Category: Twitter

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Twitter Syntax Explained – What’s .@ and More

Twitter Syntax Explained
Twitter Syntax Explained

If you use Twitter you may already know some of the special syntax uses, but if you are a newbie or just want a refresher, here are a few explanations about what it is you may see in front of a tweet.

MT@mccordweb

Here you have modified a tweet written by us mccordweb or for that matter any Twitter handle can be inserted. It is nice to let your audience know that you started with someone else’s tweet and modified it.

Etiquette states that if you like something you leave the originating @ twitter handle in your tweet so others know where the credit is due.

RT@mccordweb

In this case you have retweeted something that I or another Twitter account has written. See MT if you change the retweet.

.@mccordweb

In this case you are directing Twitter to show your response and post it on the mccordweb page. Without the . in front of the @ your message will not be posted for all to see.

@mccordweb

In this case only people who follow me will see my response in a threaded conversation format.  Spammers like to use this to force a post to your page which is also why Twitter enacted who sees @ messages by default an hence the need for an .@ message.

#KeyWord or #SearchTerm

Want to draw attention to something in your tweet or to categorize it for others use a # with no spaces or dashes between words. This morning I posted this: It is 9:38 AM Saturday morning and the #Hostway website is down taking my site with it. Within minutes I had responses with others looking for news on Hostway. You can also use the search function in many third party apps and at Twitter to see trending news that is tagged with hashtags (#).

We like to use a hashtag for keywords in social media and all platforms accept the # sign now even Facebook and Google+.

#FF

This means Follow Friday. This is a day where you list people that you like to follow using the @ sign with their handle. So your tweet would look like #FF @mccordweb, @nancymccord – great content and nice to chat wiith.

#USA

Twitter allows the use of hashflags. By using # and then a country code Twitter will actually show the country’s flag icon in your message.

You can do a search on Twitter for #HashFlags to see all the images.

Favorite

Now instead of responding to users when they retweet your message you favorite the tweet instead. This gives the person who has retweeted you additional exposure on your own profile.

If you’ve got something else to add to help inform our readers, make sure to click the comment button and leave your favorite tip. If you need help updating your Twitter account make sure to check out our Twitter writing services.

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Social Media and the Invisibility Problem

“Very few of your fans see your content in their news feed and even fewer people are seeking out your page. This is yet another reason you’re better off linking to your campaigns from everywhere.” Read the full article.

Be Strategic About Social Media - We Are!
Be Strategic About Social Media – We Are!

In a nutshell, the above quote is why I like clients to use a variety of social media for promoting their content and the reason why it is important to have a strategic plan on how you will be promoting the content that is written.

Today social media is much more than Facebook, it is about connecting on a variety of platforms, blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, and your website. With our new social media programs for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn we work to create a strategy that is not Facebook-centric but rather works synergistically with your website and your social message.

Our social media specialists decide topics we will use for the week or month and focus on what hashtags and focus we will take across all the platforms we write for in your project. With cross-linking and cohesive hashtagging across properties, we strive to build more than just likes to a Facebook page, but rather a cohesive message across all platforms that helps to win you additional online exposure.

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New Social Media Services

Grow prospects into customers with social media updates.
Grow prospects into customers with social media updates.

Social Media has now become an important part of every business’ overall marketing program. Search engines and site visitors consider social media activity important and are site visitors are using the ability to share content with others using these platforms; making participation in social networks more meaningful for businesses. As a result to keep up with current trends, our social media programs are being improved to serve your needs better.

We have hired special social media specialists to curate the content that is used for social media and have employed specialized content writers to write your updates. We think that you will find that over the last several weeks to month that the content for your social media networks has improved to be more meaningful and targeted for your own audience. For Facebook, our content is now standardized to show around 50 to 60 words in each update. We have already started to supply content with these new parameters.

Social Media Rates 

Facebook Gold – $15 per day for two updates five days a week

Facebook Silver – $8 per day for one update five days a week

Twitter Gold – $22 per day for five updates five days a week

Twitter Silver – $14 per day for three updates five days a week

New – Twitter Bronze – $9 per day for two updates five days a week

Google+ Silver – $8 per day for one update five days a week

LinkedIn Silver – $9 per day for one update five days a week – specially curated by Nancy McCord

We even offer low budget services with our Minimalist Program.

The Minimalist – $260 Per Four Week Month

Just for clients who have existing Facebook and Twitter profiles and simply want to budget a small amount of money to maintain these platforms; so as to have up-to-date content when prospects click in from their website, we have created a program for these special needs. Please note, we do not recommend this program level for follower growth or for best practices, it is a simple maintenance only program.

We can provide Facebook and Twitter account updates. Updates will consist of status updates, links to articles, updates pointing to items on your website you sell as products or services, and interesting informational content that builds value for readers.

Included in our Minimalist Level is the following:

  • Three statuses per work week for your Facebook Business Page on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Updates are typically 50 to 55 words long.
  • Five tweets per work week for your Twitter account; one tweet a day Monday through Friday.

Please note at the Minimalist Level you will incur a onetime $50 set up fee to connect your existing Facebook and Twitter accounts to our writer’s control panel in our corporate HootSuite account.

Find out more about our Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn update services.

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What’s the Best Length for a Tweet?

Shorter may be better and get more attention - sometimes
Shorter may be better and get more attention – sometimes.

What’s the perfect sized tweet? Is 140 characters too much? Who says that a longer tweets are better, are they really? In an article found online at Buffer, I’ve found what one author says is the perfect length for everything. But are those tips and suggestions right?

Here’s my personal recommendations on what works best for Twitter based on what I have seen and customer response.

Twitter – what’s the perfect tweet length?
Although Twitter only let’s you enter in 140 characters including spaces do you ever wish you had more room? Sure, but less room? Kevan Lee says the perfect tweet is 100 characters and that these short tweets get 17% more engagement. I have to say that from my experience tweets that are this short typically are teasers for videos, spam, or sharable quotes.

Does that mean that you should start shortening your tweets? I say no, but make your tweets work harder by linking or pointing to something meaningful to your audience. If you have a great link to share and can be concise with a great teaser in 100 characters, go for it, but if you need more room insert your link early in the tweet to see just how much space you’ll have to sell it.

Sometimes shorter IS better.