Visuals and Videos win if you want more ReTweets

We thought this research worth sharing since it's completed by Twitter's own data scientist Douglas Mason. It suggests which types of content marketing via Twitter may be more effective. Mason examined millions of Tweets from verified users (that's big brands and celebs) to see whether some types of Tweets receive more engagement than others.

So, what impacts Twitter engagement?

Is it the hashtag, video, tweet containing a digit, a quote or photo? His findings discovered that there are differences by industry and as expected, they do boost retweets. Though which are more impactful than others? on average, sharing photos boosts engagement more, followed  by videos and quotes.   Access the full research via Twitter's blog where you can select the effect for different media sectors.…

Will Digits displace other email address-based user sign-in and authentication methods?

Importance: [rating=5] Recommended link: Twitter Blog Digits announcement This is another interesting piece of new jargon and associated tech that marketers need to ‘get their heads around’. Here’s a summary of my understanding. I’ve also gone a bit beyond the ‘copy and paste’ summaries of other announcements by digging out a couple of case study examples of brands already using Digits which show how important this could be as part of the overall digital marketing ecosystem. This is why I have unusually rated its importance as 5/5! 1. Digits is a new method of signing on to mobile apps and websites developed by Twitter. Twitter says it will reduce ‘friction’, enabling users to sign in to apps more readily. 2. Digits works by signing in with mobile numbers and confirming using an SMS . It’s similar to two-step…

Just head to http://analytics.twitter.com when signed-in

Importance: [rating=4] Recommended link: Twitter Analytics Previously Twitter's analytics service has been limited to advertisers, but that changed this week with an announcement via Twitter:

Absolutely thrilled to open up access to http://t.co/wcU6oj9hFM to EVERYONE. Check it out, and let us know what you think!

— Ian Chan (@chanian) August 27, 2014

How to access Twitter analytics?

Just as it says in the title to this article, if you're already signed into Twitter in your browser, if you go to http://analytics.twitter.com. There is no registration process, but a little bizarrely, you just have to access the dashboard URL and you should then see updates. Until then you will just see a blank dashboard: For more information on what you can see in Twitter's analytics see this post from Twitter introducing the Twitter Analytics dashboard. Enjoy! This is…

How Twitter is killing '2 birds with 1 stone' with its new mobile app promotions

One of the biggest names in social media has finally joined the mobile marketing revolution. After Facebook announced that almost half of its revenue now comes from mobile ad sales, Twitter made the wise decision to revamp their mobile app to increase their revenue opportunities from advertisers. In April, the company announced an app install suite which takes advantage of their previous acquisition of MoPub in order to allow advertisers to reach their audience both on and off site. The new interface will allow for the marketing of other apps, giving users the opportunity to initiate an app download on their phone from within a tweet.

Meeting industry demands

By creating the ability to promote apps within their app, Twitter has given advertisers everything they need to capitalize on an ever growing market.  Now more than ever, people are connecting…

3 big changes to your Twitter profile are now live

Importance: [rating=5]

Recommended link: Twitter blog post announcing Profile Changes

23rd April update. We first alerted about this change to Twitter profiles on 10th April, when the rollout was promised "over the next few weeks". Well, a fortnight later and the rollout appears complete since this banner prompting users to update their profile has now been reported at the top of many profiles including ours.

If you take a look at the requirements for imagery, they are:

Brand ident (on left) of 400px by 400 pxMain pic of 1500px by 500px

Background and examples of the new Twitter profile

Over the next few weeks, Twitter will be making a big change to the layout of each profile page. These will be available…

4 quick tips for shorter, successful social updates

My dream is to open a clothing store for online marketers. So content marketers can wear t-shirts with the slogan "I repurposed this from a blog post". And copywriters will proudly declare "I kept it short".

Short is beautiful in the online world.

Though that's not quite correct. The right length for text depends on many factors. But if you can make your text shorter while communicating the same message, then that's a good thing.

Why?

Because you don't have a lot of time to capture attention and draw people into and through your text...whether it's a blog post or a product description, email copy or a sales page.

Cutting text down is a particular issue when you have a character limit or space is at a premium, such as with a Tweet or subject line. It's one of the many topics I cover in a new Smart Insights video…

3 tools to find out the most popular and relevant topics

Before we look at tools for finding the best hashtags for twitter growth, I thought it best to explain what a hashtag is (I still often get asked this when talking to clients): A hashtag is simply a way for people to label and search for social media updates. It may be a trending topic such as #cybermonday or a campaign-specific label such as a discount or campaign name.  In most social networks if you click on the hashtag you see updates where others have used it. Hashtags originated on Twitter, but their popularity means that they're now ubiquitous across social networks as this History of Hashtags shows. Hashtags can help get your message across and engage your audience in a concept. For example, we recommended Smart Insights used #PlanToSucceed as a hashtag to highlight the importance of planning and to…

A briefing and examples of how to use Twitter Cards to boost leads and sales

With the recent Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Twitter on the New York Stock Exchange,  there has been a great deal of attention on the micro-blogging site and how it plans to increase its profitability (likely through advertising) to satisfy hungry investors. Although there has been much publicity regarding the company's recent move to preview images directly within a timeline feed (seemingly a move to court advertisers who can push their brands more), the introduction of 'Twitter Cards' in June 2012 seems to have gone almost unnoticed and still represents a missed opportunity for brands and bloggers alike who are yet to take advantage of them.

Twitter cards

The power of Twitter cards cannot be overstated. Twitter says: ;They make it possible for you to attach media experiences to Tweets that link to your…

Twitter opens its advertising to small and medium businesses in UK, Ireland and Canada and adds custom timelines worldwide

Importance: [rating=5] Recommended link: Twitter blog With the virtual ink barely dry on the Twitter IPO, Twitter has sought to increase its revenue per user from advertising by offering its Promoted Accounts, Tweets and Trends products to smaller businesses in a limited number of countries outside the US - we will update readers when more countries are added. If you had previously tried to sign up via this form you would have seen a minimum monthly spend of $10,000, but this has now been removed, opening up more competition within the ad auction.

Ten things you need to know about Twitter's new advertising options

So this is big news for many small businesses, particularly those such as B2B companies whose audiences tend to…

4 steps to encouraging influencers for your Twitter campaigns

Influencers are vital to the success of your Twitter campaign. But exactly who are they, why do they matter and how can they be identified? Whether you’re a retail outlet or a business professional, a school or a mail order business, being on Twitter presents a challenge. It’s a conversational platform where you’re supposed to talk to your customers. But how are conversations going to drive sales? And who has the time to have online conversations with hundreds or thousands of individual customers? And that’s where Twitter is misunderstood. You don’t actually need to talk to a lot of people, you simply need to talk to the right people: People your target audience follow People your target audience engage with and respond to. These people are known as influencers. When you talk to an influencer on Twitter, it’s like sitting on stage and having a public conversation…