Twitter is all about sharing ideas, following or setting up a trend, and giving reviews about anything or everything. There are a lot of things that we want to share but only for a limited time. Like, something that is relevant on that particular day. Or, for businesses, something like a limited-time offer. To solve it, Twitter decided to join the roster of social networks offering Snapchat-like disappearing posts. These disappearing posts are called fleets.
Facebook and Instagram adopted it already, and WhatsApp joined them earlier as well. Here we will be talking about Twitter fleets for business. So, keep on reading to find out how businesses can use Twitter fleets to maximize their social media marketing. Now, without further ado, let’s jump right in!
What are Twitter Fleets?
Just like Instagram stories, Twitter has fleets. Twitter launched fleets for all users on November 17, 2020. Fleets appear in a vertical layout like Instagram stories. Fleets disappear after 24 hours, just like stories on other platforms.
You can post anything like images, tweets, GIFs, or videos in your fleets. It offers basic customization features as well. The maximum length of the video fleet is 60 seconds. Fleets appear at the top of your feed, and they are visible to your followers.
How Businesses Can Use Twitter Fleets?
Businesses can use Twitter fleets for;
1. Increasing the Reach
Twitter is continuously updating its algorithm. These updates are declining the organic reach which means that your tweets will be shown to interested followers only.
Now, you can reach more followers by posting your tweets as Fleets. The reason is that fleets are shown on the top of the timeline. This makes it hard for them to ignore. This way, your tweets are seen by maximum followers.
2. Offer Limited-time Discounts and Deals
If a certain event is going on in your e-commerce or brick-and-mortar store, where you are offering a flash sale, discounts, or vouchers for a limited time, then use fleets for sharing it with your followers.
3. Drive Traffic to Websites
Fleets can ats as a bridge for your audience to visit your website. In other words, fleets can be used to drive traffic toward your website.
Unlike Instagram, fleets do not have a swipe-up feature for now. So, what you need to do is to share your tweet containing the link to the website in the fleet to solve this issue.
4. Announce Contests and Giveaways through Fleets
We all know that the new algorithm has made it difficult to reach the maximum audience via your tweets. With so much competition on these social media platforms, there is a question mark on the reach of your tweets.
To reach maximum audience and get maximum participants, announce giveaways and contests on fleets as well. This ensures that your giveaway is announced to maximum followers because it appears prominently above the feed of your followers.
5. Encourage Audience by Sharing UGC
There is no doubt that your social media presence entirely depends on your relationship with your audience. To strengthen this relationship, share the user-generated content (UGC) in the fleets.
All you have to do is take a screenshot or simply share the tweets as fleets that your followers have posted and tagged you in. This will encourage them to be more open about your brand and it will signal to them that you care about them. This sense of appreciation will urge more customers to talk about your brand – thus increasing your brand awareness.
6. Share Behind-the-scenes
We all know that the audience loves behind-the-scene (BTS) moments. And this love for BTS is not confined to celebrities, influencers, or bloggers only. It includes the brands and businesses as well.
For example, if you have an e-commerce store, you can show the way you pack your items ready to deliver in the fleets. It will spark the audience’s interest in your business and keep them engaged with your business.
7. Special Announcements
What is a better way to update your audience about all the new products and upcoming events than Twitter fleets?
As fleets last only for 24 hours, this makes sure that your message is delivered and seen by the majority of your followers.
How to Measure Fleets Engagement?
Fleets are not like tweets that remain visible to your followers or audience until you delete them. Fleets do not get the retweets, likes, or shares as the tweets do. Also, people can’t reply to Fleets via DM unless you allow everyone to message you directly. These factors make it difficult to measure engagement.
The only way to know if your followers like your fleets’ content are by analyzing the impressions or taps you get on your fleets. Check if your audience or followers are tapping on the fleets to see the next one or leave after seeing the first.
See if they are giving responses or impressions to the questions asked by you in the fleets. After analyzing these factors, you can understand fleets engagement. Once you understand it, try to make interesting fleets to win followers’ engagement.
How to Create Twitter Fleets?
Creating fleets is just like creating stories on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat. However, it does have some minor differences which we will explain below.
There are 4 types of fleets you can create;
- Text fleets
- Tweet fleets
- Image fleets
- Video fleets
How to Create Text Fleets?
To create text fleets, follow these steps;
1. Tap the Create Fleet icon at the upper left corner of your screen after logging into your Twitter account.
2. Then click the screen to type the text.
3. You can customize your text as well in the following formats backgrounds.
- Use the icon “B” to bold the text.
- By using the paragraph icon, you can change the alignment of the text.
- You can also add background to your fleets
- You can also reposition your text as well. Just hold the text and then drag it to your desired position.
- Hold two fingers like a pinch and resize the text by zooming in or out.
- Use the color icon on the screen to change the color of the text.
4. After creating and customizing the fleet, publish it by pressing the “Fleet” button on the top right corner.
How to Create Tweet Fleets?
You can easily create Tweet fleets by following these simple steps;
1. Just locate the tweet you want to share in your fleet.
2. Then click the “share” option and select “share in a fleet”.
3. Then you can edit this fleet just like any other fleet.
4. Publish it by clicking the “Fleet” button on the top right corner.
How to Create Image Fleets?
To create image fleets, follow these few simple steps;
1. From the “Create Fleet” screen, tap any image you want to post in your fleet.
2. Then add text or customize the image like any other fleet.
3. You can also add the ALT text to your fleet.
4. Then publish the fleet by clicking the “Fleet” option.
How to Create a Video Fleet?
To create a video fleet, you can capture a video or use an existing video. To use the existing video, follow the gallery fleets method. Here are the simple steps for it;
Gallery Fleets
- After opening the “Create a Fleet” screen, choose any video from the gallery you want to post as a fleet.
- If the video is longer than 30 seconds, then you will have to trim it.
- You can trim the video directly using a Twitter video trimmer.
- Then you can add any text and customize the fleet like any other fleet.
- Publish the fleet by clicking the “Fleet” option.
Video Capture Fleets
You can also post a video by capturing it directly. Use the “Capture” mode, hold and press down the record button to record the video. When you are using the “Video” mode, click the record button once to start and once to stop recording the video. You can easily capture and publish a video on your fleet by following these steps;
- To capture the video fleet, select the camera by clicking the camera selector button.
- Then record the video you want to post in the fleet.
- You can turn the camera flash on/off from the flash icon on the screen.
- After recording the video, you can publish it as it is, or you can edit it with the text, etc.
- Then publish the video by clicking the “Fleet” option.
Final Words
The Twitter fleets look promising. These are a great way to boost your engagement on Twitter and interact with maximum followers. The best thing about fleets is that they are very easy to use.
As far as using Twitter fleets for business is concerned, we hope that this detailed guide on Twitter Fleets will help you understand it better. Businesses should make fleets a part of their social media strategy to increase their visibility, and engagement on Twitter.