We’ve seen them, we’ve reacted to them, and we may have even made a few of them ourselves. Twitter threads. They’re everywhere on Twitter nowadays, and for good reason too. Threads are an excellent way to share a series of messages, all connected by a bigger message. To learn more about threads and how we can get the most from them, we invited Neil Parekh, the VP of events and communications at the digital event agency, Digimentors. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Neil Parekh
Topic: Using Twitter threads
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
Threads are a great way to say more without creating more. In other words, when a single tweet (or 280 characters) isn’t enough to convey a message, threads come to the rescue.
As our guest pointed out with his own 2018 example from Social Media Weekend, Twitter threads are particularly handy when you’re live-tweeting from an event. Instead of sending desperate tweets out to your audience, if you thread them together, they get seen, liked, and shared together. This means all of your messages are catapulted to your audience—not just one.
A1(b) Here is an example of a thread I did for Social Media Weekend (#smwknd) in 2018. If I had sent these tweets individually, I wouldn't have an easy recap. @octavianasr 👇https://t.co/zqrdSmL6kN #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/blqfBF0qAN
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
As our friends from VirtuDesk added, threads are also a good way to tell a story in a series of tweets. I’ve personally used twitter threads to narrate a case study—they’re so much easier to share and consume than a PDF or a webpage.
A1: We've used it before as we have seen it's a good way to tell a story, write questions, or collect answers that can't be done using a single tweet. #TwitterSmarter
— VirtuDesk (@virtudeskcom) February 10, 2022
When one tweet just won’t cut it. I’ve also seen threads being used to promote a series of events like webinars and workshops. The benefit of doing a thread of tweets, as our guest said, is that you can tag multiple people and add many hashtags to widen your reach.
A2(b) Every week, I post a thread promoting @Sree’s Sunday #NYTReadalong. I can tag different people in each tweet, tag people in pictures, use videos, use specific hashtags, highlight articles we’ll be reading and promote upcoming events. #TwitterSmarterhttps://t.co/psGYIH7isQ pic.twitter.com/DfXfQKhdYN
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
In fact, to illustrate how useful a threaded tweet can be, Neil also explained how he’s been promoting #NYTReadalong with a thread every week. He intends to thread all of these threads together so they become one mega-thread of invaluable tweets—all about #NYTReadalong. Back in the day, people used to bind a year’s worth of Reader’s Digest magazines into one big book because it made it easier to read and refer to later.
Threads of threads is the modern version of a bound Reader’s Digest.
A2(c) On my ‘to do’ list.
A Thread of #NYTReadalong threads. I’ve been doing these threads for years. One of my goals is to put together a thread that connects all of them so they’re easy to find. It would be a #MetaThread #TwitterSmarter
cc: @sree @biggreenpen @MadalynSklar
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
Then again, a picture is worth a thousand words. You can still totally add an image or GIF to your threads, as Lance explained. It’ll only make your tweet and thread cooler. How cool is that GIF?!
#TwitterSmarter A2: Nothing says you cannot add an image to a Twitter thread. In fact, most great long-format threads include a graphic of some kind to illustrate a key point of the theses/argument/findings/news. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/2wPtKxtPlE
— Lance A Schart (@LanceASchart) February 10, 2022
Take a deep breath and tweet away.
A3(a) You should start Twitter Threads carefully. The first tweet will get the most attention and will serve as a lead-in for the whole thread. Use a photo and tag up to 10 accounts. #TwitterSmarterhttps://t.co/MA3Gx5SAKm pic.twitter.com/CChnRneRHt
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
On a serious note, though, think about what your thread is going to be and how you’ll begin. As our guest mentioned, the first tweet will serve as the intro to every subsequent tweet. Every time you add a tweet to your thread, that first tweet will get a boost of attention. That’s why it’s worth thinking about your first tweet in a thread.
Neil also shared a couple of examples. One was a thread he created as a guest on #ContentChat. It includes a clear image, indicating what the tread is about, relevant hashtags, and accounts. Neil also suggested that you could tag up to ten (relevant) people in your intro tweet.
