Testing The Timelessness Of Your Twitter Shares
I hate to see Twitter used improperly. As it’s my favorite social media platform, and the place I spend most of my networking and content curation time, it really grinds my gears to see the prolific promotion of out of date information and ideas.
Evergreen Erodes Over Time!
The idea that content can be timeless is great. But we’re too quick to tie a bow on what we consider evergreen, ever valuable content.
Here’s the deal. Evergreen trees are living things. Yes, they live long and fruitful lives. But they don’t live forever.
Same goes for your content! It isn’t immortal. Your content is going to eventually lose life and luster.
It ain’t evergreen forever!
I Thought This Article Was About Twitter?!?!
It is, it is. I promise. But it’s also about how you share content with Twitter.
The fast pace and short shelf life of a tweet often causes sloppy sharing, and that really bugs me. It seems to me that when you’re trying to make the most impact in the shortest time frame, you should take the time to share smartly. To me that’s just common sense.
When you’re attempting to showcase expertise and knowledge, it’s imperative that every link you share actually brings value when it’s clicked and read.
So, you might ask, how do I ensure that my shares are smart and savvy and seriously showcase my value to my audience?
READ Before You Share. EVERY TIME!
When it comes to ensuring you’re not sharing sadly out of date information, there’s one single, simple, golden rule. READ before you retweet!
No matter how trusted the author or site, you’ve still got to vet the content for viability and value before you spread it around.
Firehose? Face Feed Fallout!
My Twitter feed is a fast, frenzied, frenetic place. And I love it!
What I don’t love so much? Seeing your smug mug taking over a full screen of my feed that spans minutes, sometimes even seconds.
Spread that shizz out, tweeps!
When you scatter-shoot your shares this type of “hey, see how often I’m tweeting” fashion you make it hard for your audience to deduce which of the shares is worthy of the click. You create confusion and frustration. Do you generally choose to do business with someone who leaves you confused and frustrated?
I’d bet the answer is a big, fat NO!
Tweet For Twitter!
That might sound a little simple and you might want to call me Captain Obvious, but hear me out.
How often do you see a tweet that’s 140 full characters of hashtag frenzy, plus a shortened link.
#every #word #has #a #hashtag
What the heck is the article about? You can’t read the title in the link, as it’s been shortened to allow for more hashtag hurrah!
If you want your tweets to target your audience in a timely fashion, you need to ensure you take the time to craft that tweet.
I dare say that crafting a terrific tweet, a tweet that draws clicks and prompts retweets, is an art form. It takes skill, testing, trial and tribulation.
So, Can Tweets Really Be Timeless?
Yes and no. I know, the only worse answer is “it depends.”
One of the best things about Twitter is its speed. That speed means it’s often a-okay-hunky-dory to share an article or an idea more than once. In a smart fashion, of course.
But when you’re using Twitter as a means to promote the content you’ve created, which is one of the main reasons many of us interact on Twitter, you have to factor in the timelessness of your content before you can calculate the timelessness of your tweet.
Content care (content audits, rewrites, reposts, etc.) goes hand in hand with creating a great Twitter strategy.
If you want to fill your Twitter feed with timely and timeless content that creates trust and respect for your expertise, you’ve got to create a content strategy that keeps that content timely, valuable and viable.
So?!?! Was this article about Twitter or content marketing?
Both. They go hand in hand!