Tweet Tweet: Let’s Talk About Twitter’s Algorithm
How are you using Twitter these days?
Like most social media platforms, it is critical to understand how a platform like Twitter chooses which posts to show to which users and why, so that you can create content that will get in front of your ideal audience every day.
However, most platforms make it extremely difficult to figure out exactly how their algorithm works. It’s their most important product, after all! We dove into the research so we can share which factors have the most significant influence on your Tweet performance in 2020.
A History Of Twitter’s Algorithm
With a net worth of around $25 billion and 14 years since the first Tweet made its debut, Twitter has made regular updates to their platform over the years that have had a significant impact on us marketers.
Before we get started, remember these important notes about social platforms like Twitter:
Social media algorithms organize posts in a users' feed based on relevancy (and many other factors) instead of only by the time they’re published. These factors change constantly, so make sure you’re staying up to date on the latest developments if effectively managing social media is a priority to you.
Every person sees a customized, personalized feed when they log in to a social platform, so don’t assume that your content is going to be seen first by any of your users; on average, most of your posts will reach just a tiny percentage of your audience.
On most social platforms, users can switch between seeing the most recent posts and the most relevant posts, but the majority of users don’t bother. While Twitter in particular is still a great platform for breaking news and important announcements, we can’t guarantee that your posts will be seen immediately; posts might be delivered to users hours or even days after they are published.
Let’s talk in more detail about Twitter’s algorithm.
How Twitter creates your feed
Like most of today’s social platforms, Twitter focuses on providing the content you want to see the most, and curating a feed that will keep you on the platform longer and coming back more often. How does Twitter figure out what you are interested in?
There are four things we know Twitter looks at when ranking content for a user’s feed:
1. Timing
How recently was the Tweet published? This data point makes a lot of sense because people don’t want to see old news. They want to know what is happening right now.
Many media outlets like the New York Times, The Washington Post, and Business Weekly will post the same article with a slightly different Tweet attached to it multiple times per day. This strategy helps to make sure that their content is shown to as many users as possible based on what they’re interested in.
2. Engagement
Across the board, social platforms want people to engage. This is social media, after all.
Research shows that the top three types of content that encourage likes and shares are posts that are entertaining, posts that are inspiring, and posts that teach you something.
Take a look at Wendy’s Twitter feed, considered a classic example of effective engagement: they’re all about entertaining their audience, and they get a lot of engagement because of the sassy attitude they display on the platform. Take their bio: “We like our Tweets the same way we like to make our hamburgers: better than anyone expects from a fast food joint.”
The sassy attitude is effective because it’s unexpected from a big corporate brand, and that surprise is memorable. The next time you’re on a road trip and drive by a Wendy’s restaurant, you might think of their funny Tweet and make a positive association with the company, which makes you more likely to pull over and buy a few chicken nuggets.
3. Media
We are visual people and our attention spans are short. Visuals make someone stop scrolling and pay attention, especially rich media like GIFs or videos. In fact, videos are six times more likely and GIFs three times more likely to be retweeted. Adding rich media to a tweet can take it from okay to viral. Give it a try next time you send out a tweet, send one with a photo or video and another without anything and compare your metrics.
4. Activity
Twitter rewards the accounts that are quick to engage with content on their feeds. The algorithm looks at your activity, like how many followers you have, how close they are to you, and how much they are on the platform. This is where your time and engagement with the platform plays an important role.
Twitter uses a “While You Were Gone” and an “In Case You Missed It” section on the newsfeed to share content that a user might find interesting based on the last time they logged in. If your content is very valuable to a certain user, your post might land in one of these sections, which isn’t a bad thing!
3 things you can do on Twitter this week
To a little A/B testing
Experiment with sharing content and tweaking one detail - maybe it’s the image your share or the message you use. Then compare how they perform. As you do this over and over you will get a clearer picture of what kind of content performs best for you.
Spend 15-30 minutes over the course of the week engaging in a conversation
Whether it’s responding to retweets or replies or starting a conversation with someone else, this will positively impact both accounts which is a win-win for everyone.
Play around with adding a GIF or video instead of only an image.
Consider your brand and then if appropriate see if adding a GIF for video helps to improve your engagement rates.
These may seem super simple, but often the simple things we do are most effective. If you’re not already doing these 3 things you may be surprised at how they can transform your opportunities on Twitter.
Twitter can be a great tool to build your business, monitor your brand, and connect with new opportunities. You got this!
Happy Tweeting!