Be concise.

Tweets have a maximum length of 280 characters, so make things short and sweet. Tweets with optimal impressions range from 70 to 100 characters in length.

Stay on trend.

Be aware of trending topics, events and holidays that are relevant campuswide, nationwide, or universally (ex: #NationalSTEMDay). These days can gain traction and stir up conversation among audience members. Use caution, however, with thematic days since there are so many that are not relevant (e.g. #NationalCheesePuffDay).

Wield its features.

Twitter has lots to offer in the way of displaying information and correspondence between users.

• Quotes - As opposed to a retweet, quotes allow you to say something about the content you are resharing. Use them to insert something important into the message that you’re reposting or simply to engage with users in a more public way than just a reply.
• Threads - When you need more than 280 characters to say what you need to say or if you need to provide ongoing updates on a single subject, use threads to connect a series of tweets.
• Take advantage of UC Davis GIFs - Using UC Davis GIFs in Twitter makes your replies or quotes come to life in a fun and friendly way. To access the UC Davis bank of GIFs, click the "GIF" option on your compose menu and search for “UCDavis." You can also see all UC Davis GIFs on our UC Davis Giphy account. 
• LIVE - If you have breaking news or a major event that you want to push out in a more information-rich way, create live videos, using LIVE powered by Periscope.
• Moments - Use moments to bundle a variety of tweets (yours and others) together and capture the essence of a particular event or point in time with a digital story collection. 
• Polls - Make your content interactive by using the poll feature to gain feedback or have a teachable moment. 
   

Hashtag and keyword searches.

Keep track of conversations happening around your area or #UCDavis through saved searches (or if you’re on Hootsuite, create search streams). Familiarize yourself with the UC Davis frequently-used hashtags here. For more hashtag strategy, visit our best practices for content building.