ICYMI – For Best Results, Don’t Say ICYMI on Twitter

06.04.14

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Everyone loves when their tweets are retweeted, favorited, shared or mentioned – because Twitter, by nature, is a social medium. Whether sharing your opinion on pop culture, or advocating for a policy issue, Twitter users aim for the same goal: engagement. Think you know what works? Recently, Google and Cornell University took a closer look at Twitter engagement and determined the most successful practices proven to increase engagement across accounts. They say it is important to develop a brand, and recommend sticking to your style if you want your content shared more often. That doesn’t  mean you need be boring by parroting the same message over and over, but signals that being known for something helps engagement – and being all over the map does not.

While some of their other tips may be obvious (be informative and useful, rather than vague and bland), others aren’t necessarily what you would expect. Their research also tells us: don’t use ICYMI! It insinuates that what follows is old news and no longer pertinent. The findings from this study provide a data-backed, methods-based approach for keeping your Twitter account fresh and engaging – while avoiding talking only to yourself. Other findings? Say “please,” but not “thanks,” and to grab your readers’ attention, think of your tweets like a news headline.