Photo Credit: HTSABO
Twitter is changing its look, and like it or not, your nonprofit better be ready.
As more and more social networking sites move towards the Facebook Timeline look – think big cover photo and prominent profile picture – the importance of gathering and creating eye-catching visuals becomes even more important.
Here are 4 ways you can set yourself apart using the new Twitter layout.
1) Showcase your organization with great photos.
Good news for technophobes – the Edit Profile screen has been enhanced and is much easier and more intuitive to use than the previous version.
Items of note:
The profile picture is larger and more prominent. This means no more pixilated version of your logo. You must upload an avatar – gone is the unhatched egg of Twitter’s old days, and now if you don’t upload an avatar it looks like a person’s silhouette. I make it a rule to NOT follow accounts with no profile photo.
You need to create a header image, much like a Cover photo on a Facebook Page and Timeline. The header can be 1500 pixels wide, and you can scale it and position it the way you prefer. Just like as on Facebook and Google+, the picture should represent you and what you do and catch the eye.
2) Pin your featured tweets.
With the new feature Pinned Tweet, you can pin one tweet that you would like to feature to the top of your Twitter profile. This feature is similar to pinning a post to the top of your Facebook Page.
Are you promoting an event, webinar, petition or fundraiser? Pin it to the top so it’s the first thing people see when they visit your Twitter profile.
3) Highlight your most popular tweets.
Your most popular tweets will now be enlarged on your Twitter profile page with the new feature Best Tweets.
This means any tweet that has gotten higher than average engagement, via comments, replies and favorites will be featured with larger than average fonts and photo size.
4) Filter tweets.
Buffer found that tweets with photos get 150% more retweets than those without, and they receive 89% more favorites. Consider adding a photo to every tweet where you can.
The new Filtered Tweets feature means you can filter your tweet stream to just see tweets with photos/videos, tweets without and replies.
This will make it easier to share a good combination of content and be varied. It is also a great way to keep track of your replies and make sure you are acknowledging everyone who mentions you or retweets you.
It’s important to note that this is being rolled out to all users slowly but surely. New users will see the new profile look right away but others may not get it until later this year.
Here is a list that Twitter compiled of accounts featuring the new look:
Film stars @zacefron and @channingtatum
French TV host @nikosaliagas
Australian Football League @AFL
First Lady Michelle Obama @flotus
Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter @gilbertogil
Boxer @FloydMayweather
TV star @kerrywashington
Musicians @JohnLegend and band @weezer
What do you think of the new look of Twitter?
photo credit: mkhmarketing via photopin cc