Twitter’s 280 Character: How it Affects the Marketing Strategy & Is that a Boon for Marketers?
Twitter hit 68 million users in July of 2017. However, after this milestone, Twitter experienced a decline in its US user base. Twitter responded by giving users more space to tweet their opinions and concerns by moving the 140 character limit to 280. Not everyone was thrilled with this change, many people had mixed feelings. What would this change mean? Would tweets become more convoluted and watered down, or would the razor-sharp expression required for Twitters 140-character limit prevail? How would marketing be affected by the ability to be extra wordy and loquacious?
The Drawbacks
Marketers Push Back
Many marketers who’d perfected the shorter more concise tweets pushed back at the idea of doubling the character count. Many felt that longer tweets would soil the character and the identity that Twitter has as a platform, by creating short powerful messages. Many marketers felt that these short messages would be replaced by longer diluted ones that eventually lead to the downfall of the Twitter identity, which is sharp, concise, and to the point messages that carry a lot of impact.
Longer Tweets May Weaken a Strong Following
Many online marketers agree that longer tweets will draw more users. However, they also feel that the strong impassioned users will be replaced by more middle ground followers. Softer diluted tweets might cost them a hardcore following because of the inability for the message to cater to Twitter’s power users which include; news organizations, live events, journalists, politicians, and experts that brands specifically target on the platform.
Many Brands May Get Lost in the Soup
It will take both time and effort for marketers to master an increased character count and still deliver a strong powerful message. Longer tweets may even equal fewer tweets, which is not a good idea either. Although people will be able to say twice as much in a single tweet, they will have less to tweet because more information will be provided in a single tweet. Marketers will have to come up with more strategic ways to use this new feature.
It may be Difficult to Create Relevant Interesting Content
Most users aren’t excited about the prospect of reading long copy. This will be a challenge for marketers who want to take advantage of the additional character space but know it will be difficult to create copy that’s compelling enough to hold the attention of their audience over time. They will have to employ all the best and most effective strategies to churn out longer content that has the same effect as the shorter content did. In essence, it will be much more difficult to dangle a carrot to entice users to keep reading with longer copy.
The Benefits
More Users
Marketers will be positively affected by the 280 character increase when it comes to attracting more users. Twitter hopes to ultimately increase the number of users with this measure. More users will give marketers the ability to draw more followers which will ultimately be great for creating a larger customer base. However, more users mean that the ability to follow more people will be compounded. Marketers will have to fight harder to distinguish themselves and refine their voice.
Ads Will Have more Space
Marketers will have more ad space to promote their products and services. This gives marketers double the original space to put their message out and hang their shingle. This is a real opportunity for the savvy marketer. The opportunity will give marketers every opportunity to be as creative as possible in their efforts to increase business and increase their following. However, a shorter character limit may have decreased the amount that a marketer could say but it helped them to create concise, no-fat-on-the-steak messages. More room to write means more time, money, and effort to create longer content that has to be equally, if not more compelling for users to read. In a sense, more room to write creates more work and more pressure.
Marketers Have the Opportunity to Reach a Larger Market
The ability to write more creates an opportunity for marketers to significantly extend their reach to people all over the world. They will have more space to personalize their messages and zoom in on a particular target audience. This will give them the ability to be as creative as possible in their messages and content. However, with an extensive reach provided to all marketers, the competition will be fierce. It will be easy to get lost in the soup if you can’t distinguish yourself and establish a strong voice. Everyone will have the opportunity to say more. This means that marketers will have to bring their A-game to fight to gain visibility or maintain it.
More Room for Problem Solving
One obvious benefit that an increased character count will create is the ability to more effectively communicate and solve problems with customers. The 280-character count provides a vehicle to do this. If a customer launches a complaint or has a criticism, there is now a platform to more effectively and thoroughly address a concern.
Twitter’s 280-character count has raised concerns among both users and marketers. Although this change clearly presents many opportunities, many marketers feel that the changes may alter Twitter’s sharp concise identity and dilute the power of tweets and other messages. Many feel that this will result in a reduction in the number of Twitter’s power users because the messages will be softer and watered down. This, in turn, may give rise to less impassioned followers.
However, the good news is that more room to write means more opportunity to grow your following and increase your customer base. There will be challenges and a learning curve, as many marketers work to perfect the art of longer tweets that are just as effective as the short concise ones. However, it is a challenge that can be overcome and mastered because of the potential that the 280-character count will provide for motivated marketers.
