Twitter is one social media channel that is not going away any time soon. After all, the hashtag first originated on Twitter and is now widely used on other social channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+. When you see commercials on TV, how often do you notice a hashtag in either the top or bottom corner? It seems like almost all TV commercials are including them nowadays.
In the business-to-business world, Twitter is used for various reasons such as participating in industry discussions or showcasing thought leadership. For instance, businesses might share feature articles, post job openings or participate in industry-based discussions with. As the number of Twitter users continues to rise (especially among businesses and B2B thought leaders) it is important to leverage the channel in your social media marketing strategy.
Twitter has completely evolved since it first started, and even more so recently. Three noteworthy Twitter trends to keep in mind are…
1. Analytics – Twitter recently introduced an analytics feature, specifically geared toward businesses. This tool measures the overall engagement your handle receives and provides insights on how to make your tweets more engaging. There is an option to review your followers in great detail, which features their top interests, other Twitter accounts they follow, and is broken down by gender and geographic location. The analytics feature also has numerous resources for Twitter Cards, which are expanded tweets that allow businesses to use more characters. Twitter analytics keep track of how your Twitter Cards drive clicks, retweets and favorites.
2. Real-time Tweeting– Were you on Twitter during the Super Bowl this year? Probably, since Super Bowl XLVIII generated 24.9 million tweets during game time! And more than half of the ads during the game featured a hashtag, inspiring more tweets and engagement from viewers. Real-time tweeting spiked during last year’s Super Bowl and continues to present itself as a hot trend. Real-time tweets have even extended to tap into breaking news, TV shows and tradeshows – just to name a few. If you are planning to attend an upcoming tradeshow, be sure to share engaging real-time tweets!
3. Emphasis on Images – Originally, only a link was present on your Twitter feed to represent an image included in a tweet, forcing users to take an extra step to view the image. Now Twitter provides inline image previews to provide an additional way to capture your followers’ attention. Visual content tends to garner more engagement on social media and now since your Twitter audience can automatically see your images, brands are sharing more.
Where is Twitter going?
Twitter is preparing for a complete re-design, providing users with a new layout. The new layout will be more of a horizontal design with a similar look and feel to Facebook’s current design. Similar to Facebook, each Twitter profile is expected to have a horizontal cover photo at the top and a square profile picture on the left.
What does this new Twitter design mean for your business?
It is more important now than ever to start providing more visual content on your Twitter account. Since the new design is expected to provide an even more visually focused layout, you want to capture your followers’ attention with compelling images and short video clips.
What are some other trends you’ve noticed on Twitter recently? Leave a comment below letting us know!