The perfect timing of tweets

Published February 10, 2015 at 7:37 am

Marketing automation tools create consistency for a brand’s message across different platforms. On Twitter especially, writing new messages regularly keeps followers engaged and interested. However, it’s important that news-related tweets are posted at the correct time and do not feel dated. Once you have sent out a tweet, that tweet should stay marked with its one particular timestamp forever.

This is part of the advice that Matt Kapko gives to Twitter users in CIO. Tweets are of the moment, and if one doesn’t get the response you plan, your best bet is to come up with a new one, rather than focus too much on promoting that one tweet. Reposting goes against the grain of a successful Twitter strategy, he says, and makes the company look desperate and inexperienced.

“Twitter should not be used as a repository for everything you do on social media sites,” he writes. “Don’t repost every single picture you upload to Facebook or every check-in from Swarm or Yelp. That’s unbearably annoying.”

Paying attention to timing also means holding back on a tweet if it could be misconstrued due to a pressing current event. The Netflix series House of Cards has come under some criticism for tweeting a promotional image involving a fake train accident that happened to coincide with a real one.

On the other hand, tweets that are scheduled properly can make a brand seem relevant and informed of what’s happening in the news. If a company knows something big, like the Super Bowl, is on the way, it could prepare some special messages to go out that day.

By making good judgments and following the best online practices, organizations can use Twitter campaigns to drive business to their websites, where they can learn more about them.