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The recipe for success in 140 characters  

Twitter_Esther Vargas_CC BY-SA 2.0

There are 15 million UK users on Twitter and there are now more searches on the platform than Bing and Yahoo combined. According to the latest research from Culture Republic 95 percent of Scotland’s arts organisations are now active on Twitter.

So, we all know it’s important to have a presence on the platform but how do you make the most of your tweets and ensure your content is heard above everyone else’s? For the first in our series of Know How events we invited Stephanie Lindsay, Head of Marketing at Dog, to show us how.

Here, we’ve summarised some of Stephanie’s guidance on creating engaging tweets and planning ahead for an effective Twitter strategy. We’ve also included some examples from Scotland’s cultural sector to illustrate Stephanie’s advice:

Increasing engagement

Getting your message across in 140 characters can be tough but Stephanie recommended keeping it even shorter. According to Twitter, tweets of less than 100 characters perform better than longer ones. Images, videos and links will also help you to stand out in people’s feeds and boost your engagement. In fact you’re 35 percent more likely to be retweeted if you include a photo. Using popular hashtags is another great way to spread your message further. But don’t use too many or you’ll create too much clutter and risk annoying followers – keep it to no more than three per tweet.

This tweet from Glasgow Tramway, which generated close to 300 retweets and 253 likes, is a great example of how to do a lot in under 100 characters. The message is clear and succinct. They’ve also included an eye-catching image and have used two well established hashtags, bringing in an even wider audience:

Unlike some other social media platforms, such as Facebook, the more you post the better. Because Twitter is so fast-paced, you can share more on it. Stephanie advocated tweeting at least 3 – 8 times a day. She also said that we shouldn’t be afraid to duplicate tweets as 90 percent of all engagement happens in the 60 minutes of a tweet’s life. If your tweet doesn’t get any engagement in the first hour it probably won’t get any at all. In this instance Stephanie suggested rewording it slightly and resending it at a later time.
Content Planning

To ensure that you have an interesting and active Twitter feed you need to think in advance and schedule in a content plan ahead of time. The first thing is to identify your audience. Stephanie stressed the need to think about the people you’re currently communicating with, as well as those you aspire to talk to. Use analytics to find out what your followers are interested in, where they come from and how they engage with Twitter. Then use this information to inform your planning.

You should also set some objectives. What are the products, events or activities you want to raise awareness of? When planning your content themes it’s also crucial to consider what your target audiences are interested in and what they want to know from you. Stephanie recommended thinking about seasonal themes and how you can tap into them too. Check out our recent blog on marketing calendars for some useful resources to help with this.

Last year Edinburgh Book Festival planned ahead to make the most of the festive period with a “12 books of Christmas” give-away on Twitter. The competition incentive helped to generate 364 retweets:

Whilst it’s good to plan ahead as much as possible you can’t prepare for everything. Stephanie emphasised that Twitter needs to be reactive and spontaneous too. You’ll have to develop content in reaction to feedback and questions from your followers too. Interacting with your online audiences is a great way of saying thanks for their support and encouraging their loyalty.

In this example Scottish Book Trust reacted quickly to the news of David Bowie’s death:

This tweet resulted in an impressive 836 retweets and 1,495 likes. Importantly, Scottish Book Trust managed to become part of the wider conversation on Twitter in a way that was relevant to their brand and followers.

Our Know How series continues on Tuesday 22 March with a practical, hand-on session exploring podcast production. Led by expert trainers from Inner Ear this session will show you how to use podcasts as an effective tool to captivate your audience.

And don’t forget we’re here to help. If you’re looking to measure the reach and impact of your social media activity, or want to identify who your online audiences are get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.

Main image credit: Twitter by Esther Vargas (CC BY-SA 2.0)