DIGITAL DIGEST: Twitter a power-packed communications platform

Twitter is celebrating 16 years as a major player in the world of social media. It is a unique microblogging platform similar to instant messaging that forces content generators to articulate thoughts in limited characters. It aligns well with the news industry and requires an almost instantaneous response during a conversation.

Here’s a guide to using Twitter for marketing:

• Strategy: Unlike other platforms, Twitter requires not only constant content generation but also quick responses. Twitter should be used to engage with influential audiences, start/ride a trend, distribute news, make announcements, establish a brand voice, and stay relevant with your target audience.

• Publishing: Sharing content on Twitter is a daily exercise. Businesses should identify high engagement time periods and publish content with relevant hashtags at least 2-4 times a day. The motive should be to start a conversation organically and lead the narrative from time to time.

• Hashtags: Twitter communication is heavily dependent on using hashtags and tagging the right audience. Hashtags require following and engagement to become powerful; a good idea is to use a combination of branded hashtags and trending hashtags to become part of the conversations.

• Audience: Twitter is the go-to platform for politicians, celebrities, influencers and almost all brands. Starting the right conversation on Twitter is easy when you have the right following. Brands should work to accumulate a specific follower base on Twitter as an active following will engage and keep the conversation going.

• Creative: Support for all content formats is available on Twitter. An ideal combination is a mix of media and non-media tweets. Non-media tweets are text-based and media tweets use pictures, video, gifs, etc. Being a highly responsive platform, Twitter provides a good opportunity for brands to test creatives and concepts.

(This is the third of nine Digital Digest articles, provided courtesy of the MPE Caribbean Report, which offers travel and tourism news weekly. It is published by US-based integrated marketing agency Marketplace Excellence, which has an office in Richmond Hill, Ont. www.marketplaceexcellence.com)