A3(c) If you’re adding to your thread over time, each time you add a tweet, the first one gets promoted to the top of your followers’ timelines. The first tweet of this Thread for @UnitedWay's Lobby Day set the tone for the thread. #TwitterSmarterhttps://t.co/YLZW61dBSf pic.twitter.com/U8wrPWFyWh
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
His second example was a thread from United Way, promoting their Lobby Day.
One of the most useful practices is numbering your tweets. If you know you’re going to have three tweets in your thread, you could number them as 1/3, 2/3, and 3/3. However, if you’re at an event and you don’t know how many tweets you’ll thread together, start numbering them as 1/, 2/, 3/. Some people also prefer to number them as 1/n, 2/n, 3/n, using the universal ‘n’ to represent a possible infinite.
A4(b) It starts with numbering. Either 1, 2, 3 or better yet 1/x, 2/x, 3/x if you don’t know how long your thread will be. Lately, I’ve been ending my Twitter Threads with a 20/20 and a -30- to make it clear the Thread is done.#TwitterSmarterhttps://t.co/AWrDSeHJMn pic.twitter.com/xjdjs1WC7g
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
Twitter threads and replies to tweets look similar. So it’s important to make it clear to your reader that you intentionally created a thread of tweets. To do this, add some signals—numbering is one such signal. Another one is using the same hashtag in each tweet to emphasize commonality. You can also explicitly tell your audience (ideally in your intro tweet) that you’re starting a thread. These pointers will help set the right expectations.
A4(d) Another best practice: Use the same hashtag in each tweet. This increases the visibility of your thread and makes it clear they’re part of a longer narrative. If one tweet gets retweeted, people will know what the Thread is about (e.g. #NYTReadalong).#TwitterSmarter
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
Alyx shared another good tip: don’t overdo your threads. It’s easy to get carried away and add too many tweets to your thread, but when you do so, you might also exhaust your reader. The ideal length of a thread varies by audience and the nature of the core message, but be aware of your audience’s limits.
A4 Don't go crazy with it – if it's too long or goes too far off topic or you post A LOT of them that are similar, people will lose interest
Make each tweet a separate idea that ties in to the main point
Tie it all together at the end
-Alyx#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/3PeA5nSWUs— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) February 10, 2022
Some of the most common challenges are also the most annoying. Clicking away, going back or forward from the page you’re on, losing track of the numbers, replying to the wrong tweet in the tread are all normal problems. There’s no magic solution to fix these issues. However, as our guest suggested, if you lose track of your thread, don’t just reply to your intro tweet. That will treat it as a mere reply rather than adding it to your thread.
A5(b) DON'T just reply to your first tweet. If you do that, you won’t actually create a thread.
Conversely, if you’re engaging with someone else’s Thread, DO reply to the first tweet. Otherwise, your tweet gets buried as a reply. #TwitterSmarter
cc: @MadalynSklar
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
If you’re engaging with someone else’s thread, though, reply to the first tweet of their thread so that your reply is seen every time the first tweet gets attention.
Another challenge, as our friends from GiveWP rightly pointed out, is that threads can get busy fairly quickly. Though engagement is a good thing, but can also muddle the order of your thread when it shows up on someone’s feed. This is so common that most people are inherently aware of it when they see a thread. However, this is where numbering can be of great help.
A5) Engagement through the thread + replies can make the thread harder to follow and occasionally the way threads show up in the TL. #TwitterSmarter
— GiveWP (@GiveWP) February 10, 2022
A good way to measure the impact of your threaded tweets is to compare their reach (impressions, expansions, click throughs, replies, etc.) with the reach of your individual tweets.
A6(a) There are different ways to measure the success of Twitter Threads. You can certainly focus on the metrics of Threads vs. individual tweets. I prefer focusing on qualitative measurements.#TwitterSmarterhttps://t.co/9taBqd5ZnO pic.twitter.com/chi4al88gW
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
As our guest explained, when you tag relevant people and add hashtags in each tweet of a thread, you’ll drastically increase the thread’s reach.
