In 2015, Twitter announced that it was doing away with 140-character restriction on direct messages and setting a 10,000 character limit. Businesses weren’t really bothered with this change. It didn’t matter because they already had a live chat on their sites, conversations on Facebook, and the ability to connect personally with consumers through their blogs.
However, it didn’t take long for the businesses to realise that DM’s maybe a substitute for Facebook and blog conversations, as well as email campaigns. They also realised that there are some followers who only use Twitter. This presents some great opportunities to maintain communications using DM.
Eventually, businesses have come to realise that there are many uses of the direct messages now that the character limit has been extended. If you still haven’t used a direct message to its fullest potential, then it’s about time you join the bandwagon. So, we bring you a list of ideas on using the DM feature which you can implement while developing your Twitter marketing strategy.
Pay attention to individual followers
You probably already do this through email or live chat, but Twitter is yet another platform you can leverage. You may have initiated individual conversations with a follower on another platform, but you have the chance to continue that conversation through Twitter DM.
You can address particular questions and individual customer service issues. You can answer questions that others have already asked and answered. Offer incentives and rewards, based on the level of conversion. You can now divide your groups of followers for rewards and incentives.
If you have loyal followers, who are also your consumers, you may want to reward them with something special. Alternatively, you may want to provide a particular incentive to those followers who are interested in your services, or have asked questions, or have responded to a survey, or taken a free trial but have not become fully converted.
Make the most of the 10,000 character limit
Direct Messages provide up to 10K characters on every message. This increased character limit makes customer support on Twitter easier for everyone. It eliminates friction for your consumers by letting them elaborate on their issue in more than 140 characters. It also offers room for you to send a complete response in a single message.
Direct Messages also give you the space to make your messages as personal as you would like. It has been observed that interactions with businesses on Twitter that are friendly, personal and empathetic are more satisfactory for consumers. Consider using your consumers’ real name and having your agents incorporate their full name in a response (rather than common shorthand like initials used in Tweets).
Use the DM to promote an event you’re hosting
You may plan to host an event, either online or locally. The event may be suitable for only a certain section of your followers. You may have a method to target just the group(s) of followers you want to attend, and you have the character length to give some detailed information about why they should attend.
If you received a Tweet with an issue or concern, you had to immediately change platforms to serve that consumers. Now, through DM, you and your consumer can interact on any issue in much finer detail (10,000 characters) and probably solve it without ever leaving Twitter. Customer is happy, and you have saved time!
Manage DMs and Tweets together as single conversations
It’s common for users to engage with businesses on Twitter, partly because they can receive a reply quickly. They tend to have similar expectations for response times with DMs and Tweets. So, it’s important that you treat both kinds of messages with equal priority and as part of one single conversation with the consumer.
The best businesses always monitor new message, irrespective of whether it’s private or public, and optimise response time to that consumer. As your business expands and volume increases, it can be essential to start adopting a purpose-built social customer care tool to assist you in manage these conversations. The Twitter Official Partners program has a selector that can assist you in determining the right customer service solution for you.
Include photos, GIFs, and videos
Stunning visuals are any day more attractive than texts – particularly when that picture comes with a solution to a problem. Posting an engaging video, photo, or GIF can make it really simple for your consumers to know how to resolve a problem. Many businesses on Twitter produce appealing visual content to inform and help their consumers on Tweets. Once created, this kind of content can be repurposed for Direct Messages as well.
Include direct message prompts in Tweets to get more people to message you
Customer service conversations often begin with public Tweets, but then it needs to transition to a private channel. With direct messages, that transition as simple as taking a walk in the park.
Businesses now have the option to add a DM deep-link to their Tweets. This will automatically highlight a “Send a private message” link to send the business a Direct Message, quickly and easily. Businesses that utilise this feature end up receiving a Direct Message an average of 30% more often as opposed to those who simply ask users in the Tweet text to send them a Direct Message.
Use Direct Messages to discuss personal details
As a private channel for communication, Direct Messages are an excellent way to ask your consumers for the particular information you need to resolve their issues.
Request your consumers to use Direct Messages when they need to provide more personal details. Such details may include a store they visited, or an order number, the name of an employee they communicated with.
Promote competitions and contests through DM
Are you running a competition on Twitter? DMs can be an outstanding way to reach out to the participants and keep them in the loop about the contest.
You can inform them that their entry has been recorded, announce the different stages of the competition, dates and deadlines, what the final results are or who are the winners. And of course, you must thank them for taking part.
Remember to initiate a follow-up campaign and build the audience with all those who have joined the contest and invite them to join next time you run a new competition.
Utilise the DM feature for brand awareness
Did your organisation recently re-brand? Are you gearing up to make a corporate announcement? Do you wish to share your latest CSR report?
DMs can be a good channel for sending out brand messages to consumers. This is a good time for such endeavours since there are no character restrictions.
These present brilliant opportunities to connect with those consumers and other contacts whom you don’t interact with regularly. Create a list of contacts in your CRM that haven’t opened any emails from you in the last few months. Send customised messages to bring them back to connect with your brand again.
Parting thoughts,
With the extended character limit, direct messages can be a rather convenient and amazing way to build connections with your target audience and transcend beyond the traditional boundaries between business and customers. More than anything else, great Twitter marketing involves a conversation between you and your prospects. So get personal and have one, and make the optimum use of the DM while at it.
Author Bio:
William Shell a Writer and Enthusiastic blogger. He is also associated with a reputed company for the past couple of years. He has developed many successful social campaigns for her organisation. Here, he deliver financial accounting assignment help to students on their requests.
