Under the slogan “a whole new you”, Twitter has started testing a new design for profile pages. At Progress, we actively create and curate content for our clients’ online platforms. Here is an overview of the main changes in 2014, with particular attention to the opportunities for companies.
Design
The most obvious change is the much larger space for your profile. A bigger profile picture, a more extensive biography and a full-width background image give Twitter a distinctly Facebook-like appearance. Where previously only text and photo links appeared, accompanying images are now expanded.
New features
Several other features focus on engagement. Tweets receiving the most interaction appear largest in the timeline, helping visitors find your best posts. You can also pin a tweet you are proud of to the top of your profile. These pinned tweets act like a personal status or another way to present yourself. Business accounts can keep a new product or testimonial visible for longer. Tweets can also be filtered to show all posts, shared photos and videos, or tweets with replies.
Go visual
It is well known that visual content performs well on social media. The popularity of Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat is no coincidence. Twitter is adapting too, as the rise of neatly designed infographics illustrates. People value visual content and share it more readily. It is worth considering how your company can benefit by using images to strengthen informative content.
What’s in it for you?
Although the new design has not reached everyone yet, users can already try it. To prepare, start gathering suitable photography and video. The design offers more possibilities than it may initially appear:
- Creativity and branding. The header gives you room to express your brand. Choose a striking image that instantly shows what you offer, or pictures of satisfied customers. The possibilities are endless, but the key is to personalise.
- Look and feel. The new design also allows a colour to be added to your profile, helping match your Twitter page to your brand identity.
- Customer praise. Pin tweets from satisfied customers at the top. Be proud!
My verdict
The filtering option is a particularly interesting improvement. Pinned and highlighted tweets also call for more deliberate content decisions. When does a post deserve to be pinned? How can you encourage enough engagement for a tweet to appear larger in the timeline?
To me, the redesign makes Twitter more attractive and familiar to Facebook users. Yet many existing Twitter users deliberately chose it for its distinctive character, which this makeover appears to reduce. On the other hand, you can keep your profile as restrained or as eye-catching as you like. Lifestyle brands can be expressive, while business brands can keep things clean. It depends on what you want to achieve. There is really one rule: tailor your approach to make the most of the content opportunities. Many experiments never reach a full rollout, so we will keep watching closely. For inspiration, Michelle Obama and John Legend already have the new design.
To be continued…
More news ›