Last December, Twitter added the option to embed tweets, making it easier for content marketers to add more social and interactive content to their sites. Embedded tweets allow you to post tweets to your website so that you can share your activity with a larger audience.
The standout benefit of this new feature is that it’s interactive. Anyone on your site or blog can retweet, reply, or favorite the tweet to join the conversation. They can also choose to follow the tweet author or view their profile by clicking on the author’s name. For tweets that contain a picture or a YouTube video, the media content will also be displayed on your website. If you’ve never seen an embedded tweet before, it looks like this:
Did you score a Pardot tee at the @techcrunch #tcatl event last night? Send us a pic when you’re sporting it! #swagsightings
— Pardot (@Pardot) July 10, 2012
The interactive functionality and the graphical presentation make embedded tweets highly engaging compared to plain text content. As discussed in previous blog posts, images and videos can draw the eyes of your readers and pull them further into your content.
That being said, what are some good ways to incorporate them into your marketing efforts? Get started by taking a look at the list below for a few fun ideas. Then, check out Twitter’s detailed instructions to help walk you through embedding your first tweets.
1. Try out some fun, creative posts that bring in a new perspective on a topic using celebrity, political, or news tweets. If you missed it, Pardot’s Kanye on Content post added a unique twist to content marketing using embedded tweets.
2. Add customer testimonials or positive tweets to your site. Embedded tweets from satisfied clients or customers can really show off your business while reflecting positively on your brand.
Can’t get enough of the @Pardot support! My question about styling one of their forms got answered within 10 minutes.
— Bill Bowman (@Bill_Bowman) July 5, 2012
3. Use embedded tweets in your survey, contest, webinar, or event invitations. If you have something that you’re promoting, give visitors the opportunity to share it while they’re looking at your blog post or website.
Friday the 13th seems like a good day to launch a contest, right? Win a Kindle Fire from ‘Profs: facebook.com/marketingprofs…
— Ann Handley (@MarketingProfs) July 13, 2012
4. Include tweets from industry influencers, experts, and professionals in your blog posts to support your points in a visually appealing way.
Blog posts on Mondays are viewed the most; Posting more than once a week is key! #InboundSci
— Demand Gen Report (@DG_Report) July 12, 2012
5. Expand on a twitter conversation in a blog post. How often have you seen a really great conversation take place on twitter before it gets lost in the flurry of never-ending tweets? If you think a conversation has more potential, embed it on your blog. Not only can visitors reply and continue the conversation, but you can pull in people who missed the conversation the first time around.
@peterdbaron We couldn’t agree more! Sometimes great audio will even salvage a poor shoot. Thanks for the response Peter!
— WISTIA (@wistia) July 5, 2012
6. Recap events or webinars through embedded tweets. Compile highlights of the twitter conversations taking place during the event and present them in a “recap blog post” for those who may have missed out. This can be fun for attendees who want to be featured in your recap.
ona webinar with @ReadyTalk and @Pardot.Learning about everything webinar!#RTWebinar
— Tracy Williams (@B2BDenver) July 12, 2012
The possibilities for embedded tweets extend much farther than the six ideas above. Have you been using embedded tweets? What creative ideas can you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below!
Comment
What are some sites that are using this well?
Thanks – Mike
Comment
Awesome question Mike! Now that you’re looking, you’ll start to notice them everywhere. My favorite example right now is Mashable. They do a great job of adding depth to a story or article by embedding relevant tweets.