Will Twitter overhaul alter how you use the tool for nonprofit fundraising?

In our continued effort to share the best in nonprofit fundraising tips via social media today we cycle back around to Twitter. As you may have read Twitter are in the process of rolling out a major redesign of the platform that, at first glance, makes it hardly recognizable. I wouldn’t worry unduly because everything you’re already using still be there but the placement may have changed to some degree. At present there is no confirmed date for the new profiles to be rolled out to all users.

The planned revision to Twitter’s layout (image courtesy Mashable)

As you can see from the screenshot to the left (courtesy of Mashable) the new profile page bears an uncanny resemblance to Facebook. There are obvious moves toward making the profile more visually appealing, enhancing the profile descriptions, having Twitter work in better congress for both mobile devices and desktops plus photos now featured in a very pronounced way. Does this mean it will result in a very different Twitter or one simply looking to gain some of the social media traction that has been lost to Pinterest and Instagram to name just two. I’d suggest mostly the latter with the way we use Twitter continuing to evolve independently of how the platform changes in appearance and that’s what I wanted to write about today this week and next in reference to retweets.

Before I get to that though it’s best that we consider the number one reason for Twitter making such wholesale changes which is most likely to grow advertising revenue. Considering that the estimated Twitter user population stands at just over 500 M which is roughly a third of Facebook’s 1.5 B they are looking to close the gap in advertising revenue which currently stands at just under 10% of that generated by Facebook. Does that mean you need to concern yourself with paid tweets in similar ways that Facebook lets you ‘boost’ (pay to promote) your posts? The short answer is no, so long as you study your results and use the tool in a consistent and logical manner.

If your content catches the eye and is hash-tagged appropriately you can still engage with your potential and existing donors by refining your current approach. So let’s talk a little about ‘retweets’ which are roughly the equivalent of a Facebook share, in both cases no single social media action can more quickly share your content to a new audience. So how can you improve the likelihood of retweets?

As with all social media strategies I recommend bench-marking where you stand today before you change your strategies. An easy and free way to accomplish this is linking your Twitter account to Retweetrank.com linked here. This tool has paid versions but even a basic account provides sufficient analytics to get you started. The graphic below shows how the basic version provides data for the last 7 days including your tweets, retweets, followers, retweet rank and more.

Worth mentioning is that a free 14-day trial is offered for a personal account (then $5/month if you were to subscribe) which tracks much more data including exposure, reach and mentions. The personal account tracks up to 200 retweets per day which will be suitable for all but the biggest Twitter accounts.

On my next social media marketing for nonprofits post I’ll provide five tips for increasing retweets that are easy to implement. Until then try installing the Retweetrank app to your account and then we can track the results of the changes you then make.

Recent social media post recommended reading:

• 5 Steps to Building the Perfect Nonprofit Fundraising Twitter Bio
• Getting the most from Facebook Insights Part 1
• Getting the most from Facebook Insights Part 2
• Getting the most from Facebook Insights Part 3
• The Nonprofit Communications Tools and Social Media Trends Report 2014
• 4 nonprofit fundraising social media mistakes to avoid

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.