You’ve got an important message to get out to your followers. There are times when 140 characters can be downright constricting. Yet there are people delivering effective marketing or brand messages with ease AND they’re getting people to take notice. So, so what are some things to consider with your tweet and what can you do to make it successful?

Know Your Community

The expression has become a bit of a cliché, “know your audience”, but when it comes to delivering a social media message it gains even more relevance. Pay attention to what kind of message in your brand community, or interest community, gets a response. Even though it is “your” brand, the brand in today’s market truly belongs to the consumers. Your business doesn’t own the brand, your business is the steward of the brand.

Being a part of your brand’s interest community means you have the right subject matter from the get-go, but making sure the message you send out is relevant is critical. What makes your message relevant? A little planning goes a long way here.

Make Your Message Remarkable

Elements of Newswriting 101 should play a part in your message. Is it timely? Is it newsworthy (tweetworthy?)? Does it promote your brand or discussion about your brand? Does it link back to your site or other brand experience?

A lot like newswriting, a good tweet will be timely to current trends or discussion topics—demonstrating your brand is listening, really in the trenches with consumers. Be aware of current ideas and thoughts in your market. Demonstrate your brand’s worthiness to be followed by the interest community and further demonstrate your expertise by staying in touch.

Your tweets should be newsworthy by containing enough new information or feedback to warrant your interest community’s attention. Yes, this focuses on your brand, but also don’t be afraid to pass along other community news. This includes appropriate use of relevant interest community retweets (RT) or reposting and accrediting someone else’s Twitter post. Interest communities are just that—communities. Good statements can be newsworthy, pass them along. Sharing news and rebroadcasting other important topics shows your brand is dedicated to the community.

A good tweet will also promote discussion or thought from the interest community. Again, while drawing attention to your brand, don’t live under the misconception that yours is the only one. Other members of the interest community (other brands) are trying to foster relationships as well. Showing your brand’s dedication to the community will engender even stronger loyalty. This is where your brand really needs to be a part of the ongoing conversation and fully in tune with your interest community.

While some tweets are simple message statements, a brand requires action. A straight up statement may work for a retweet and may work in some instances, but each and every communication should direct the visitor somewhere. Your brand’s site for supporting information, another news article from an interest community publication, or even a contradicting viewpoint can all be effective links in a good tweet. The right URL shortener will also track the effectiveness of the link. Excellent tool for measuring ROI!

Timing is Everything

Take a minute to look at your followers or fans. Do you see how much they’re listening to? There’s a lot of noise out there and delivering your message needs to be laser-beam focused and delivered at the right time. Pay attention to your interest community. When are the tweets rolling out? When do many of the fans really make comments? All of this is critical when deciding to hit the social media network with an important tweet.

Timing is also important to maintain newsworthiness. While holding to get the maximum number of eyeballs, sometimes hitting while news is hot can be just as important. Look how much interest you have in the brand subject? When news hits, aren’t you immediately drawn in? So is everyone else and while it may seem like common sense, look at how many business tweets abruptly stop at 5:00 pm and are silent until 8:00 am.

A world of thought and strategy goes into 140 characters. Throw in 10 to 18 characters for a shortened URL and perhaps even leaving enough space so you can be retweeted—an effective social media message must be brief, dense and relevant. Next time you’re sitting down to hammer out some social media interaction, think of a plan. The extra time you put in developing a strategy will payoff many times over.

In a recent article, Deborah Spanic wrote, “the interesting point that I think may get lost in the he-said she-said of a typical defamation case, is the question of whether or not you can defame with a tweet. I think the answer to that is yes, you can.” Deborah Spanic is an internet and intellectual property attorney, specializing in trademarks, copyright, domain name issues, e-commerce and e-business issues and social media law with Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Does this mean the threat of litigation will hang over everything on social media? Not likely. Does this mean one should be putting some thought into their tirade before publishing it on the web? Absolutely.

Attorney Spanic wrote, “confining yourself to statements of fact and personal observation are two ways to avoid statements being considered defamatory. Saying, “I was unhappy with how Attorney John Smith handled my case” is better than stating he’s a crook.”

While Twitter, Facebook and many social media outlets are protected under existing law from being sued, individuals are not. A company defamed by an individual via social media may very well have legal standing. While this would clearly be a customer relations nightmare for the company and likely being flammed in effigy by the social media community, it isn’t past impossible.

Give some thought to your Tweets and posts (mind your T’s and P’s?), especially when criticizing. If you have someone criticizing your brand or you personally, think about it in another approach. Would it be better to demonstrate to your interest community that you hear the criticism and are responding? Or that your skin is pretty thin and your product of service cannot stand up without legal help?

For those comments and posts that are grumbling simply for the sake of grumbling, social media and web users have become expert at spotting unsubstantiated gripes. Show that your brand has thick skin and can respond when necessary.

There is always an inherent risk of criticism when interacting with your interest community on the web. While that risk has an equal (or greater) part opportunity, many brands tend to hide. Business is no place to be a wallflower. At the same time, your brand’s social media touchpoint shouldn’t be a place to vent. Just as social media mavens are quick to spot a grumbler, they have zero patience for brands that gripe or bad-mouth the competition.

Remember that social media is quickly becoming the front line of your brand and a key element linking your business to the consumer-driven world. Participate, but don’t get too personal. Keep your brand approachable, but professional. Same should go for your online comments.

Deborah Spanic’s article in full can be found here.