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Earlier this week, Twitter introduced a new and controversial feature called Mute which allows users to hide all tweets from specific accounts in their timeline. Alarmed? Fair enough. Let’s look at what it means for online marketers and social reach strategy.
If a user mutes an account, it means that tweets and retweets from that account will no longer show in their timeline (muted accounts will still be able to reply, retweet and favourite users’ tweets as before, although this activity will be hidden as well). Essentially, you can be followed and still have (one-way) interactions with people who have muted you.
Of course no one wants to be muted, but there’s a gleaming silver lining here. This update brings Twitter’s functionality closer to Facebook’s in the sense that users can show support for a brand without having to see their traffic. It means that your followers now have a choice besides blocking or unfollowing (much, much worse alternatives). Users who come on board after a targeted campaign or event but lose interest in your specific content are less likely to completely remove you from their profile.
The bad? From a management perspective, you currently cannot know who has blocked you so your reach may not be as broad as it initially seems — keep that in mind when reporting on your marketing efforts.
The best way to avoid getting muted? Don’t be annoying. As always, relevant, concise and timely content wins on Twitter (and in life) for engaging people and growing your brand. Additionally, focus on creating content that is more likely to be retweeted — this way, even if a user has you on mute, they may still get the message from someone else. Users have more options than before and you are no longer guaranteed visibility, which makes it even more important to make sure every tweet speaks to your audience and brand.
Have questions about growing your brand on Twitter? Get in touch with us!