Animal organizations have limited time and staff resources to spend on social media. Should they spend any of it on Twitter?
Twitter has changed a great deal in the last year or so. It now displays photos, even multiple photos, in the timeline, making it look like Facebook but with shorter posts.
It's revamped its sharing feature so that re-Tweets can be commented on by the sharer without eating into the 140-character limit.
It's revised profile pages so they look more like… well, Facebook… allowing organizations to create a more professional and appealing landing page for Twitter audiences checking them out.
It even recommends accounts to its members, potentially growing your follower base with no effort required on your part.
But beyond those and other Twitter innovations, it also offers some advantages over Facebook, Pinterest, and other platforms. See if any of these might be helpful to your organization:
1. Media and public figure reach. While some famous Tweeters are out of reach other than through an army of publicists — yes, you can stop trying to Tweet Ellen now — local media, many businesses, and less Internet-famous celebs can often be reached best with a few thoughtful Tweets. This can generate buzz and coverage of your available pets, fundraisers, and adoption events.
2. More frequent posts are welcome. Facebook starts to clamp down on organic reach — the number of your followers you can reach without paying — if they perceive your posting frequency to be "spammy." Posting more than once or twice a day can have negative impact on Facebook reach, but Tweeting up to eight times a day can actually make you more successful on Twitter. Even sharing the same links or appeals multiple times, as long as they're worded somewhat differently and especially if they have photos, can drive more traffic on the second or third Tweet than the first. Just keep at least one hour between Tweets.
3. RTs are easy… just ask! While there's increased reluctance on Facebook to share, and Facebook will actually reduce reach on posts that ask for shares, on Twitter, requesting a re-Tweet is both very successful and effective in spreading your message.
Also of interest:
10 Twitter best practices for nonprofits
Strategies for Effective Tweeting: A statistical review