Making the Most of 280 Characters on Twitter

Twitter is a platform best known for their 280-character limit that helps keep tweets short and sweet. Many users face a unique challenge because of this. How do you fit messages into posts that are barely longer than a text message?

The answer is simple: say only what you need to say. Just because you have 280 characters on Twitter does not mean that you even need to use all of them! In fact, keeping your ideas simple and your messages succinct will improve the success of your post. Plus, there are other ways to use Twitter that let you communicate much more effectively than words ever could.

Here are five different ways to maximize your character count on Twitter:

1. Let the gifs speak for you: If a picture is worth a thousand words, than a moving picture might be worth ten thousand words. Gifs are a great way to communicate because they move, they show exactly what you feel, and they can reference a pop culture moment. Plus, they’re lots of fun!
   1. How to: The best way to search for gifs is to look for a specific emotion or reaction. Looking to post about your office manager getting married? Search for a gif under “celebration” or “hooray” and add some cheer to a piece of already great news!

2. Emojis add a personal touch: Emojis are another great way to say what words can’t. The plain text of emails and social media posts can be easily misinterpreted, but emojis are a great way to add a smile or sunshine to your messages. Using emojis will make your tweets less clinical and more personal. However, be aware that using too many emojis can be tacky, and only works if you’re Cher!

3. Retweet relevant content: Surely there are many people, celebrities, or brands you know who share fun or important information. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Since you’re busy working with patients the entire day, save the time you spend trying to come up with a creative tweet and instead share something you saw that resonated with you.
   1. How to: Follow your favorite health experts, celebrities, or humor accounts to see and retweet their posts. If you want to say something about it, you can “Retweet with comment” to add a short message of your own.

4. 4. Post positive affirmations: In case you haven’t figured it out yet, not everything has to be business. Sometimes, brightening someone’s day with an uplifting message is a great way to use social media. Plus, these kinds of tweets can humanize your practice and make your patients want to follow you. One celebrity who’s famous for his daily good morning/good night tweets is composer and performer Lin-Manuel Miranda.
      

4. Share from other platforms: There are lots of other things you find outside of Twitter that you may want to tweet. Saw a great YouTube video about staying healthy? Share it! Posted a great Sesame blogpost last week? Share it! When you think about all the great things going on in your life, the possibilities for what you can share are endless./span>

As you can see, Twitter is a great platform for engaging directly with customers, especially when the content is personal and coming straight from the doctor. We hope that after reading this you have some new ideas about how to effectively share your message on Twitter.

—Aaron Jin, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications