I remember the first time I saw the
“view summary” link on twitter. I was scrolling through my news feed, when I
noticed a post from Fox News that made me stop and click. The tweet in question,
normally limited to 140 characters, expanded to a paragraph long synopsis of
the accompanying article with an thumbnail image attached. I thought it was
brilliant!
Finally, I can get more
details on a story before I decide if it is worth clicking on the link and redirecting
to the full-length article.
Months later when I became involved
with my company’s social media strategy, I researched the “expanded tweet”
further and discovered there was a name for it: “twitter cards.” Eureka!
Twitter announced this new system in
June 2012 and it has become a valuable marketing tool for many developers
since. According to the company, twitter cards are beneficial to developers by allowing
more control over displayed content, driving traffic to the site, and
increasing the number of people following twitter accounts though content
attribution – a great claim made by the social network with an
even greater following.
Twitter’s following climbed by over 14% in 2012 to
reach 36.3 million active members. With Americans using Twitter more often, I
believe businesses that want to build brand exposure and grab consumers’
attention should consider a tool that makes exposure to extra content effortless
and enjoyable.
Twitter card users may choose
between three types to optimize the experience: Player cards display tweet
sized videos, summary cards display a title, description, thumbnail and Twitter
account attribution, and photo cards display tweet sized photos.
Have you considered twitter cards
to enhance your messaging strategy?
Twitter cards are not open to
everyone with a website, yet. Hopefuls (like myself) must first apply and then wait
for Twitter to decide whether or not
their website and content is thoughtful enough to be worthy. The good news is
that plug ins for word press users are now easy to find and can help streamline
the application process.
Have you already been approved by
Twitter?
TweetDeck, the Twitter dashboard
management application, now offers twitter card support!
So why not give it a try? As a user
who experienced twitter cards for the first time and loved it, I know that that
implementing them can do nothing but improve customer engagement.
Here are some resources for you:
This guest blog post was written by Elena Schmidt, a new volunteer for SFIMA. She has been working with us on content for the email and the website and now will be a regular contributor to the SFIMA blog. Here is some more about Elena:
Elena Schmidt is an editorial associate for New You magazine and a perpetual student of the latest digital marketing technologies and tactics. She enjoys utilizing the power of words across all media to convey messages, change minds and start new conversations.
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