At the Speed of Twitter, It’s OK to Repeat Yourself

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I like to tweet. A lot. It’s my preferred platform for real time engagement and I’m pretty much on there all day. One reason I like it so much is because I can push out my content to a huge audience.

A little while back, someone noticed the way in which I was doing this and said: “Yo, Gary. Please explain why posting multiple times a day is strategy and not annoying.”

Gladly. Everything I do is calculated. I’m ready with my answer, and it applies to how you should engage on Twitter too.

The reason I post the same piece of content multiple times a day is because Twitter has become noisy. I’ve looked at the data. I’ve followed my intuition. Both these things have told me that it’s okay for me to post the way I do because the speed of the platform has increased exponentially. Sure, some people will see the same thing a few times in a row if they go directly to your profile. But guess what? The amount of people who will experience your profile in that way is very small. Most people will only experience it in their own feed, their own timeline.

Additionally, so many people still miss a huge amount of my content, even with this tactic employed. I’m talking things that I have posted probably over fifteen times, like my Slideshare on the biggest mistake people make on Twitter, will be seen as “new content” by a lot of my followers.

The increased density of the platform has changed the market of Twitter. It’s appropriate to push something multiple times because the speed and noise creates constant diversity in content. Anyone who follows at least a hundred or so people, maybe even less, is certain to get new content each time they go to the app or website. It’s essentially become the news ticker at the bottom of an ESPN or CNBC broadcast; a constant scrolling of information. You can easily ignore it, or you can engage with it. It’s up to you, and it’s no big deal.

Now, be cautious: I’m not saying you post your new mixtape fifteen times in a row within the span of ten minutes. I don’t care if it’s fire; that’s just terrible engagement. Come up with a strategy that works for you on the platform. Post multiple times a day but consider different timezones. I want to hit up my European and Asian family, so I’m thinking about their day too. Consider work hours, or after work hours. Where is your consumer? Fan? Potential fans? Map their day and post around it. You’ll have to spend a week or two testing, trying out different times to see which one works best. But it will be worth it because you’ll be optimizing your presence all the more.

Bottom line: in a 2015 world, it’s appropriate to post the same content multiple times a day on Twitter. In 2008, I felt differently. But I changed my mind.

Thanks for reading! Know someone who needs a bit of help with their Twitter presence? Send this their way. 🙂