If you want to grow on Twitter, engaging with others (and how you do it) is as important as the content you put out.

We’ve covered what to post on Twitter in past articles. In today’s article, we will focus on the networking side of it and how to build a strong network.

Concretely, on how Quote Retweets work and how you can use them to grow your audience.

Differences between Retweets and Quote Retweets

Retweets and Quote Retweets are probably one of the most underrated ways of engaging with others on Twitter.

While a reply is a more obvious path to connecting with someone, retweeting is not.

The main difference between them is that you are simply “reposting” a tweet into your feed by retweeting. But by quote retweeting, you can add a comment to the retweet.

The value added is higher.

So how do you know when to choose one or the other?

When is a Retweet a good option?

There are a few reasons why someone would retweet a tweet:

• They agree with it and want to share it with their audience
• They want people to know they agree with the retweeted idea
• To amplify a friend, brand, or specific idea
• To build/nurture a relationship

If you feel a tweet checks any of these boxes, then a simple retweet is the way to go.

When is a Quote Retweet a good option?

The reasons to do it are almost the same as when you go to retweet something. The difference is that with a quote retweet, you are adding your take.

It’s going the extra mile to build a relationship with the retweeted account.

In terms of building a network, quote retweeting is a better option than a simple retweet.

How to leverage Quote Retweets - Basics

The Quote Retweet goal is twofold: it should work as a new piece of content for your followers, but it’s also the perfect opportunity to expose yourself in front of a different audience.

Knowing that, two things make a good quote retweet:

• Is shareable
• It feels like a standalone piece of content

Think about it. If you just posted a thread and someone quote retweeted the content complimenting it and saying, “You should read this thread because X or Y,” you will probably retweet that tweet.

Now imagine that the person doing the retweeting has 100k followers.

If what you have to say on that quote retweet is valuable, you might find your tweet in front of 100,000 new people who don’t know about you.

Let’s see it best with a few examples 👇

How to leverage Quote Retweets - Examples

Say positive things about the original post

If you were Katelyn, wouldn’t you retweet the heck out of this tweet?

Amalia has 17k followers. Katelyn has almost 90k. One positive comment can get you that extra exposure and get people to check your profile.

Then, if you have a strong follower funnel, some might even convert into new followers.

Another example that got Pedro (1k followers) retweeted in front of George Ten’s audience (82k)

Of course, this approach only works if you really mean what you say!

Summarize what the author is saying

In the early days of my Twitter journey, I followed Jack Butcher’s work very closely (I still am!). This was a reply he made to one of his tweets:

I felt this was a great tweet, but it was buried in a reply. So I decided to go the “value” route and summarize it. This was the result:

In return? He retweeted it to his audience. That doubled my followers in just one day (I had like 200 at the time!).

But why did he retweet me? My tweet basically summarized Jack’s idea. Instead of re-writing it himself, he chose to RT my tweet.

Here’s another example of how Rick (2k followers) got a retweet by Sahil Bloom (714k followers)

Use the Quote Retweet as a complement to the original tweet

Sometimes, a tweet sparks a new idea in you. Instead of simply going and tweeting it as a standalone tweet, you can use the quote retweet function to use the original tweet as a complement to yours.

This is what Sergio did here 👇

Write a new hook for it

As you know, hooks are the most critical part of a tweet and threads: it’s that first line that captures the reader’s attention.

Your quote retweet can work as a new hook. If it’s good enough, it might get retweeted by the original author, as you are just helping drive more curiosity towards their post.

Use it as a reply

Quote Retweets can also be used as replies. See someone asking a question about a specific topic and think, “hey, I read something similar the other day.”?

Dig up that tweet or thread from your bookmarks folder and post it as a reply.

The original author will thank you for spreading the word about their content. And the person asking the question will be thankful for your help.

Use them as a call to action for your threads

You can also use this at the end of your threads by adding the first tweet to make it easier for people to retweet it.

Amplify and re-share your ideas

Who said you couldn’t use quote retweets on your content?

It might be to add more to a previous tweet or re-share an old idea with your audience.

This is an example of Jakob quote retweeting a reply of his to someone else to expand more on the idea he was trying to say:

Lend your credibility

Using your Quote Retweet to endorse a post is like vouching for that person and content.

You are lending your credibility to it. The person you endorse will probably benefit from it by growing their audience. You benefit from it by forming a stronger connection with that person.

An example: Alexis Ohanian, the founder of Reddit, endorsing Sahil Bloom in his new book

Moving forward

I bet you didn’t know Quote Retweets could be so effective in growing your audience. They are just one more tool to engage and connect with other users on Twitter. You also have:

• Replies
• And Twitter DMs

Stay tuned for our guides on that!

And if you find yourself pushing hard on your Twitter growth right now, check out these 13 mistakes you might be making that are killing your Twitter growth!