5 Twitter features Brands need to focus on

So lately I have been asked about Twitter and best practices, and how they can be applied for Brands.

There are a lot of articles and videos out there that will show you exactly what you need to do in order to create a Twitter account. That is all great to set you up and get you started.

I could also advise that you:

Select a username related to your Brand (@) that is easy to remember and will stick!
Have a profile pic that contains your Brand logo making the visual aspect of your profile more appealing and your Brand image identifiable to your audience.
Have an optimized bio that perfectly and clearly encapsulates in just a few characters your Brand’s message and purpose. Use relevant hashtag (don’t overdo it though!) and link to your site (or preferred landing page).
Be creative and pack your message in 280 characters that need to be accompanied with visual creatives so as to cause your reader to stop scrolling and start reading.
Tweet during peak traffic hours 🙂
Pin a Tweet you want to highlight to the top of your profile page.
Don’t start following just for the sake of following – and be careful of those pesky bots & automated accounts!

And many other tips…

But, what you need is more than that.

That is why today I want to touch on some “heavy duty” features you will need to focus on in order to take your Twitter marketing efforts to the next level.

Specifically, I will talk about the use of:

Video

“Tweets with video attract 10X more engagements than Tweets without video”

Source: Q&A article by Marissa Window (data source: Twitter Business )

It is undeniable that people are more responsive to video than plain text.

Video offers a more interactive & impactful method of content distribution leading to effective emotional responsiveness from audiences and a more powerful way of establishing lasting relationships with them.

As a Brand you should plan around data available as to the type of content, the type of video (informative, tutorial, etc.), video length, etc. that you should use and promote your Brand through.

Some data to be considered are for example, as shown in Nick Reese’s Video advertising best practices for Twitter Video Ads article that “93% of video views on Twitter take place on mobile devices”. Additionally, “Promoted Tweets with videos saved more than 50% on their cost-per-engagement, helping their ad budgets stretch further.” Moreover, “videos that were 60-90 seconds long actually had the best engagement.” (Source: Twitter Business ).

Different points play an important role in strategy for maximizing return on your video campaigns, make sure you research and apply accordingly to your strategy, target and goals. For example, Video Ads.

As explained in Nick Reese’s article “In-Stream Video Ads let you run an ad before a publisher’s video on Twitter. This ad format has been shown to increase ad recall by 70%, resulting in a 6% higher purchase intent compared to people who weren’t exposed to video ads.” (Source: Twitter Business )

Wow! Impressive, right?

Overall and as stated in Mo Al Adham’s “How In-Stream Video Ads on Twitter help marketers tell their story” article, “People come to Twitter in a discovery mindset, making them more attentive, responsive, and trusting of the video ad content they see on Twitter in comparison to competing platforms. This leads to video ads on Twitter being almost 2X as memorable when compared to the same ads on other premium sites.” (Source: Twitter Business )

Live Streaming and Audio (Podcast)

Live Streaming has been a feature on Social Media that people have been highly adopting and seeing results from. It offers an elevated form of communication with your audience centered in the immediacy it offers. Twitter Live Streaming feature is powered by Twitter’s Periscope.

The impact can be seen from the data provided by Christina Newberry in the “28 Twitter Statistics All Marketers Need to Know in 2018” HootSuite article where she presents that in Q3 of 2017 “Twitter live-streamed more than 830 events, almost three-quarters of them to a global audience. Twitter also live-streamed 96 million hours of live user-generated content in Q3 via Periscope.” (Data Source: Twitter’s Q3 2017 Letter to Shareholders ).

On a different note, the new Twitter Audio Only feature offers a way to re-purpose live-streaming content as live podcasting and other audio based type of broadcasting content (news broadcasts, shows, etc.). This gives Brands a lot of possibilities and opportunities in using this feature allowing them to take advantage of the growing podcasting (and audio) industry.

Streaming or Audio, the future is in interactivity!

Twitter Chats

This is a gem.

In summary, Twitter chats are hashtag driven public conversations held on Twitter that you can join, share insights on the topic being discussed, network and meet like-minded people, etc.

Twitter chats are also an amazing way to build a community and brand awareness.

As explained by Gabriela Cardoza in her “3 easy ways to grow your Brand on Twitter” article (Source: NPLUSG ):

“You can find a Twitter chat for almost any topic of interest (marketing, branding, leadership, advertising, design, etc.) and as a brand, you can utilize these conversations to network with others in your particular industry, market and field. Furthermore, it’s an opportunity for your brand to communicate its value and thus, build its image, reputation and thought leadership.”

You can check out Gabriela’s complete list of Twitter Chats here .

Twitter Lists and Moments

Twitter Lists are another great way to organize and keep tabs on specific accounts (people, competitors, brands, news, etc.) you want to follow (or not!) as well as conversations.

Simply:

Go to Profile and Setting (top right icon on your Twitter Account Homepage)
Click on Lists

Click on Create A List

Add List Name, Description and select Privacy option
Click on Save List

Twitter Moments follow a somewhat different ideology.

As stated by Camilla Dudley in her “How to use Twitter Moments to connect with customers“, Twitter Moments serve as a way for you to “create and curate a collection of your customers’ Tweet conversations, live commentary, and longer-form content to connect with your audience in a new way.” (Source: Twitter Business )

As proposed in the article, some uses for Twitter Moments you can apply are:

— Showcase your customers’ feedback
— Resurface your own Tweets
— Promote a new product launch
— Hype up an event

I’ll add that it is also used by many as a tool to offer a complete recap of a Twitter Chat (or the top replies) so as to service people that were not able to join “Live” in the chat, also as a way to highlight specific Tweets (on a specific topic) that you want to record for later access or create a ‘moments list’ with (i.e. book suggestions, AI articles) etc.

The options available are just a matter of creativity!

Customer Service

Ah, one of my favorites!

In my opinion, customer service is crucial to the success of any Brand’s social media marketing efforts and general standing.

As stated in Christina Newberry’s article 28 Twitter Statistics All Marketers Need to Know in 2018, “Eighty-five percent of small and medium business Twitter users say it’s important for businesses to provide customer service using the network.” (Source: HootSuite ) which helps in building brand trust, authority (status) and establishing solid relationships with your consumers.

Twitter allows for the extension of these options through Twitter Customer Support Features (Source: Twitter Blog )

Some of the Customer Support Features as explained by Liz Alton on the ”4 tips for providing effective customer support on Twitter” article are:

— Display your support hours so people know when they can expect to hear back from you.
— Enable direct messages, so more complex issues or private customer details can be shared directly with you.
— Turn on the “support” option so customers immediately see that your brand’s Twitter account is customer-service friendly.
— Use “welcome messages” that prompt people typing a DM on what message to share.

(Source: Twitter Business )

Twitter is a Social Media platform that Businesses are tapping into more and more and making use of its features to maximize return on their Social Media Marketing efforts and to focus on closing the gap between them and their consumers by offering a more immediate, interactive and high quality experience.

As such, these 5 features will get you on the right track to establishing an effective use of Twitter for your Brand!

Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic in the comment section!

Good vibes only and have a great day!
Natasha

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