Contrary to rumour-fuelled expectation, Twitter recently reinforced their 140-character limit on tweets. But there are a few key changes that are really handy for brand messaging:
- Photos, pics, videos and Twitter handles in replies are all excluded in the count, Essentially it means that we have more of the 140 characters to use for convincing copy. Nice.
But here’s the thing: images are not as unique as they used to be in busy Twitter feeds. Remembering of course that most people view their channels on a social dashboard and / or on their mobile device, and what looks really sassy on your big screen may not convert as well to small. So to be unique, you have to be, well…unique!
- Another small, but big, change: tweets beginning with @name are now seen by all your followers. No need to use .@name if you want a tweet that starts with a username to be visible to everyone. For obvious reasons, double-check what you’re posting in the public domain.
- You’re able to retweet yourself. Don’t run wild with this one! I’m battling to think of a good example of how and why, as a corporate brand, you’d want to use this rather than just re-posting. It is convenient, but I’d stick with using a social management tool strategically, making re-posting so easy anyway.
That’s it, short and sweet. #Brevity