Twitter just got more visual, and brands are wasting no time in taking advantage.
Last Wednesday, Twitter introduced two new mobile features that aim to make the largely text-based platform more visual — and, as a result, more social. Now using the Twitter iPhone or Android app, users can tag up to 10 people in an image in a tweet. An important part of this feature is that tagging people doesn’t affect your character count — tweeters will still have 140 characters to play around with.
The other new feature is the ability include multiple photos in a single tweet. Users can now share up to four photos in a single tweet that automatically arrange themselves in a grid. Users can just tap to get a preview and can then slide through to the full images.
Since last week, many brands from the Gap to Chips Ahoy have already jumped on the multi-photo feature:
Gap
In April, we turn our focus to all things blue as photographed by Koto Bolofo. #LivedinBlues https://t.co/CST3rRkOn0 pic.twitter.com/chk2jtmcEe
Ad rendering preventing in staging
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
— Gap (@Gap) April 2, 2014
“Because images get more real estate in the feed, they increase the chances that a user will see and engage with us,” said Liam Leonard, associate brand manager at Naked Juice (a PepsiCo brand). “We know our users respond enthusiastically to images, and are excited to see that Twitter is moving in a more visual direction with multi-picture tweets.”
Naked Juice’s multi-photo tweet has gotten 812 retweets and 1,944 favorites. By comparison, another recent Naked Juice tweet with just a single image has gotten just 24 retweets and 63 favorites.
Naked Juice
Blend a bottle of your favorite #NakedJuice + fruit + yogurt, and freeze for a refreshing snack. #yum pic.twitter.com/FiEGdrVr7z
Ad rendering preventing in staging
Ad position: web_incontent_pos2
— Naked Juice (@nakedjuice) March 27, 2014
When Twitter first shifted its design to be more visual by making single images viewable in tweets last November, many publishers and brands noticed increased engagement thanks to these photo tweets — and in the case of publishers a boost in traffic, too. It seems that the multi-photo feature may have the same effect; however, brands are saying it’s still too early to tell. That’s not stopping them from trying though:
Chips Ahoy
Which one do you want to try first? “All” is a totally acceptable answer. #IceCreamCreations pic.twitter.com/3EobOMs8jM
— Chips Ahoy (@ChipsAhoy) March 28, 2014
Nature’s Recipe
Nurture your #dog with the same quality ingredients you enjoy with our new Pure Essentials recipes! #thrive pic.twitter.com/HpPbsYvcT9
— Nature’s Recipe (@NaturesRecipe) March 28, 2014
“We’ve just started using multi-image tweets and don’t yet have confirmation on engagement performance,” said Lucas Herscovici, vp of digital at Anheuser-Busch, whose Shock Top Brewery subsidiary has tried the multi-photo format.
“Images are a proven tool to help us to drive engagement with our fans and followers,” he added. “But we find our followers react to content that is entertaining and useful – whether that has images or not.”
Shock Top Brewery
You’re closer to the perfect Shock Top pour than you think. Follow these four steps and nail it every single time! pic.twitter.com/C23dqQmHX9
— Shock Top Brewing (@ShockTop) March 28, 2014
More in Marketing
In the marketing world, anime is following in the footsteps of gaming
As marketers look to take advantage of anime’s entry into the zeitgeist, they might be wise to observe the parallels between the evolution of anime as a marketing channel and the ways brands have learned to better leverage gaming in recent years.
With the introduction of video ads and e-commerce, Roblox looks to attain platform status
Roblox is expanding into more areas than just ads in 2024. Much like platforms such as Amazon and Facebook have transcended their origins to evolve from their origins as online marketplaces and social media channels, Roblox is in the midst of a transformation into a platform for all elements of users’ virtual lives.
PepsiCo wants to remain a ‘driver of culture’ as it turns to influencers and activations amid rebrand
The soda-maker says it can translate cultural relevance into sales volume.
Ad position: web_bfu