Crystal Clear Communications Blog

The most effective ways to Tweet are demonstrated daily

How great is the power of Twitter to break news, spark dialogue and incite debate?

• When the President sends a Tweet in the morning, he shapes the news for a whole day.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk Tweeted that he had financial backing to take the company private, but didn’t, it cost him the Tesla chairmanship.
• When Zozo CEO Yusaku Maezawa, author of the most shared Tweet, promised to stop Tweeting, Zozo’s stock price quickly spiked 7%.
• Barron’s reported a study that shows Twitter influences financial markets more than traditional news media. And the effects of Twitter content can linger as long as 20 days.

When you need effective ways to Tweet, consider these 4 approaches to Twitter:

• Make it brief and timely.
• Evoke strong emotion.
• Add visuals.
• Spark dialogue.

Make it brief and timely

First and foremost, Twitter is news from anyone, for everyone.

Think of it as an instant global headline-writing contest – a medium that interconnects with traditional news media, inbound and outbound.

When journalists can’t be at the scene of a breaking news story, they turn to Twitter for eyewitness accounts. Twitter instantly captures the news of the moment and enables anyone to react, comment, pile on.

The most effective ways to Tweet: Keep it short. Tweet immediately.

Even though you can send Tweets of up to 240 characters, the most common length of Tweet is only 33 characters – 5 to 7 words, according to Techcrunch.

To create short Tweets that stay on message, build a Message Map that boils your message down to 23 words or less. Here’s how.

If your company creates news with news releases, interviews, and media stories, Tweet it. Add context with links.

Write Tweets with short news hooks that point people to your perennial and evergreen content.

In addition to original content you create, curate content from others on topics of interest to your audiences. Use Twitter to tie in relevant stories.

For example:

• When major industry trade shows are coming, anticipate them by Tweeting news of interest to customers. Even better, inject your viewpoint and opinions.
• Hijack competitors’ stories – especially when you can highlight the difference between your approach and theirs. Start a debate by newsjacking a competitor’s story.
• Follow audience members and customers. Like and share their content.

Evoke strong emotions

Why do the President’s Tweets command so much attention?

It’s not the novelty of a President using Twitter. That wore off long ago.

Instead, the strong emotions in these Tweets capture people’s attention. They tap the emotions that are likeliest to be shared on social media, such as anger and anxiety.

A study in the Journal of Marketing Research by Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman revealed which emotions work best to get your content shared in social media.

The content people share most is that which stokes anger, awe, anxiety, and surprise. People are much less likely to share content that evokes sadness.

For effective ways to Tweet, consider which emotions your content evokes from the audience. Strong emotions like anger, awe, and anxiety get your Tweets shared more.

But be careful. You don’t want to go to Twitter jail.

Add eye candy

Breakthrough on Twitter with compelling visuals. How can you amplify your text Tweets with eye candy?

• Marry text with images.
• Turn text into photos.
• Combine photos into infographics
• Transform infographics into videos.

The best photos incorporate text and your brand so that your content spreads your brand as it’s shared. For example, here’s a branded photo Tweet from values.com:

Here’s a blog from PostPlanner with 21 ideas on how to use visuals on Twitter.

Spark conversations

Now that you’ve created and shared original and curated content, it’s time to start conversations on Twitter. To join into ongoing conversations, comment on and react to breaking news.

While you’re at an industry event, live Tweet the most compelling content. Not only will people at the event value your Tweets, so will people who weren’t able to attend.

Build lists of people who share content on audience-relevant topics most often. Share their content, react, and attach your opinions.

Invite people into public and private Twitter conversations to spark new connections.

When you need effective ways to Tweet, take these 4 approaches:

• Make it brief and timely.
• Evoke strong emotion.
• Add visuals.
• Spark dialogue.

“What are the most effective ways to Tweet content?” is one of marketers’ Top 100 Questions about #contentmarketing. Here are the answers.