WSI www Experts Trinidad and Tobago

Sometimes it’s hard to be brief. It’s a necessity, though, for social media marketing in Trinidad and Tobago. I could have said “it’s a real challenge to keep your messages to the point”. You can see I said the same thing first, just in fewer words. If you’re crafting a tweet, keeping it to 140 characters can be difficult. Taking a complex idea and boiling it down to its simplest expression is not a natural thing for everyone. Doing it well requires more effort than you’d think.

Learning how to make adjustments to your typical way of speaking or writing takes practice. It can help your messages have more impact. There are a few basic tactics you want to use to create tweets that make your point, convey your company’s persona, and get attention, according to Marketing Profs.

Here, we’ll elaborate on some of them for you.

• Rewrite: Not everything comes out properly the first time around. Write down what you want to say, then be prepared to make adjustments and rewrite perhaps 1, 2, even 5 times if necessary. Do this often enough, and soon you’ll find you are thinking in ‘tweet form’ more easily.

• Use synonyms: Substituting a shorter word or phrase can convey the same meaning, but save several characters. Just be careful that you are using a synonym that is accurate.

For instance: be familiar with get to know (you save 9 spaces)

• Dispose of needless words: Remember, tweets don’t need to have the same flow or eloquence of other written communication, where unnecessary words are often thrown in. If a word doesn’t make the message clearer, don’t use it.

Other products that you’ll find

Other products you’ll find (you save 5 spaces)

• Use symbols and numbers: This is an easy one. Instead of writing out the word eight, use the number 8. Instead ofthree quarters of people, try 75%. Put in “&” instead of “and”.

• Use an active voice: It sounds better, and is shorter, to say consumers buy, as opposed to consumers are buying.

• Abbreviations: These can save you a lot of space, but be careful to use abbreviations that match the medium, and your company image. Remember, tweets are not texts, so no replacing the word are, with the letter r. Socialmediatodaysays, well known abbreviations that are used outside the texting world may be OK.

BTW – by the way

FYI – for your information

B/c – because

(Click the link above for their complete list)

• Shorten URL links: There are tools, like Hootsuite, that can take a long URL and shorten it dramatically.

Keeping your tweets under 140 characters allows for re-tweets in their entirety. While you want to make every effort to shorten your tweets for improved social media marketing in Trinidad and Tobago, we have one warning. Don’t sacrifice impact, or personality to do so. Sometimes a longer word or phrase, as long as it fits, can be juicier, and therefore more effective. Carefully weigh your shortening techniques with your personality and intentions.

Are you using Twitter effectively to get our messages out?

If you’d like to learn some more effective ways to tweet, or to use other social media channels for marketing, contact us today and we can develop a plan for you.

• Think of headlines that grab attention.
• Boil your message down to the most important elements
• Offer something that engages the consumer
• Tell them something new
• Provide a call to action

• It sounds simple (though many don’t complete this process) but use your full name, and include a professional image (photo).

• Write a brief, personalized headline. Include your current position.

• Add your work history. You may be tempted to include every club or activity in your past, but stick to highlighting only professional experiences. Club memberships and college activities can be included in the education section of your profile.

• Customize your LinkedIn URL. Avoid using your company name, as you may not always be there. This is done on the “Edit Profile” page. Locate the “Edit” link next to “Public Profile” at the bottom of the page. You will be taken to a new page where, on the lower right, prompts you on how to create a customized LinkedIn URL

• Customize any website URLs. Click edit next to “Additional Information”. The first section here calls for websites – the drop down menu provides options for various types of websites. Choose “other”. This enables you to enter a more specific title than what is provided.

• Ask for recommendations. One note here, sometimes the best way to get a recommendation is to write them for others. You should have at least 3 recommendations to be considered “complete”.

• Connect your Twitter account to your LinkedIn to provide a broader audience for sharing posts, discussions, and other information.

• Grow your network. Remember though, quality trumps quantity here. You are looking for connections that are in line with your industry and can help you in that arena. Do, however, connect with as many individuals fitting that bill as possible. Staying inside a small circle of contacts you already connect with regularly won’t help you spread your message, or provide you with as much new and useful insight.