Have you ever struggled to shorten the length of your tweets? If you own a Twitter account, you’ve probably stared at your screen, weighing the pros and cons of each comma before hacking your oversized social media masterpiece.
Sure, Twitter is great for quickly skimming the posts of your favorite accounts. But what about those times when you’d like to say more than those 140 characters allow? Don’t fret, there still are ways to get your point across.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your tweets:
Don’t state the obvious.
If you’re slimming down an oversized tweet, the first thing to consider cutting is the obvious call to action. It’s understood that links are shared because the sender wants the reader to open them. Save the “click here” text for the places where space isn’t so limited.
Build value out of each part of your tweet.
Are you tweeting the most important points of the link you’re sharing? Don’t be afraid of giving the milk away for free when all you’re doing is showing where the dairy is. Our minds like being stimulated, so the posts that stand out from the crowd and make us think are more likely to keep us engaged. This valuable information is exactly what will make your audience thirsty for more.
Break up information overflow.
When discussing more elaborate themes, a best practice is to condense long and complicated ideas into separate tweets. Not only does this make your content more digestible, but it gives your tweets a higher probability of being seen.
Find supporting images.
Is there a descriptive image, quote or infographic that can elaborate further on what you’re saying? Include it in your tweet! Attaching photos uses up some character space (23 as of January 2014), but can be worth 1,000 more when the image tells your story correctly.
Use Twitter cards.
Twitter cards offer a great way to share rich media with your followers. Without sacrificing too much space, Twitter cards let site’s users provide a link description, build an email list or guide a sales funnel.
How do you slim down your tweets’ length? Tell us about it in the comments!
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