7 Tips For Writing the Perfect Tweet

The site Twittercism.com posted a good summary of tips for writing effective tweets on Twitter. I will share the top 7 tips below. Why should you care? Many of you may not yet even understand why Twitter is relevant to you. Think of it this way. In the early days of search, there were several search alternatives and then along came Google. At first, it may not have been clear why Google was better. It didn't sort by categories. It had very little content on its home page, and still does. Yet, it helped you to find things efficiently.

For my business and personal interests, Twitter helps me to stay on top of issues, perform research and to express myself quickly. Unlike Facebook, which is clearly popular, you do not have to be a "friend" to follow someone's thought stream. With Twitter, I can find people "tweeting" about things that interest, enlighten and/or educate me and stay connected to them informally, usually without having to ask for permission. After all, very few Twitter accounts ARE private. Remember that all tweets are limited to 140 characters.
How might you take advantage of Twitter?

LISTENING

First, LISTEN to what is being said and benefit from readership. Search ( http://search.twitter.com/ ) for a topic of interest and watch for tweets that resonate with you. Twitter allows you to search for a topic in the worldwide conversation and "follow" the thought stream of what is being said about it.

Second, FOLLOW a few of the tweeters that interest you and see if they maintain your interest. Do this for a while to get a sense of what you like about what they share with others. Think about how you might do the same with your areas of interest. UNFOLLOW those that stop being interesting. For those tweeters that DO interest you, who are THEY following?

AUTHORING

Once you get a feel for tweets, RETWEET a few of the tweets that you really find interesting. This is just like forwarding an email that you received, only anybody can see it. Originally, retweets were distinguished by "RT" leading the tweet. Now Twitter puts the RT reference in a descriptive area rather than in the tweet so that it doesn't take up characters.

By retweeting, you extend the reach of someone that you are following beyond their follower set or community of interest (COI). If you have gained followers, then your followers will see what you've harvested from the others that you are following. This idea of bridging communities of interest is one way that you will gain followers, because you "harvest" great thoughts and links and share them. In the simple diagram below, I seek to visualize sets of followers in each orb. Some are large groups and some are small and some bridge naturally with other COI and some are more like islands.

Retweeting also provides a nod to the author and is considered a nice thing to do, so you gain some level of appreciation for the author. Another nice thing to do is to list the tweeters that you find most interesting in a tweet on Follow Friday. On Friday, you edit a tweet preceded by "#FF" and followed by the Twitter names that you recommend to others. This is a great way to get others to do the same for you.

Twitter Tools

Not sure how to do this Twitter thing? The site http://oneforty.com/ provides reviews of tools that you can use.

7 Tips For Writing The Perfect Tweet

There is far more content at Twittercism, but in summary, they are:

Overall, maximize readability and maximize retweetability. Make your tweets "to the point" - clear and concise and as instantly meaningful as possible. Try not to use all 140 characters so that others can forward your tweet with their own thoughts appended.

1. Think Like Your Readers

   • Know your audience and speak to them.

2. Use Consistent Excellence To Stand Out From The Crowd

   • Maintain the quality of your tweets or you will be "Unfollowed".

3. Sell The Headline (In A Non-Salesman Way)

   • Grab their interest like a news headline would, but don't oversell. Stay authentic.

4. Use Correct (And Acceptable) Punctuation

   • Self-explanatory.

5. Accept Nothing Less Than Flawless Grammar And Perfect Spelling

   • Self-explanatory.

6. Observe The Magic Retweet Number

   • 115 characters or less seems optimal. If you add more, then others may not RT your message because they would have to rewrite your tweet to add any clarifying or supportive content.

7. Shorten All Links With Bit.ly (And Nothing Else)

   • Bit.ly is an awesome tool, but this is not a firm suggestion. I find Ow.ly and Su.pr to be good tools as well with stats/analytics to track who clicks on your links, if you set up an account and login before you shorten. Shorteners help you to fit those URLs in your 140 characters. A few people are offended by the .LY shorteners due to the fact that .LY domains refer to Libya as .US refers to the United States. If your audience might be sensitive to that, then Su.pr might be the way to go.

I would add a #8.

8. Almost always have a link to content that supports your headline.

I encourage you to visit http://twittercism.com/the-perfect-tweet/ to read the original post and make sure to follow the linksin the article.

Branded Social Media

As has been true for decades in tech marketing, we often believe that our own hype is so grand that we miss the end users...who have lives. It has been fascinating watching and participating in the evolving world of social media. I've come to the renewed conclusion that almost all tech is overblown with hype in pursuit of market domination. The successful offers sell beyond their natural market and then predictably decline back to that natural market eventually. The trick is knowing:

• when you are being hyped
• when you are in the natural target market
• when to even pay attention.

As a consumer, this dynamic matters less, because you like what you like and ignore what you dislike. Or worse, you may dole out a penalty when a brand annoys you by ignoring them or by spreading the word to ignore them.

As a marketer, this is more serious. We must ride the edge wisely or we'll get cut. We want to rise above the noise with our creative and get it in our buyer's path of behavior so that we're seen. However, if we annoy, then we may actually lose ground. Also, social media takes an investment in time and focus. Are you able and willing to put in the effort to be truly successful?

Here are the top 10 brands in social media according to Famecount.com and http://www.penn-olson.com in June 2010:

This is enough to say, "Hey! We should allocate time to social media too! Look how successful we could be." Well, Yes, you should be, but how, on which media and can you allocate the time and thought to do it right?

A recent study by the digital agency 360i released July 27, 2010 points out that for Twitter, there are few conversations happening WITH big brands.

Despite marketers' embrace of the medium, brands are finding themselves on the outside of the conversation. Of the 90% of Twitter messages sent by real people -- the other 10% come from businesses -- only 12% ever mention a brand, and most of those mentions are of Twitter itself.

Further, only 1% of consumer tweets that mention a brand are part of an active conversation with that brand, meaning marketers are, for the most part, conducting one-way conversations -- the opposite of the way consumers often use Twitter.

What this says is that consumers on Twitter have conversations with PEOPLE, not brands, but sometimes include brands in the stream. Data seems to show that leaders of companies have been successful grabbing an audience even while the brand itself may not. Other times, the brands are being mentioned, but not in conversation WITH the consumer, but rather consumers to each other ABOUT the brand. From Advertising Age:

The most mentioned brands on Twitter tend to be there because they are part of a constant daily conversation, not because of anything the brand is or isn't doing on Twitter. The most mentioned brands on Twitter are, in descending order, Twitter, Apple, Google, YouTube, Microsoft, Blackberry, Amazon, Facebook, Snuggie, eBay and Starbucks.

To the degree that certain brands are already a part of our daily conversation, they get a boost on Twitter. If you're not already daily fodder, are you Twitter-worthy? Great question and requires a non-generic answer.

Facebook has FANS, not followers.

So how is Facebook different from Twitter? In many ways, but let's start with the very nature of being a "fan" rather than a "follower". I can easily say that I'm a fan of Starbucks and thereby show my allegiance (and gain due admiration from the similarly inclined) without additional active involvement. I can choose to comment on a fan page, but it's not necessary. Of course, now Facebook has changed terminology from being a fan to being a "Like". My gut tells me that fewer Twitter users become followers for brands with whom they have no conversation.

Data that I would like to see is comparing 360i's study of brand mentions on Twitter with number of active comments on a Fan Page. After all, the value is in the exposure and being in the active conversation. I don't believe that the game is won by having more fans or followers alone. Being mentioned in a good way that causes a sale is the end game.

Give me a call if you want help thinking this through for your brand