Twitter is an interesting platform when it comes to marketing. From trending hashtags and quirky tweets to user-generated content, over the years marketers have managed to make the most of this platform.
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Recently, Twitter announced that it is testing ‘voice tweets’ for iOS that will allow users to record audios of about 140 seconds and attach it with the tweet. “Over the years, photos, videos, gifs, and extra characters have allowed you to add your own flair and personality to your conversations. But sometimes 280 characters aren’t enough and some conversational nuances are lost in translation. So starting today, we’re testing a new feature that will add a more human touch to the way we use Twitter – your very own voice,” said Twitter in a blog post.
On iOS, you can now Tweet with your voice! Hit compose Tweet, record your audio, and attach it to your Tweet.
Find out more: https://t.co/qaM6kQFQJ6
— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) June 17, 2020
Twitter also started testing a new feature, ‘fleets’ in India. Fleets is a feature where the posted content will disappear in 24 hours.
Testing, testing…
We’re testing a way for you to think out loud without the Likes, Retweets, or replies, called Fleets! Best part? They disappear after 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/r14VWUoF6p— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) June 9, 2020
Although these are yet to be a part of Twitter’s ad product offerings, experts feel both the features can be used greatly by brands to enhance their social media presence and connect with consumers. According to Kanika Mittal, Business Head at Twitter India, fleets are a great new feature for brands to express their personality and create a tone of voice that is more human, light-hearted and real time.
“Brands can use this to create conversations with consumers on a regular basis. As part of their social media strategy plan, they could push out content every day on fleets to express their brand's personality and share more about their products and services,” she said.
“With fleets, brands can put out more content without bombarding their consumer's Home timeline. Thus brands can experiment with different content pieces to see what their consumers love and evolve their social strategy in real time,” she added.
Talking about voice tweets, Sameer Makani, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Makani Creatives, said it will help brands have a personal impact on the target audience. “Twitter has been very popular among users for short format and a quick way of communication. Introducing voice tweets will surely save the hassle of typing. Since Twitter has a fixed target audience, it will offer greater opportunities for brands to engage with their end-users. Voice tweets can give brands an alternative to reach their potential. A personalised voice message will create a better impact in tonality as it can explain better than texts," he said.
According to Prashant Nair, Creative Director, FoxyMoron, it will take some time for brands to get used to voice tweets. "140-second voice tweets may be a little ahead of its time for brands but it surely is a great addition for politicians/opinions makers and the public in general. With voice, you can identify or paint a picture of a person's personality or demeanour. I don't think brands will be too comfortable to open up to voice tweets. However, they can air voice ads through voice tweets."
Manika Juneja, VP Operations, West & South, WATConsult, said voice tweets will allow brands to add human elements to the tweets. "The 140-second voice tweets will support the rising voice and vernacular trends. Voice tweets will give way to the brands reach out and connect with their audiences with a touch of human element and personalisation. It will allow brands and influencers to add flair to their personality and narrate what one could not cover in 280 characters.” However, she said since the feature is not yet available on Android, brands might not include in their overall strategy. She said brands will need to evolve their CRM systems and guidelines for the platform to crack the consumer sentiments.”
According to experts, brands might get the most from the fleets feature. Juneja said the fleets feature can be used by brands to engage with the audience through visual mags and help tell stories. "It is also going to give headway to the growing community of nano and micro-influencers who will now have a lot more to share and experiment with by using this feature. This may lead Twitter from being referred to as just a consumer relationship management platform to an engaging platform for various brands," she added.
The fleets update by Twitter gives more avenues for brands to start conversations with consumers and opinion-makers, says Nair. "Twitter is a great mouthpiece for many brands and fleets will allow brands to share pictures and videos along with tweets. Leveraging Twitter using such updates is what brands were asking for all this while. I think voice tweets will initially catch on with people and later with brands. Those who are not comfortable typing can now easily voice tweet, keeping in mind the "Siri/Ask Google" phenomena. On the other hand, fleets will take off with brands right away," he said.