A6(c) Another good example of tagging multiple people in a thread is one I did on behalf of @IA_Impact for an event they hosted celebrating #WomenWhoImpact#TwitterSmarterhttps://t.co/rFrQSLALHz pic.twitter.com/dahLfDODYh
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
Jelle also pointed out that you’ll have to measure success both qualitatively and quantitatively. It’s important to understand what your Twitter Analytics shows, but it’s also equally important to observe what your audience says about your thread—do they find it helpful? Are they referencing it in other conversations? Are they bookmarking it? All of these details will help you measure your impact.
A6:
Quantitative: Use Twitter Analytics to check impressions and engagements.
Qualitative: See who is talking about your thread. Do they add more value to your thread? Do they continue the discussion? #TwitterSmarter
— Jelle Postma (@JelleTells) February 10, 2022
A study from Buffer suggested that threads perform better than tweets with links. Check out the details of the study here: https://buffer.com/resources/twitter-thread-experiment/
Our guest also noted that people will read through threads, even though only the first one might get the most number of retweets and likes.
A7(b) Here is that research from @Buffer on Twitter Threads, courtesy of a tweet by @rosiemay_r
cc: @MadalynSklar #TwitterSmarter
https://t.co/UTSJz7WPjm— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
But of course, threads won’t magically increase your click through rates. You have to do some of the work, too. Just like you do with individual tweets. As Madalyn said, include a strong call to action (CTAs) on your images with a link to your website. Actively invite people to engage with and respond to your threads.
A7: Absolutely! If your threads are appealing to your target audience, they’re going to boost engagement and click-throughs. Just make sure you’re inviting people to reply and including CTAs to visit your site. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/xfOSbsDGlk
— MadalynSklar.eth Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) February 10, 2022
You can use tools like Chirr App, Typefully, and Thread Creator to create Twitter threads.
A8(b) For Twitter Threads, I think you should use either the desktop app or your phone, despite the challenges noted earlier in this Thread. Here’s another Thread I did, for @JusticeAid_ last year. (I’m on the board.) #TwitterSmarterhttps://t.co/fwaPxrfPz9 pic.twitter.com/tdlEXQLYLe
— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
Neil also told us about Thread Reader, which unpacks long threads into an easy-to-read format. This is a great tool when, as we mentioned earlier, there are a lot of replies to your threads and the original gets a bit muddled.
A8(d) @tweepsmap also lets you schedule Twitter Threads. Samir (@Connexinet), sorry I didn't include you in the list earlier. #TwitterSmarter
cc: @MadalynSklar https://t.co/EibxyOOgfIhttps://t.co/WuLqAF9bt9 pic.twitter.com/uni9WQkVPp— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
In an earlier tweet in the chat, our guest mentioned that third-party tools used to create threads don’t allow you to tag people in images. However, during the course of our chat, we realized that such a tool does indeed exist—Tweepsmap is the first app that allows you to schedule Twitter threads and tag Twitter accounts in images.
**A8(a) CORRECTION**
I know this tweet might get buried. (I said it myself earlier, don't reply to tweets in the middle of a thread.)
ICYMI I needed to share this correction. @tweepsmap can do what I needed it to do. BOOM! #TwitterSmarter
https://t.co/Ntz7yEW0Yn pic.twitter.com/F5Dvf55Vku— Neil Parekh (He / Him / His) (@neilparekh) February 10, 2022
Well, that’s all from me, folks. Thanks for reading through, and for more insights from our chat with Neil, browse through this Twitter thread.
You can also browse through all of Neil’s answers in this one mega thread he created.
If you think this summary is pretty good, you’ll love the real-time chat. Join us every Thursday at 1pm ET on #TwitterSmarter. Afterward, we also hang out on Twitter Spaces at 5pm ET to continue our chat. Catch you there!
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all the things—marketing stuff for the bills; haiku and short stories for the soul. A social media enthusiast, I hang out with the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and am always happy to take on writing gigs.
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