How To: Post On Twitter

The actual publishing of a tweet is relatively straightforward; however, it’s the time that is put into creating the content in the first place that determines success.  They say the average attention span is 8 seconds (!) which means the content you share has to be instantly engaging.

Types of Tweet’s

• Tweet –a message you send out to everyone who follows you. ​
• RT- a message created and sent by someone else that you share with the people who follow you​
• @reply –a message you send out as a reply to a message you received.​
• Mention- a message you send out that mentions another Twitter username. ​
• DM – a message you send privately to another Twitter user​

Using Twitter On Desktop

To post on Twitter.com, launch the website on your desktop and click on the grey ‘What’s Happening?’ text. Here you can add your copy and upload up to four photographs or one video. Before clicking ‘Tweet’ and publishing your post, you can choose who can reply. The options are Everyone, People You Follow or Only People You Mention. You can also add a GIF or Emojis.

If you’re looking to build engagement on Twitter, then you could start a Twitter Poll. Polls can last for up to seven days and consist of two, three or four choices. If your tweet is longer than one post (280 characters), then you can click on the ‘+’ sign and continue your update with a second tweet.

Step by Step Guide to post on Twitter

• Log in to your Twitter Account
• Click on the grey section at the top of the page “What’s Happening”
• Type your message
• Add pictures/videos/poll or .gifs using the icons available
• Click the blue Tweet button

Using Twitter On Mobile

Tweeting from a device is very similar to the desktop. Simply open the app and click on the blue icon to the bottom right of the screen that looks like a plus sign next to a feather. Here you have the same options to add photographs, videos, GIF’s, polls and manage who can reply to the tweet. On mobile, you can also click on the location icon and tag a location in your post.

Schedule Your Tweet on Twitter

Twitter allows you to schedule your tweet on desktop.

Simply click the calendar icon and select the time and date you want your tweet to go out.

Using A Third-Party Platform

If you’re looking to schedule tweets in advance, then you can either do this within twitter.com on desktop or via a third-party platform. The majority of third-party platforms will charge a monthly fee. However, if you’re scheduling a large amount of content to Twitter and other Social Media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, then you may find it easier to do so within one place. Most scheduling platforms will also collate your results for you and provide detailed reports containing your Twitter metrics.

Hashtags

One of the most notable and heavily utilised features of Twitter is the (#) hashtag. These are used to link topics and conversations, and if the same hashtag is included by multiple users within a short space of time, it will be shown as ‘trending’.

Businesses can use hashtags within their tweets to join conversations that are relevant to their products and services or even just their industry; this will help increase their organic reach.

Make Each Character Count

As mentioned above, tweets have a character limit of just 280 characters. The whole idea of a tweet is they are short and sweet snippets of information and therefore easy to digest. It’s important to remember that not only do you have to include all of your copy in this limit, but your emojis and links will use characters too.

Emojis use two characters from your allowance, and all links are 23 – whether they have been shortened or not. Even if it’s not saving you precious characters, it’s worth shrinking your links to make them more visually pleasing. What’s more, if you add campaign tracking to your links they may seem confusing to a consumer which will mean they’re less likely to click.

Be Creative

If you’re looking to stand out on the newsfeed, which you should be, then add visual aids to your tweets in the form of images, GIFs and videos. These must be relevant to the copy you are sharing but don’t be afraid to be creative and fun – it’s Social Media after all.

Twitter Metrics 

Finally, once you’re in the swing of posting content, you must take time to review your Twitter Metrics. These can be found on twitter.com under ‘…More’ then ‘Analytics’. Metrics include the number of tweets you have shared, total impressions and profile visits, how many times you were mentioned and your increase or decrease in followers.

If you click on ‘Tweet Activity’ you’ll be able to see additional insights such as engagement and engagement rates. If you’re seeing high levels of engagement, impressions, and steady or increasing followers, then keep doing what you’re doing. However, if you’re losing followers and those remaining aren’t engaging with you, then it might be worth reviewing your content. Make sure you include creative, hashtags and links to give your audience something to engage with!