Tweets soar or flounder based on the delicate arrangement of a very few words. Certainly the most language based of the big social media, Twitter at its best can provide a huge amount of data to users in a compressed space. Research into the words in tweets that work better (more retweets, more follows, more clicks) provide good insights, and are easy to use strategies for long term success in a variety of online ‘short form’ media.
Brevity Is The Soul Of Wit
Multiple studies show that short, clean tweets fare better than their longer, messier counterpart. 100 characters is shown to be a sweet spot where tweets are carried aloft into the the expanse of popularity. Is it just a matter of using the advantage of white space against the back drop of all those hashtag ridden mega tweets? But looking at the numbers engagement goes down on both sides of the 100 character sweet spot, meaning tweets in the 50 to 70 range actually do worse than tweets over 100 characters. So the 100 characters are probably a good balance between being concise and informative.
Act Don’t Tell
The type of words used in ‘popular’ tweets provides a simple way to punch up your tweets. Simply, use more adverbs and verbs. Research shows that action and words describing actions are better than nouns and adjectives. Additionally, use your action words to get people to act. Simple action requests work, time and time again. Yes it sometimes seems gauche but don’t hesitate to zing some action verbs at your tweeters in the service of getting them to do something.
Personalize and Authorize
Wait till you see what tweaking your Twitter language can do for increased engagment. It will blow your mind. Because you see, what you need to know is, the word ‘you’ consistently appears in the most popular ‘viral’ tweet phrases.
But also, the reason why phrases like ‘the reason why’ are consistently found in popular tweets is that language that lends credence to your claims makes for more ascendant tweets. A definitive ranking of popular twitter phrases shows, use declarative phrases to bolster the authority of your words.
Simple, this
Interesting when looking at popular tweets that the word this is so ubiquitous and consistent. Some say the word this provides a concrete headspace in the mind of your reader and therefore they are more likely to focus on your whole post. Maybe too, that this consistently appears in popular tweets shows that those who have a this, a focus, a point, are more likely to engage somebody who just has a that or a who or a what.
Putting It Altogether: The Perfect Tweet
Wait Till You See This: Gently tweak your tweets and get your mind blown. Free blog post. Learn more: #thisisapowerfulword #adverbsdoitfinely #dontforgettomentionsomethingaboutdogs