If you have not heard by now, the news is that Twitter has added a new innovation to its platform. It has activated its 280-Character which was on trial in September to almost everyone. It might have taken longer than expected but it’s here so feel free to salivate on its potential for your online efforts. As a business or marketer, the time couldn’t be more right.

This blog explores how the 280-character innovation from Twitter can help position your brand much better with your content online. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Wait a minute, you may be wondering why the sudden change of heart from the ‘little bluebird’ team. The simple answer to that question can be found in a post by Aliza Rosen and Ikuhiro Ihara, “We want every person around the world to easily express themselves on Twitter, so we’re doing something new: we’re going to try out a longer limit, 280 characters, in languages impacted by cramming which is all except Japanese, Chinese, and Korean”

From research, Twitter realized that tweets sent in Japanese have 140 characters (only 0.4%). But in English, a much higher percentage of tweets have 140 characters (9%). Most Japanese tweets are 15 characters while most English Tweets are 34. The research revealed that character limit was a major frustration for people tweeting in English, but not for those in Japanese. So, in a nutshell, Twitter wants more of its audience in English speaking areas to tweet more. Such a problem is alien to their competitors like Facebook.

As a business or a marketer, what does this mean for your content creation and social media efforts? These are a few things you can take more advantage of with the given 280 characters;

Tweet Persuasively

During the tyranny of 140 characters, most marketers and salespersons had to cram their choice of words. Some pick dictionaries to look up synonyms of words to replace a word without losing the emotional impact of a message.

Writing short and in brevity is good but if it lacks the urge to cause your customers to take action then what is the point. To be persuasive in the reign of the 280-characters means that you get to connect with your target audience better emotionally.

The very easiest way to ensure this is to elaborate on that number one pain and problem. Talk about it more and talk about the consequences of that problem, on areas of their life and business. This serves two purposes. One, it holds their attention to you, gradually forgetting what they were doing before they came across your tweet. They will naturally get excited because you are showing them you understand their need, pain and you can help them.

Express Yourself! Drop Shorthand and Jargons

With 140-character meant that many marketers had to put shorthands at work most often. Those who avoided the short handwriting had to fall on the use of technical words or jargons to sell their products or communicate with their audience. In all scenarios, it was not beneficial to the marketer.

You should feel relieved to drop the jargons and instead focus on tweets that contain more action words for stronger, compelling tweets. The most basic trick in accomplishing this is by tweeting just like you speak, simple! With 280- characters you can take your time and address problems of your customers better without missing essential words.

The most common words that engage audiences are simple everyday words according to research by Ripenn.com. These words are often imperative words that tell the audience to do something. Some of such words included “like, see, make, look”. Again, it found out that superlative words like “the most” and “the best” and “blow your mind.” drives in more engagement with the post that contains them.


Focus More On Your Tone and Voice

With great power comes great responsibility! Social media is all about being social, engaging and being friendly in offering a helping hand to your audience. Your brand’s personality often described with adjectives is your brand voice. This means that you should position your brand in a manner that your customers will engage positively. Your tone online which is a subset of your voice should always be geared towards understanding your audience. This you can do by placing every engagement effort in the right context.

Tell Your Story – Create Credibility and Trust

According to Seth Godin, “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories that you tell.” With 280-characters in your grasps, it’s time to tell the story of your business or product.

In telling it, remember to tell it quickly and in a way, that serves the purpose of creating credibility and trust. Remember, your audience pain and be a helping hand to them by providing solutions. You can cite some authorities and evidence of your credentials or something that makes you an expert.

These often make your audience truly understand you and they become open and receptive to you on twitter. Your tweet should not be boring during the reign of 280-character.

In conclusion, there is a raging argument out there and mixed feeling towards twitter’s new innovation. Wherever you find yourself on the debate table, as a marketer you should always remember that your customers come first.

Twitter has shown that it listens. They did this by conducting a research into their audience needs and addressed it comprehensively. Yes, other needs may be on the table of customers but they have addressed a concern many had with their platform.

As a business or a marketer, what are your thoughts on the 280-characters? How will you take advantage of it? What are your takeaways from this blog? Share your thoughts with us in the comment session.