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For as much mindless tripe as Twitter makes available to us, there seems to be an equal amount of business outreach value. If used strategically, that is.
Conceptually, Twitter is no more complex a communication tool than the breakroom bulletin board, a central place to post things for as many people as possible to see.
Twitter announced that new features are in the works intended to expand the depth of content that can be delivered in a single tweet.
These new capabilities combined with a couple of crafty tactics can make Twitter a much more effective way for real estate agents to broadcast listing information.
Conceptually, Twitter is no more complex a communication tool than the breakroom bulletin board.
Character count
Pictures, videos and other visuals will no longer count against your character limit. Even Twitter polls.
This means agents can tweet a picture or video of a new listing and have more characters to hashtag sunny nooks and spa baths.
Agents will also be able to reply with more information because the “@replyname” will be excluded from character limits.
A good use case would be to poll followers on their initial impressions of a listing’s curb appeal.
Users will now be able to retweet and quote themselves.
Agents can use this to strategically repeat announcements or slightly alter tweet text to test message tenacity.
As someone who likes to hear himself talk, I can’t wait for this to become active.
[Tweet “Users will now be able to retweet and quote themselves.”]
@Who?
If starting a tweet with a specific Twitter handle, users will no longer be obligated to use the ubiquitous “@” sign. The tweet will still reach all of your followers.
In a coming special report on real estate agents and social media led by our local Kiwi, Gill South, respondents said that Twitter is most often used in conjunction with other media. That is, to promote blogs and websites and the like.
These new features could lead to changing that.
Just over 46 percent reported that Twitter is used to promote their business.
In addition to these new features, which evolved from a long-time study of how users evolved the tool’s intentions, there are other existing ways to expand the amount of content that can be sent.
Younger Twitter users have ignited a trend of using Apple’s Notes app to type extended messages that can be attached as a screenshot to a tweet.
This could help agents use Twitter in a unique, nontraditional way to fully promote a listing and push readers to listing pages.
[Tweet “Are you using the Apple Notes app to add more text to tweets?”]
Careful, though. A screenshot of a static note cements typos and misrepresentations. You can delete the tweet of course, but then you erode the impact.
Granted, at some point, Twitter’s namesake brevity and valuable immediacy will diminish if users are constantly yearning for more room to talk. The company resisted the urge to expand its character count to 10,000. At that point, would it cease to be Twitter? (Blather? Ramble?)
If you’re only a partial user of Twitter, or merely depend on it to bolster other social media efforts, these updates are for you.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.
