How to Increase Engagement on Twitter in One Easy Step

Twitter has announced that it is adding image previews!

As with all social media platforms, twitter is adding more rich media to it's feed.  Instead of having to expand tweets to see media, Twitter has now announced a new feature where media that can be viewed directly in the stream without clicking to view.

Sometimes we forget that Twitter is more than 140 characters, but it's beneficial to increase our use of rich media on Twitter.

On social media platforms, posts with rich media have significantly higher engagement metrics than text-only posts.  On Twitter, this could equate to more retweets, shares, favorites and mentions.

This is not an excuse to get media happy - you don't need to include graphics and video in every tweet just as you don't need to post photos and videos every time you update your Facebook status.  What it does mean, is that a strategic use of rich media in your Twitter strategy can be very beneficial in amplifying your message and getting your brand more recognition.

How Much Social Media Posting Is Too Much?

I came across a blog post by Mitch Joel today that has me a little worried.  Here's the beginning paragraph of the blog, Your Brand Is Tweeting Too Much:

"How much is too much Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest for a brand?

It's getting ugly out there. Brands and fellow agencies will often ask me the same question: how often should we be on _____________ (insert your favorite social media channel here)? In the past, research be damned, my response would typically be: so long as it's quality and your audience cares, shares and keeps on about it, don't listen to the research reports or what any pundit has to tell you. The unique pulse between and a brand and its consumers is highly personal and unique on a case-by-case basis.

I may be wrong."

Not only do I hold Mitch Joel among the most well respected digital marketing and social media marketing experts in the world, I shared his view about how frequently brands should post on their social media platforms.

All the points Mitch makes are very relevant - I certainly can't name one single friend I want to hear from 30 times a week, let alone a brand I want to have that much interaction with.

It's time to reign it in and be more judicious about my posting.  My biggest offense is without a doubt Twitter, and I ascribed to the idea that the rapidly updating feed on Twitter is more forgiving of message overload than some of the other social media channels like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Social Media: Where Do I Start?

There's no simple recipe for social media success... well there is, but it's not really a secret and it's definitely not a shortcut.

When people ask me where they should start with their social media marketing plan, I tell them to find out where their audience is and start there.  If your clients are big Twitter users, your first social media platform should be Twitter.  If your target audience is engaged on Facebook, your first social media platform should be, you guessed it, Facebook.

It's not rocket science, but it can take a little leg work.  You can do a social media analysis to see where your competitors are online, what their presence is like, and then make a judgement call as to whether or not you want to go down the same path.  You should also research where your clients are congregating and take that into consideration.

Ultimately, you'll have to tweak your social media marketing mix so that it's always reaching the target audience you define.  You may find that one or more of the social media platforms you launch doesn't fit the needs of your clients, is a waste of your resources or just isn't a good platform for your brand's message.  In that case, it may be time to throw in the social media marketing towel.