Why Duplicating Tweets is a Good Strategy

How many of your Twitter followers read every tweet you send? The number is probably smaller than you think. Reading all of a brand's tweets requires users to either A) Log in and read tweets extremely frequently… or perpetually, or B) Constantly visit the Twitter profiles of the brands they want to hear from. And as much as it would be great if your tweets were so engaging that they pulled all of your followers over to your profile, the hard truth is, they aren't. And they don't.

No matter how witty, interesting, or how much value your tweets contain, most of your audience will likely "luck" onto them – they will only see them if they happen to be online right around the time you tweet.

So if you've got a compelling message, how do you ensure more of your audience sees it? You duplicate your tweets.

Now, when we say "duplicate tweets," that doesn't mean copy and pasting tweets word-for-word and spamming your followers' timelines. Instead, we're using the term loosely, to mean tweeting the same meaning using different words, phrases, calls-to-action and multimedia.

So when is duplicating tweets a good idea? Here are some situations where it works:

1. When you've created a killer piece of content. After all, why tweet it once and then let your audience forget about it (or, for many of them, not see it at all)?


2. When you're running a time-sensitive promotion, deal, contests or event. Tweeting before, during and after will help keep it top-of-mind.


3. When you want to get your stuff on someone's radar. Tweeting to them once might be easily ignored – but ten times? That should get some attention.

But, as we discussed, duplicate tweeting isn't just a matter of highlighting some text and hitting copy + paste. To be successful, it takes finesse.

You have to keep your entire audience in mind when duplicating tweets. Some of them will have seen the first tweet, and might be turned off if they see an exact copy an hour later. In fact, they might even think it's spam, and click the dreaded "unfollow" button.

So, you've got to flex your creative muscles and write brand new tweets – but tweets that contain the same information as the original.

Let's say you're promoting an upcoming event, and you're offering an early-bird special of 20% off ticket prices. Here are three tweets that get the same information across, but that won't alienate any audience members who see more than one:

"Get your tickets to TheGreatEvent before the end of the month, and save 20% with our Early Bird special!"

"Tickets to TheGreatEvent are selling fast – and if you get in on the action before the cutoff date, you will save yourself a cool $100."

"Only a few more days left until ticket prices for TheGreatEvent go up! Get yours today to save $$."

Sending these tweets hours, days or even weeks apart will result in more eyeballs on the content, and more potential event signups. And since each tweet is unique, they act more as reminders – rather than spam – to anyone who sees more than one in their timelines.

Do you use duplicate tweeting as part of your Twitter marketing strategy? Let us know in the comments below.