fun, social interaction with your followers. Basically, taking the time to converse can make your followers feel special!

By tracking Twitter mentions and doing more of what works for your brand, you can earn more mentions and more followers.

Here’s a great example from Wendy’s. This fast-food chain takes the time to reply to the mentions it receives, whether they’re serious or more of a joke:

You will be able to quickly identify potential problems

Don’t let a crisis go unnoticed! If your brand’s website crashes, an item is out of stock or there’s an issue at a brick-and-mortar store, customers might take to Twitter to let you know. Simply, customers frequently use Twitter to share issues in real-time.

By regularly monitoring mentions, you will be able to address a crisis before it escalates.

How to monitor your Twitter mentions

Tracking Twitter analytics will give your brand insight into how you’re performing on the platform. And now that you know you should be monitoring metrics like Twitter mentions, here’s how to go about it.

How to monitor Twitter mentions using Twitter Analytics

1. Open Twitter Analytics

Click More (the icon with three dots) in the Twitter menu and choose Analytics.

Twitter menu Analytics

2. This will bring you to the Twitter Analytics landing page

You will see a 28-day overview of important Twitter data your brand is likely tracking. This includes impressions, profile visits, followers and mentions. Twitter analytics will show you an overview of how that data has changed in the last month.

Twitter Analytics landing page

3. Scroll down to monitor Twitter mentions month-over-month

If a snapshot of Twitter mentions from the last 28 days just doesn’t do it, you can find more detailed insights from each month below.

See what your top mention was for the month and who tweeted it. Twitter identifies the top mention by impressions. You will be able to see the full mention right in the panel, alongside relevant stats.

And in the monthly summary shown on the right side of the screen, you’ll see how many mentions, in total, your brand received in the month.

Analytics monthly summary

4. Monitor how your Twitter mentions change month over month

Analyze and compare those numbers with your Twitter impressions, profile visits and new followers.

How to monitor Twitter mentions using Hootsuite

While Twitter Analytics is a great place to start, your brand might want to go into more detail when analyzing Twitter mentions. And that’s where social media monitoring tools, like Hootsuite, are particularly useful.

Social listening tools like Hootsuite have features and analytics capabilities that Twitter Analytics doesn’t have.

1. Log into your Hootsuite account and make sure your brand’s Twitter account is connected

If it isn’t yet, go to your profile. Click on Social networks and teams. Then, click on Add social network.

Or, navigate to the dashboard and click Add social network.

You’ll be brought to this screen, where you can select Twitter.

add Twitter account to Hootsuite

2. Add a new Stream specifically for Twitter mentions

Hootsuite lets you create a variety of different Streams for your brand’s different social listening needs.

To see all your brand’s Twitter mentions in one spot, navigate to your Hootsuite dashboard, click New Board and select My posts and mentions. Then, follow the prompts to add a Stream of Twitter mentions.

You can also get to this point by navigating to your Twitter board and clicking Add Stream. Be sure you’ve selected Twitter, then choose Mentions.

add mentions stream

3. See all Twitter mentions in a list

Unlike in Twitter Analytics, you won’t just see the mentions — you will be able to interact with them, too. With Hootsuite, it’s easy for social media managers to respond quickly and efficiently to mentions.

At the bottom right of each mention in the mentions Stream, you’ll see icons that allow you to Reply, Retweet, Like, or Assign the mention to a team member.

view all mentions in list form

Unlike in Twitter Analytics, your brand can also respond to the mention in a direct message. You can forward the Tweet to an email address too. This can be useful if you would like someone else from your company — for example, a customer service representative — to take a look at the mention.

These options are available after clicking on the ellipsis.

4. Don’t forget to include mentions when crafting Tweets from Hootsuite

Just like when Tweeting natively, you can include Twitter mentions when writing Tweets in Hootsuite.

Just navigate to New post, choose Twitter and begin writing in the Text box. Include the @ symbol and the Twitter username you want to mention anywhere in the body of your Tweet.

And don’t forget: You can include as many mentions as you like.

include mentions when writing Tweets on Hootsuite

Respond to Twitter mentions more efficiently

You can also access Twitter mentions in the Hootsuite Inbox. This means your brand doesn’t have to rely on Streams to monitor mentions. You can see all your brand’s public and private social conversations — for all the social channels you’ve connected to Hootsuite — in one place.

This includes:

  • Private messages, comments, replies and visitor posts on Facebook
  • Comments and replies on LinkedIn
  • Direct messages, replies and mentions on Twitter

The Inbox makes it easier for brands to respond to all Twitter mentions and other interactions from one dashboard.

With the new Inbox feature, your brand can:

  • Stay up-to-date by clearly seeing all Twitter mentions in one place.
  • Assign mentions. You can assign mentions to a member of the team, or choose Assign to Me to ensure nothing is forgotten and the best person sends a reply.
  • Get a notification if a mention is assigned to you to work on. This is another way to make sure nothing is missed or forgotten.
  • See which mentions still need a reply by navigating to the Unassigned tab in the Inbox.
  • Mark resolved mentions as Done.
  • Filter the Inbox messages by social account, message type or by which team member the mention was assigned to:

filter inbox messages by social account

Find more details on how to use the Hootsuite Inbox here:

And that’s it — you know what Twitter mentions are, why monitoring them is valuable to your business and how to monitor mentions. Now it’s time to start engaging with your customers and replying to those mentions!

Save time managing your Twitter presence by using Hootsuite to share video, schedule posts, and monitor your efforts. Try it free today.

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The post Valuable Things Twitter Mentions Can Tell You About Your Business appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.