Twitter Tips
Dominican University
Office of Marketing &
Communications

Quick Facts
• Twitter has seen exponential growth in
users since its inception in 2006.
• It has 250 million+ users worldwide, with
about 60 million in the United States.
• According to some sources, Twitter
surpassed Facebook as the preferred social
media platform of teens in 2013.
• Highly mobile: ¾ of use primarily via devices

Basic Functions
• Interactive and instantaneous
• Users and organizations share updates,
photos and short videos instantly
• "Favorite," "Re-tweet" or "Reply"
• Platform for two-way dialogue between an
organization and those who follow it
• Second-by-second accounting of what the
world is talking about at any moment

Twitter as News Platform
• Users customize/curate to get info only from
outlets they prefer.
• Natural fit for sharing and receiving breaking
news updates and visuals.
• The 140-character forces clarity & linking
• Share news & events from your organization!
• Promote events in advance and repeatedly,
but craft carefully and don’t spam.

Composing Effective Tweets
• Optimize tweets to pack a punch, be visible
and be shareable
• Short, punchy headlines that stand out
• While limit is 140 characters, use fewer:
– 140-(3+ # of characters in your handle)
– The 3 characters are for “RT ”, enabling others
to RT your full message without losing info
– Going even shorter to allow others to append
their own short message to yours when RTing

#Hashtags
• Cut through & organize information barrage
• Add # symbol in front of keywords that are
meaningful to folks in your industry.
• Turns word into a link your followers can
click on to see others using same hashtag
• Allows for meaningful shared experiences
by strangers united by common interests
• Ex. #DUgrad2014, #DUaw2014 #DUbound

Sharing Links
• Share links to info, news and other content
interesting to your audience, whether it
comes from your organization or not
• Pack long URLs into short updates by using
a link-shortening tool
– bit.ly, is.gd, ow.ly
– Shrink your long URL into custom short URLs
that won’t eat as far into your 140 characters

Sharing Photos
• Third-party services allow uploading media
& sharing via a generated link
• Recently began integrating photos more
cleanly into users’ public timelines
– When uploaded through the Twitter.com
interface—photos now display automatically
– If you have a great photo to share, take time to
upload it through the Twitter.com interface

Sharing Videos
• Share 6-second videos through Vine
– Video “snapshots” providing a glimpse inside
• If your video is longer, upload it to YouTube
or other service and share a shortened link
– When you do, let people know by including the
word Video or VIDEO: in your update

Spread the Love
• Conversation is two-way—don’t just “push”
• Demonstrate that you value your followers
– RT updates relevant to your followers
– Favorite tweets w/ good insights or that
mention you positively, or reply to say thx
– Give credit where credit is due. Share &
acknowledge good content by RTing or giving a
shout-out (s/o) or other credit (“via,” “thx to”)
• At DU, help others spread their good news

Using Apps
• Few users interact via twitter.com
• Most people use apps
– HootSuite, TweetDeck, Sprout
– iPhone or Android device apps
– Allow organization of streams into categories
– A practical necessity when following hundreds
or thousands of others

Integration w/ Other Platforms
• Can cross-publish with FB, G+, Instagram
• Doing so is not recommended
• OK for sharing emergency info, but for
most, tailor message to the platform:
– 140+ characters is ok on FB but not Twitter
– Tweet using a @handle will look silly on FB
– Instagram pics look strange on other platforms
• Think “narrowcasting,” not “broadcasting.”

Scheduling Tweets
• Users aren’t only online 9-5
• Some platforms & services allow scheduling
– Allows consistent posting & promotion of events
occurring during off-hours, such as weekends
– Use common sense, and be mindful
– Can’t "Set it and forget it”

Contact
• Contact omc@dom.edu with any questions
about social media.