Using Twitter Moments to tell a story
In case you were wondering what the lightning bolt tab is on Twitter, that’s Twitter Moments – a collection of curated stories, which showcase the very best of what’s happening on Twitter.
Each Twitter Moment is a compilation of tweets, pictures, GIFs and videos to tell the complete story. This can be anything from the latest hard-hitting headlines to funny memes (and who doesn’t love a funny meme?).
Twitter Moments was first introduced in October 2015, although the option to create them was only available to select partners on its launch. A year later, the feature was rolled out to all users, and has been extremely popular amongst Twitter users and businesses.
How Do I Create A Twitter Moment?
Web
To create a Twitter Moment of your own, click on the Moments tab and select the “Create New Moment” option at the top right.
From here, you can give your Twitter Moment a title, a description and a cover, as well as adding any Tweets you want to feature within your Twitter Moment.
Mobile
From your Profile, press the menu option (the three dots) and select “View Moments”, followed by the blue circle at the bottom right of the screen.
How Can Businesses Use Twitter Moments?
Despite Twitter recently relaxing its rules by not counting photos, videos, GIFs, polls, and Quote Tweets within the character limit, sometimes 140 characters isn’t enough.
One way round this is by collating multiple Tweets using Twitter Moments. This can include your own businesses’ Tweets, as well as any feedback you may have received from users and any other relevant Tweets.
For example, if a restaurant had launched a new menu, they may create a Twitter Moment including photos of the new food available, a video of the chefs preparing the food and/or a Tweet from a customer saying how much they love one of the new dishes.
As well as being posted to Twitter, Twitter Moments can also be embedded onto your website and other platforms. This is particularly useful for driving more engagement to your Twitter account from other sources and for increasing your reach.
Below is an example of a Twitter Moment created for ReNew Shopping for their Big Blue Monday Giveaway:
ReNew's Big Blue Monday Giveaway
Top Tips For Using Twitter Moments
When creating a Twitter Moment, there are a number of things to bear in mind:
Be Interesting: Don’t just create a Twitter Moment for the sake of creating a Twitter Moment. Find a topic that your followers will be interested in. Using Tweets containing eye-catching photos or GIFs also helps.
Be Relevant: People are more likely to view your Twitter Moment if it’s relevant to something in the news, an event or a trending topic.
Timing: Posting your Twitter Moment at the right time will increase your followers’ engagement. For example, more people are likely to be checking Twitter on their lunch break than at 4am in the morning.
To view examples of real-time Twitter Moments, check out the Moments UK Twitter account.
Have you created a Twitter Moment? Share it with us by Tweeting us (@tgimedia). Alternatively, if you’d like to discuss how we can raise your company’s brand and profile using social media, call the team on 01325 468481 or email info@tgimedia.co.uk.