When it comes to building brand awareness, Twitter might be worth your energy. Yes, the platform has a rep for being the land of trolls and heated arguments, but it’s also a platform for authentic engagement and interesting conversations. One company to check out is media brand Morning Brew, led by writer Toby Howell. In eight months, its following has gone from 26k to 170k – and Toby’s own following from 600 to 16k. Here he offers his playbook for creating content that catches your audience’s attention.

Add value 

‘Twitter is the number one platform in the world for putting your ideas out there and establishing your lighthouse – for saying: this is who I am, these are the people and ideas I want to attract. I think there’s just unlimited opportunity to establish yourself in whatever space you want to be in, provided you lead with value.’ 

Tailor your content 

‘There’s pretty much nothing worse than people or businesses who just take one piece of content and post the exact same thing to Twitter and Instagram. Platforms are not the same and you shouldn’t just blanket-post content across them all. Making some small tweaks to make the content feel native to the platform it’s being posted on can make all the difference.’ 

Tweet like a human 

‘You still see plenty of major brands and businesses with lacklustre feeds that are only promotional. It doesn’t feel like there’s a person behind it, and it’s not what resonates. Approach Twitter as a human. And send tweets from your phone: they’ll end up feeling less polished and more off the cuff.’

Use threads 

‘Twitter threads can be a major growth driver because if a thread resonates with people, there’s potential for it to go viral. Mine your day-to-day experiences for content. If you’re running a business, you’re probably solving so many problems 24/7, and that is the content you should be using.’ 

Highjack super-powered twitter timelines 

‘If you’re one of the first to reply to a tweet, it’s likely to be seen by a huge audience. I’ve had tweets go viral underneath Elon Musk tweets, just by responding to his.’ 

Have fun 

‘Building a community, building a voice and getting basic brand awareness is where the social media sweet spot is. It’s not about getting people to go buy your product.’ 

This article was first published in Courier issue 40, April/May 2021. To purchase the issue or become a subscriber, head to our webshop.