As Twitter prepares to open up its Moments feature, we explain how businesses can benefit by posting more engaging content.
Twitter is preparing give more users the ability to post content using its Moments feature, potentially opening up an exciting new marketing channel to businesses.
Moments are a curated collection of tweets on a particular topic, which typically include a range of media content including autoplaying videos, Vine clips and GIFs. Twitter provides a few examples in its recent blog post.
Previously, content in the Moments tab on Twitter had been curated exclusively by Twitter staff and selected partners.
However, this is soon set to change, with the social media giant revealing that it is opening up the ability to post content on Moments to a broader array of influencers, partners and brands.
The feature is accessible by tapping or clicking on the lightning bolt icon either on the Twitter website, or through a mobile app.
“Moments allow people to capture and experience richer stories reflecting the diversity of tweets that, together, make Twitter so powerful,” Twitter product manager Gaby Peña said.
“Today, we’re excited to announce that a broader group of creators will be making Moments, including influencers, partners, brands… and in the coming months, everyone.”
Building 'loyalty and trust'
Social media expert Catriona Pollard told BIT the feature is similar to the ‘stories’ feature on rival services Instagram and Snapchat.
“It will be interesting to see what the new Moments will look like. It will change the way people, and businesses use and post on Twitter and will encourage users to adapt and create more engaging content,” said Pollard, who’s chief executive of CP Communications.
According to Pollard, business owners and marketers will have to start thinking creatively about what they post on Moments.
“If used correctly, the Moments feature will give viewers the chance to see your brand up close and will give an inside knowledge of the business to build loyalty and trust with consumers,” Pollard said.
“It will be important to think about how your brand is different and how to showcase that through visuals. Basic selfies and mundane daily activities won’t be received well as more engaging and individual content.”
Pollard suggests waiting to how other people are using Moments and then applying strategies that will work for your business.
“Small businesses need to just test at first to see how it works for them and constantly adapt and reassess the strategy when incorporating it into a social media strategy. It’s important to learn from what others are doing, experiment and make it work for the business,” Pollard said.
