These days, everyone knows how easy it can be to torpedo your brand or reputation on Twitter. We see it nearly every week. But, how do you use the double-edge sword that is Twitter to promote your brand with more success and limited risk?
Let’s talk about that…
Be Clear
Clarity is valuable in every aspect of PR writing. You always want the audience to be clear about your meaning, even when using indirect or assumptive language. But clarity on Twitter, especially when the goal is to promote and not detract from your brand, is essential. Your messages should be crafted in a way in which it would be very difficult to devise a meaning that’s different from what you intend.
Stay Focused
Rome wasn’t built in a day. All the facets of your message need not be conveyed in a single tweet. The key here is to focus on a specific idea, one aspect of your message, and get that exactly the way you want it. Remember, while you are limited in the number of characters you use, there is no limit on the number of tweets you can employ. So, think about ways to break up your message into single, bite-size ideas, then put it out there in a series of tweets that fit together but can also stand alone.
Threading
Twitter will allow you to thread together your messages and personal replies to those messages, so take advantage of this. Simply reply to your tweets and Twitter will stack them together nicely for your fans to read all at once. So even if you don’t get all your thoughts into one tweet, they can be housed in a single context that promotes clarity and understanding.
Shorter is Better
Sure, Twitter now allows users up to 280 characters, but try to avoid pushing those limits. The magic of Twitter for most users is in the brevity. They can get an entire idea in a few seconds. They don’t want to read a paragraph. That’s what they get on Facebook. Work on developing shorter, punchier versions of what you want to say. Writing small is an art, so it takes practice. Put in the work and you will see the benefits.
Connections Count
While step one with Twitter is getting people to stop scrolling and read, the real endgame is to keep a conversation going. Interaction on your feed, even if you’re not directly involved, is golden. It’s to that end that you want to gear your content.
Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR.