Insider’s social team aimed to utilize Twitter to boost the brand’s stories, connect with readers, and establish itself not only as an authority on the platform but as a source for the latest news. The team had a concentrated focus on growing our Insider Business account in 2022. The short-term objective of our Twitter strategy was to engage our audience producers and editors to become digital natives and news publishers on the platform by writing tweets, threads, moments, Spaces, and by utilizing the platform’s tools to create multi-media, dynamic packages. In the long term, the objective with showcasing this work was to illustrate to the app’s users that Insider is a resource to be trusted for news.
Insider’s social team is constantly looking at our team’s Slack channels, email, homepages, and recently published lists to find stories that we can create dynamic packaging around on Twitter. This can look like a Twitter thread from one of our branded accounts with custom graphics, a Twitter thread consisting of reporter and source’s tweets, or one-off tweets with special graphics or photos. When applicable, the team turns Twitter threads into Twitter Moments. We can then pitch them to our partners at Twitter to be considered for featuring in the Explore tab. Video also adds a plethora of content that users engage with at a high level. Through these strategies, we’ve identified the following:
Stories we will consider for dynamic packaging on Twitter include:
Stories that will stir debate and encourage engagement.
Stories that break down an important, newsy, or trending topic.
Stories that can be told using multiple article links, usually part of a series or part of ongoing coverage.
Scoops, exclusives, and analyses that have a universal appeal.
Stories we will not consider for dynamic packing on Twitter include:
Niche stories that do not have a universal appeal.
Stories that lack visual elements and don’t have standout quotes.
The biggest challenges have come with the recent acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk, which has taken away the visibility of those curation processes, such as Moments. Since the acquisition, we’ve reduced the number of threads that the team curates on a daily basis.
Because of this strategy, we now have 3.9 million followers on Insider Business – making it the most followed Twitter account we own – and an average of more than 2 million visits back to our site and app from Twitter. This exceeded the goal we initially set in place of 1.5 million quarterly visits from the platform. The written elements have also helped boost the visibility of our videos, which averaged 43.2 million views in the third quarter of 2022 alone. We’ve managed to keep our audience engaged on Twitter by being accurate, succinct, and entertaining with Insider’s in-depth and fascinating reporting.
