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Twitter Threads: 10 Ideas to Harness The Power of Long-Form Content on Twitter

twitter threads

Do you want to have an exponential reach and boost your engagement on Twitter? Do you want to establish an unbreakable connection with your audience?

Twitter threads will do that for you.

Twitter keeps bringing new means of expression for individual users and brands. In 2017, they changed their character limit from 140 to 280, realizing the need for users to express their ideas. Recently, they rolled out new features like Fleets and Spaces to support stories and audio content.

With 199 million monetizable daily active users (mDAUs), Twitter could be one of the most effective marketing channels for you. The only problem previously was the restrictive character limit.

But with Twitter threads, the limitation of characters is solved, as well. They give you a unique way to present your content and get noticed on the platform. Here’s how you can take advantage of such long-form content for your brand.

What are Twitter Threads?

Twitter defines a Twitter thread as “a series of connected Tweets from one person. With a thread, you can provide additional context, an update, or an extended point by connecting multiple Tweets together.”

The character limit of a tweet is restricted to 280. But with Twitter threads or “tweetstorms”, you can create engaging long-form content by adding new tweets.

The following tweet by Sumit is an iconic example of a Twitter thread:

Why Your Brand Should Care About Twitter Threads

Your Twitter marketing strategy may not be optimal without Twitter threads. A value-packed Twitter thread can quickly get thousands of likes and retweets, giving your brand a chance to reach a wider audience. Twitter threads can help your brand:

1. Increase impressions and reach

A Twitter thread helped A’Ziah King sign her first Hollywood movie. The reach that threads provide can help your brand’s marketing immensely.

A strong opening tweet of a thread would grab and hold your audience’s attention longer than a single tweet would. If you are using one-off tweets only to link to another platform (website, blog, or a sales page), your tweets are likely to have fewer impressions.

The average half-life of a tweet is 24 minutes, which means the first 24 minutes of your tweet will define its overall engagement. But with Twitter threads, the number of tweets is increased. For example, for a thread of 5 tweets, you have a 5x chance of receiving engagement. Hence, the overall time for your tweets to receive engagement increases, as well.

Additionally, you can always add new tweets to existing threads, which increases the impressions by resurfacing the tweet.

2. Gain followers

With one Twitter thread, Ciara gained 20,000 new followers, highlighting the potential of Twitter threads to increase your reach exponentially.

With increased impressions and followers come increased brand awareness and potential customers.

3. Increase Engagement

Due to their length and content, Twitter threads allow your brand’s personality to shine, inviting more discussions. The more your audience spends time with your content, the likelier they are to engage with you.

According to research, every tweet in a thread does not receive equal engagement. After the first 2-3 tweets, the engagement drops before picking up near the end again. But even after the drop, Twitter threads generate 54% more engagement than tweets containing links.

twitter threads average engagement chart

Source: Kaggle

Ideas to Create Engaging Twitter Threads

Now that you know the role threads can play in your marketing strategy, it’s your turn to create some engaging threads for your brand. Let’s have a look at ten ways you can take advantage of Twitter’s long-form content.

1. Create longer tweets

Twitter has already doubled the character count from 140 to 280. But it might still not be enough to craft a compelling story. Along with that, putting more than one idea in one tweet can confuse your audience and reduce the impact of your message.

So, if you want your audience to be excited, tell a compelling story through a thread.

For example, the following tweet by Andrew Wilkinson received more than 30,000 likes and 10,000 retweets with a seamless story thread:

This thread worked because of:

  • Irresistible opening: Andrew opened the tweet by saying how he lost $10 million. The number is big enough for people to get curious to ask what the “stupid thing” was.
  • Timeline: The second tweet starts in 2009 and flows logically from there. The story follows a timeline that does not confuse the readers.
  • Vulnerability: Andrew discussed his mistakes in the tweet, being vulnerable, which lets the readers connect with him.
  • Key Takeaways: The lessons are listed and explained at the end of the story, which provides readers with both a compelling story and valuable insights.

