Social Media

Twitter ends automation – how marketers are affected

As the marketing world digests Twitter’s crackdown on automation – I must admit I’m feeling rather excited about the changes. OK, so automation has become our best friend. It’s loved by time-saving marketing gurus across the world but changes to TweetDeck and the Twitter API could actually result in a lot more interesting content circulating the web.

Before I delve into the wealth of exciting opportunities that lie ahead, let’s first examine the updated Twitter rules and regulations. Here’s what we’re not allowed to do anymore:

Simultaneously post identical or substantially similar content to multiple accounts.

Select multiple accounts on TweetDeck through which to perform an action such as tweeting, retweeting, liking, or following.

Schedule tweets to multiple accounts or use any other kind of automation.

Flood a trending topic with multiple tweets using the same hashtag with the intent to subvert or manipulate the topic.

Artificially inflate the prominence of a hashtag so that it becomes a trending topic.

Why the clampdown? Well, this is Twitter’s bid to improve online communication, eliminate spam and cut down on fake accounts. They’re also trying to stay ahead of malicious activity and prevent you from overusing hashtags in an attempt to sway public opinion about popular topics – think the US election and all the talk of Russian bots using Twitter to influence the outcome. Their reasons are clear and they mean business.

All changes must be implemented by 23 March 2018. Failure to comply could result in the suspension of associated applications and Twitter accounts.

The benefits of TweetDeck

The end of automation on Twitter does not mean the end of effective social media marketing. Indeed, TweetDeck is still one of the most useful social media management tools out there, so what are the benefits? TweetDeck allows you to:

See all accounts in one place

With TweetDeck, you don’t have to sign in and out of various accounts or switch between pages. Essentially, you can see multiple timelines from one easy-to-use interface.

It’s highly customisable allowing you to create columns depending on your business and tweeting needs. This helps you to see particular information which interests you such as tweets from a specific hashtag or trend. Columns can also show all your mentions or the results from a search query. You may add as many columns as you want for each profile.

Filter out unwanted content

Time is of the essence when it comes to marketing and TweetDeck allows you to filter out unwanted content, authors or sources. For example, you could add #Trump as a filter to stop tweets with that hashtag from clogging up your news stream. Of course, this particular hashtag is just a suggestion and is not designed to sway public opinion (you can’t be too careful these days now, can you?).

The future of Twitter – new opportunities

Marketing evolves at a rapid rate and it’s important to keep up with the times. Automation’s out on Twitter – so what’s next? Well, now’s the time to give each profile a facelift; to generate new content and make the social media platform even more engaging than it already is. It’s a time to promote your company/business ventures in the best light by generating unique material that’s not simply retweeted from a different account.

Each account deserves:

·        Its own character and identity – adapt your tone of voice accordingly

·        Its own follower list comprised of people interested in what’s being posted

·        Unique tweets. Unique engagement. Unique interaction with loyal followers

In my honest and humble opinion, the future of Twitter looks bright. Not because we have to put more effort in these day but because our efforts will hopefully breathe life into accounts that were previously just clinging onto the back of others. The new Twitter rules will also cut down on bots and fake accounts meaning that the content you see is likely to be more thoughtful and genuine – not rehashed for malicious purposes.

If you need help managing and monitoring your Twitter accounts effectively –chat to me here.

Letters

March 31, 2018