The top 10 things to know about Twitter

This week is a guest post by Karim Kanji, friend, all-around social media nerd and co-faculty member at George Brown College. Here’s Twitter in 10 points:

1. Twitter is an open and accessible public network. Users can search for content that is meaningful to them and follow users that provide this content. At any time on almost any connected device.
2. People follow three distinct types of people: those that they know, people they want to know, and people that are in the know.
3. People want to accomplish four specific things on Twitter: they want to tell their own story, they want to make TV watching more enjoyable, they want to add value to their own lives and they want to be uplifted.
4. Twitter is mobile-first. Before there was even a website, people were using Twitter via SMS. Today, 74% of Canadians who access Twitter do so via their mobile device.
5. Although a tweet has up to 140 characters, there are many different types of tweets: those with links, Photo Cards, Video Cards, Twitter Amplify, Voting Cards and even Cards that play music. All from within Twitter.
6. While there may be many different types of tweets, there are three main ad products: Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trend and the Promoted Account.
7. A Promoted Tweet is a tweet that is supported by media dollars. A person or brand would promote their tweet to reach specific users at the right moment (think of a brand that is promoting an event, deal, or product/service). They want to reach their audience at just the right moment.
8. A Promoted Account is when media dollars are put up to promote a person’s or brand’s “@account”. This is the ideal way to generate engaged followers for your Twitter account. A brand might promote their account just before a product launch, a big announcement or a sale.
9. A Promoted Trend is when a brand wants to generate mass awareness. When Tim Horton’s launched their yearly “Roll Up The Rim” campaign, they invested heavily in mass advertising. Included in this was an investment in #RollUpTheRimToWin as the Promoted Trend of the day on Twitter in Canada.
10. There is no one correct set of rules on engagement. What works for one person might not work for another. What works for your competitor’s brand may not work for your brand. Thus, one must be willing to experiment to find the correct voice and cadence. Don’t be afraid to fail. Embrace the opportunity to not just seed content with your audience but to embrace the opportunity to learn and to be inspired.