This post, by Marshall Thompson, was originally posted to Advent Creative but has been republished with permission.
Newspapers will have to adapt to social media to survive and thrive in the future. Luckily, it seems that some social media tools have adapted to newspapers as well. Twitter is the best example. It’s a rapidly growing microbloging site where people write one-liners to share links and ideas. What could be more perfect for newspapers? There is just enough room for a headline and a link to a story.
Most major mass media outlets have jumped on board, including the New York Times, NPR, BBC, Anderson Cooper, and many more. It’s great to see. And as a media consumer, I find it’s amazingly convenient to get real-time, yet unobtrusive updates from my favorite news sources. I’ve noticed, however, that most of these news organizations could greatly improve their Twitter effectiveness by writing better headlines.
Here are a few tips on Twitter-optimized headline writing:
The headline tells me nothing. The subhead, which follows the colon, is too long.
1. Keep it short.
Twitter gives you 140 characters to get your message out, but don’t feel obligated to use every space. The print versions of newspapers are so constrained by space that when journalists move to the relatively unrestrained web, they sometimes have a tendency to go overboard. Don’t use 140 characters if you can get the same point across with 139. I suggest using only about 30 characters for a headline, then add the URL to the story.
2. No puns.
We all love a good pun, especially headline writers who are trying to spice up an otherwise mundane story. But cute words games are death on Twitter. If I don’t know immediately what a story is about there is no chance I will click on the link. In many ways, this is a return to the purism of just-the-facts journalism. Puns are coy, and coyness wastes time. Cut it out.
3. Focus on keywords.
I have no idea what this is about. It’s from the City Room, but that doesn’t help much.
Practitioners of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) put a heavy emphasis on identifying and using keywords. Newspapers could take a cue from them. Identify the most important words from the article and put them in your Twitter-optimized headline. Try to imagine you’re a news consumer looking for a certain story, what phrases or words would you Google to find it? Those are your keywords.
(Right now, I’m obsessed with Gaza. If I see a tweet with “Gaza” in it, I read it. But if it says something like “attacks continue,” there’s a good chance I’ll ignore it.)
4. Use Hashtags
A hashtag, or a pound sign, #, is a way to categorize tweets by content instead of friends and followers. For instance, if you have a story about Darfur, you should put #darfur at the end of the tweet. This way, anyone who is instested in that topic can find your story, even if they aren’t following your updates. You may need to search Twitter a bit to find the most appropriate hashtag for your story.
Top: This is a good example. I know exactly what it’s about in one line. Bottom: This is a bad example from the Deseret News. The consolidated tweet seems desperate and no link follows.
5. Don’t consolidate stories.
Use one tweet for each story you put out. Don’t confuse people by putting two or three different stories into a catchall post. These consolidated tweets often sound like advertisements or shameless plugs. Remember, Twitter, is much more unobtrusive than other new media, like text messaging. It’s OK to put out a lot of content as long as it’s pertinent and helpful to readers.
6. Link directly to the story.
Don’t waste a reader’s time by putting a headline for a specific story and then a link that goes to your main page. Remember using Twitter is a service to help your customers find the news they want faster. Don’t jerk them around in a silly attempt to get more page views.
7. No subheads.
This is related to the first point, keep it short. As a general rule, if you’re using a colon, you’ve already screwed up. Just use the headline. Also, don’t give the section of the paper where the story appears in print. It doesn’t matter. The content matters.
Twitter is an amazing tool for daily newspapers and can be a key to their survival in the future. You’ve only got one line to sell your story to the readers, follow these tips and make it count.
Marshall Thompson has been a reporter and newspaper editor in Kosovo, Korea, Iraq, Jerusalem and the U.S., and has a master’s degree in mass communication from Ohio University. He is currently the P.R. and Social Media Director at Advent Creative in Utah.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Thx, smart piece of research. It helps
Thanks for excellent advice.
Pistachio,
Good info and insight. Thanks for sharing.
Your advice is very much appreciated. Thanks
Very good information. Thanks!
Great suggestions and I like the explanation behind it. I wouldn’t have thought about things like not using puns because it gets lost in the chatter.
Great information, and to the point!
These are some useful tips! No disrespect but they are common sense
Is there any professional software out there that you can schedule tweets? I would like to set up an arsenal of tweets and have them cycle through on a weekly or daily basis. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Great advice – thanks for the tips.