---
title: 3 Tips to Increase Twitter Engagement
description: 3 Lessons in increasing Twitter effectiveness based on an analysis of almost 800 tweets by the AddThis team.
image: https://blog.thoughtlabs.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/twitter_thumbs_up.jpg
---
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# 3 Tips to Increase Twitter Engagement
Written by [John Maver](https://blog.thoughtlabs.com/blog/author/john-maver)
on Apr 20, 2015
The [AddThis team did an analysis](http://www.addthis.com/blog/2015/04/16/what-we-learned-by-looking-at-90-days-worth-of-tweets) of what was most effective in their last 90 days of tweets and came up with the following 3 lessons:
## 1. Align With Trends
Almost 50% of their top 20 tweets were related to current events and trends on Twitter. They used infographics or posts with data that they could tie into those events. **The important thing is to make sure that your tweets still reflect your brand values and expertise. **If the trend doesn't fit, don't hop on it - [examples of bad matches abound](http://mashable.com/2013/12/07/spaghettios-twitter-pearl-harbor/).
## 2. Keep Your Tweets Short
Their tweets of around 65 characters tended to perform the best, beating their 80 character tweets by 1.35%. [Buffer says that Tweets shorter than 100 characters have a 17% higher engagement rate.](https://blog.bufferapp.com/optimal-length-social-media) One way to create shorter tweets is to use images to help convey the message instead. Working on **shorter tweets can also mean clearer messaging**, which can help get more eyeballs in a crowded stream.
## 3. Use Media
Just like on Facebook, images and video generally outperform text-only content. AddThis found that not only did it increase their overall engagement, but that **media clicks outnumbered the URL clicks.** So, choose media that helps to tell the story and offers viewers a chance to engage right in the stream.
---
Have you found the same lessons from your tweets? Share your experiences below.
Topics: [Social Strategy and Tactics](https://blog.thoughtlabs.com/blog/tag/social-strategy-and-tactics)
**About the author:**
#### [John Maver](https://blog.thoughtlabs.com/blog/author/john-maver)
John Maver is a champion for building customer-centric social communities, with a focus on nurturing strong brand advocates. His creative campaigns are developed around meaningful interactions and making brands come alive. John loves mobile technology and is always exploring the latest apps and APIs that help people connect.
Find me on:
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