Twitter Philosophies Vary on Frequency/Timing

After seeing Guy Kawasaki (pictured above) speak at two different events in the past few months (San Diego Venture Group and 140| The Twitter Conference LA), I came away pondering what seems to be a rather polarizing question in the Twitter world.  Kawasaki believes that re-broadcasting tweets multiple times throughout the day is the best way to effectively reach your audience.  He definitely has some gutsy philosophies on Twitter and perhaps this approach works for his goals.  I personally don’t agree that this is wise advice for any individual or organization working to achieve a meaningful conversation with followers on Twitter.  But if your goal is quantity over quality, Guy Kawasaki is definitely onto something, as evidenced by his nearly 200,000 followers.  I recently posed this question to the PRSA group on LinkedIn and thought that the ensuing discussion was interesting and worthwhile to share:

Erin Coller

Senior Account Executive at Zenzi Communications

“What is your Twitter philosophy re: frequency/timing of tweets? Is it most effective to broadcast your tweets multiple times throughout the day to catch different audiences or is that overkill?”

Derek DeVries

Communications Technology Manager at Grand Rapids Community College

“It’s tough to say; while I can see some value in trying to use timing to get oneself in front of audiences that might not otherwise encounter your message (and there’s certainly a value if there’s a timely aspect to the message you’re conveying) I try not to script it too much. That thinking only works, however, if one views Twitter through the lens of the traditional mass media.

I tend to lean against timing tweets for a few reasons:

- While Twitter can be used as a synchronous/real-time medium, it can just as easily be used asynchronously and users exert great control over what they see and when – so if the message is of value to them, they’ll find it on their own time (in one sense, the earlier you can post it the better because it will give people more opportunity they have to find it as it’s archived and searchable).

- It’s a little ethereal, but I tend to think that scheduling tweets is antithetical to the spirit of the platform and may ring hollow with readers. Part of the appeal of Twitter (as opposed to other platforms) is its ability to simulate a more organic, stream-of-consciousness dialogue. I could even see it engendering a bit of mistrust because if followers can tell you’re holding back on information – they may hold that against you (and seek out a competitor if one exists). That said, it’s perfectly appropriate in some instances where people expect scheduled delivery (but it would probably have to correlate with scheduling in the “real” world).

If you’re trying to get in front of an audience by capitalizing on a timely/popular topic (by tossing out tweets like an angler casting a fishing line), your product and audience need to fit that scenario (so for example right now Jay-Z is a big topic so if you represent something of interest to Jay-Z fans, you can get away with some scheduling and a higher frequency; but that’s probably not a prescription for a good long-term relationship).

Frequency is another matter. The frequency of your tweets you should shoot for requires a solid understanding of your audience and depends on:

1) how broad your audience is
2) (related to #1) how passionate they are about the topic and
3) how fresh/original/relevant your tweets are

If you have a narrow audience, one that is passionate about a topic, or you have fresh/relevant information – you can get away with a much higher frequency. Regardless of your audience, however, I can think of virtually no instances when it would be okay to re-state something you’ve already said; everything you post should be fresh.”

Dan Keeney, APR

Owner, DPK Public Relations

“Great post, Derek. My view is that relevance and value are far more important than timing. I can’t tell from the original question if you are considering sending the SAME tweet out at various times. My response to that is a firm, “no.” That would be a Twitter don’t. “

Erin Coller

Senior Account Executive at Zenzi Communications

“The question is something that was discussed at 140|The Twitter Conference in L.A. this week. Some speakers think that to reach all audiences, Twitter should be approached in a similar manner to CNN, which broadcasts the same stories repeatedly throughout the day to reach audiences with the same message throughout the day. I happen to agree that re-posting the same tweet over and over portrays a robotic image and lacks the personal touch that followers are looking for. There are a handful of highly successful Twitter users that do re-broadcast their tweets and go for quantity over quality in general but I don’t appreciate it as a follower and will not go in that direction with any of the Twitter accounts that I manage. Thanks for the input, interesting discussion!”

Dan Keeney, APR

Owner, DPK Public Relations

“I wish I could have been there so I could throw tomatoes. Except in the case of a few celebrities, Twitter shouldn’t be seen as a dissemination tool. It is an engagement tool. It isn’t about broadcasting, it is about narrowcasting.”

Richie Escovedo

Director of Media & Communications for Mansfield ISD

“Interesting comments. I respectfully disagree with the notion that Twitter as a tool has rules or restrictions since the conversationalist vs. broadcaster styles seem to work just fine in the space. IMO it’s very much up to subjective use and personal preference.

I agree that for engagement, the tool is highly useful for those who have stakeholders in the space. But, it can meet communication goals by being another in variety of broadcast channels for an organization. To that end, I’ve found 2-3 times a day of similar tweets on a topic, link, or even a RT tends to work and generate traffic (and conversations.) For me it comes down to goals. My $.02

- @vedo “

Sarah Soczka

Account Executive at Boelter + Lincoln

“There’s a lot of great discussion going on here. For what it’s worth, I think it’s important to remember that Twitter is a social network. As a general rule social networks are created to encourage conversation, not to broadcast information. For that reason, I feel it’s important to make sure you are engaging people (@replies, RTing) in addition to sending out your own information.

I usually do not tweet something more than once. However, there are exceptions that prove the rule. For example, if you are encouraging followers to vote for you in an online contest, I believe it’s ok to send the message throughout the voting period. I personally tweet about new blog posts twice (once in the morning, once at night). I do this because I reach very different audiences at those times.

Overall, you have to use your best judgment. Know who your audience is and what you’re trying to accomplish.

@sarahsoczka”