Your Guide to Twitter Fleets: How to Know if it’s Worthwhile & 5 Ideas to Get Started
Big news! Twitter Fleets has officially arrived!
By now, you’ve probably heard a bit about this new feature the platform has to offer. It’s essentially a way to share your “fleeting” thoughts, hence the name. Whatever you post to Fleets will disappear after 24 hours, making it like Twitter’s version of Instagram Stories. Your posts to Fleets can include text, videos, GIFs, or photos. Viewers can reply privately to your content, but not publicly.
When you’re in the Twitter mobile app, you’ll see Fleets from the people you follow at the top. Simply scroll through to see everyone who has posted in the last day and tap on the ones you’d like to view. Again, it’s very similar to the look of Instagram Stories in this way and it’s very user-friendly.
Should You Give Twitter Fleets a Chance?
When you’re building your brand’s presence online, there’s often pressure to be everywhere. And that can feel a little stressful when there are so many platforms to keep up with. Not only that, but many of these platforms have different elements to them. For example, Instagram has the feed, Stories, IGTV, and Reels. Twitter has their feed and the newly introduced Fleets.
That leaves many of us wondering, “Do I really need to use each and every feature these platforms have?” Well, you certainly don’t have to in order to be successful and grow your community. However, it’s still worth trying out these features as they’re introduced to see if they’re worthwhile for you.
Since you’re already on Twitter, you’ve probably made the decision to be there because your target audience is too. So, ask yourself if they’ve shown an interest in Twitter Fleets so far. Have they been talking about or using it for themselves? If so, that’s a good sign that you should give it a chance. You never know… You might end up falling in love with it!
5 Fun Ideas for Using Twitter Fleets
If you’re ready to try it out for yourself, but you aren’t sure what to post, I’ve got you covered! Here are five easy ideas of things you can share to start creating Twitter Fleets of your own.
1. Share Your Tweets for More Exposure
Let’s face it, Twitter is a busy place. And sometimes, those tweets you worked so hard to write and schedule just don’t get the attention they deserve. So, wouldn’t it be nice if you could generate more awareness for those tweets? This way, you’ll see more click-throughs to your website, more likes and retweets, and even more replies.
Well, you can easily share any tweet to your Fleets. What’s so great about this is that it’s still a new feature that not many people are taking advantage of. That means you may be more likely to get noticed in these early days.
All you have to do is find the tweet you’d like to post on Fleets, then click the share button at the bottom. You’ll then see a menu pop up that has a few different options, including “Share in a Fleet.” Simply click that and you’ll be set to post it!
2. Give People a Glimpse Into Your Daily Life
As Gary Vaynerchuk says, “Document, don’t create.” Twitter Fleets provides the perfect opportunity to document your everyday life for your community to see. Why would you want to do this, you ask? Well, it’s a great way to build the Know, Like, and Trust Factor.
If you want people to get to know you and your brand better so they start liking you and trusting you, consider sharing some vlog-style content on Fleets. Do you have any special routines you follow that people would be interested in? Could you share a glimpse into your workflow and how you get things done? Think about what you do daily that would be valuable to your audience and just start documenting!
3. Encourage Conversations With Your Community
Making connections with new people is so easy with social media, especially on Twitter. There’s just something different about having a conversation on Twitter versus other platforms. It’s real-time and people seem more open to chatting there. So, why not use this new Fleets feature as a way to spark conversations?
You can do this by asking questions. Ask about things related to your niche. Or you can ask questions to learn more about your audience in general. Get creative here! Whatever you want to talk to your community about, you can do it. If you want, you can even post a public poll in your Twitter feed and share it to Fleets to drive more engagement. I did that in the screenshot above.
This is actually one of the ways I’ve been experimenting with Twitter Fleets so far. As you may know, I host a weekly Twitter chat called #TwitterSmarter. To keep the conversation going after the chat has ended, I’ve started posting the chat questions there immediately afterwards. Since Fleets stay up for 24 hours, this creates an entire extra day for chat-related engagement.
4. Introduce the Members of Your Team
If there are a few of you working behind-the-scenes on your brand, use Fleets to give people a look at your team. We all want to know the people behind the logo. It helps customers to better connect with a brand and feel a sense of community with them. It could be a fun idea to have your team members do a Fleets takeover, where they share what their role is like working for your brand. What kind of work do they do? What do they love about their job? And what are some interesting personal facts they can share about themselves? Have fun with it!
5. Offer an Exclusive Discount for Your Fleets Fans
People will be more likely to check out the Twitter Fleets you post if there’s the promise of something exclusive. After all, they wouldn’t want to miss out! Consider creating a special discount code on one of your offerings and post it only to Fleets. They’ll remember this and keep coming back in case there’s another chance at savings in the future.
What Are Your Thoughts?
I’d love to hear what you think about Twitter Fleets! Head over to my Twitter profile, @MadalynSklar, and tweet me your thoughts. Is it something you’ll use? Will you at least give a try and see how it performs for you? Let me know!