As of May 24th Twitter is stretching its 140-character limit, taking @names, URLS and images out of the equation.
Whilst for a lot of Twitter’s 310 million users this may simply mean being able to talk about a drunken night in more detail, followed by an embarrassing picture of course, we’re thinking about how this new change will be good for businesses on Twitter. Twitter has recently undertaken a lot of changes to the site, making the tweeting process a lot more interactive with polls, gifs etc. So the website is already full of opportunity for businesses, but here is how the changes to the iconic character limit can really change how businesses tweet:
- First impressions matter
Twitter is all about first impressions and users have quickly adapted to summing up what they want to say in just a few words. So the way you caption a URL can mean the difference between a potential customer clicking on your link, or scrolling past. Businesses can now caption what they share without worrying about the link itself taking up most of the word count.
- Abbreviations aren’t professional
They may help with the approachability factor, but it is hard to take a tweet seriously when it is crowded with abbreviations. Taking photos, URLs etc out of the character limit means you don’t have to worry too much about having a balance between good grammar and using different media attachments.
- Businesses risk an unfollow if they spam a user’s timeline
In small businesses, every customer matters. You may want to avoid launching a ‘tweetstorm’ on your followers (sending multiple tweets where it won’t fit in a small chunk of text). Spamming a potential customer’s timeline could lead to an unfollow, meaning that customer will no longer see your updates on their timeline.
- Tweets that include photos AND links receive 150% more engagement
Luckily this new update makes using multiple types of media easier, so companies can think strategically with the photos and links they use.
- Case studies show businesses success using twitter
Twitter is one of the most popular current websites; with case studies showing companies gaining new, interested customers just from making an account (see https://business.twitter.com/en/success-stories.html). Companies should not avoid Twitter due to it being more ‘complicated’ than Facebook, for example with the character limitations.
What do you think of the new changes to Twitter’s character limit? Twitter has also hinted that we should expect more changes, saying in a blog post that “In addition to the changes outlined above, we have plans to help you get even more from your Tweets.” Are there any changes you want from Twitter?
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