2. Try follow-ups

Twitter threads can help you resurface an old tweet or follow up on events. For example, you can create a thread to remind your audience about an upcoming sale or a webinar or thank them for attending a past event.

If you are hosting a giveaway, consider announcing the winner by replying to the original tweet, like Kahoot!:

3. Retweets (of your own or other people’s tweets)

There are around 350,000 tweets sent every minute. So, having a tweet disappear without any engagement is normal. But if you want to drive attention to a particular tweet, create a thread out of it.

As Dickie Bush, with more than 40,000 followers, says:

“Re-bring content back up to the top, just respond to it. And don’t retweet it, add a new layer of thinking to it. And it naturally just brings it back up to the top as if you just tweeted it.”

You can do this in several ways. For example, you can create a thread of your own tweets related to a central idea:

Alternatively, you can curate tweets of others around a specific concept in a single thread:

4. Curate lists

You can use Twitter threads to curate information in one place by creating an extensive list of resources. Alternatively, you can also create a thread of quotes.

Bullet points contain bite-sized bits of easily digestible information, which is why listicles as threads are a huge success.

Webflow, for example, created a thread on #BlackHistoryMonth by curating a  list of advice for designers of color:

5. Post step-by-step tutorials

Just like how-to blogs, tutorial tweets tend to perform well. Teach your audience something. If you already know their pain points, create something that will help them directly.

To make your thread more engaging and easy-to-understand, include relevant images or videos for every step. Visuals will keep your audience hooked and ensure they read till the last tweet.

Ciara Johnson’s yearly travel Tweetstorms actually take Twitter by storm.

Why?

Because they’re:

  • Relatable
  • Actionable
  • Act on her audience’s desire to travel

6. Create campaigns with threads

Not every campaign needs a separate ad. For some, a well-crafted thread is enough.

Threads allow you to create campaigns in the form of a narrative. So, make use of it as creatively as possible.

Threads also allow you to highlight the entire campaign every time you add a new tweet to the thread.

For example, Quip, a toothbrush brand, used a thread to connect to their audience by relating their products with Rihanna’s outfits:

7. Repurpose your blog posts

Do you have a top-performing blog loved by your audience or a blog packed with valuable insights?

Such blogs make the best kind of threads. Repurpose them into tweets as they are or provide context and background information.

Take, for example, Nathan Barry’s thread repurposed from his blog:

This tweet is one of his most popular tweets, with over 2500 likes.

8. Use threads in Twitter Chats

If you’re participating in a Twitter Chat, threads can help you tie your answers together in one place. Other participants won’t have to search for the next part of your answer. Hence, your answers are more likely to be read.

You can create threads in Chats just like you’d usually do – by clicking on the “+” sign or replying to your tweet.

9. Post teasers

Do you have a launch, sale, or event coming up? You can build this up by putting out one tweet every day leading up to the release. Use Twitter threads to get your audience excited. Give previews just enough for them to come back for more.

Threads can also help you drive traffic to your blog. When publishing a new blog, instead of attaching a link in the first tweet itself, try giving a snippet of it:

  • Create an attention-grabbing first tweet to draw in readers.
  • Post a tweet for every subheading with a quick summary.
  • Your thread should end with a call-to-action and link to your blog.

For example, Disney+, the streaming platform, launched in 2019 with a massive Twitter thread of 600 tweets. Every show under Disney+ had its own tweet, which allowed them to reach a wide audience, catering to different needs.

10. Create niche content

Your audience follows you for content. So, give them what they want by going super niche.

Take, for example, Tim Soulo, CMO of Ahrefs. He used his expertise to create a thread on a niche topic, “ROI of Content Marketing,” which helped him garner more than 1,000 likes:

Twitter Threads in a Nutshell

Twitter threads are a series of tweets linked together. They are primarily written and elaborated around a central idea. Although they can be as long as you want, the 280 character limit still ensures bite-sized information per tweet.

Threads can help your brand increase impressions and reach, gain more followers, and boost engagement.

Try some of the ideas above to take advantage of long-form content on Twitter.

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