17 Jun Twitter Increases Character Limit for Direct Messages
Community Managers and customer care representatives everywhere are rejoicing at Twitter’s latest announcement regarding character limit. Beginning in July 2015, the 140-character limit for Direct Messages will be put the death (R.I.P.). It’s rumored that there will be a new 10,000 character limit put in place (I know it’ll be a challenge, but just try to make it work, ok?). This does NOT impact public tweets at all, which will still remain the traditional 140-characters or fewer.
Over the next several weeks, work with your social media team to make the most of this change. Here’s a handy checklist:
Confirm your Content Management Systems are prepared for the update.
Twitter suggests in their recent blog post that CMS developers, like HootSuite, make API updates to accommodate the longer DM text.
Update your customer care tactics.
This change is huge for those handling customer care issues on Twitter. So long scrolling through 13 Direct Messages from Disappointed David as he retells his journey of disenchantment, 140 painful characters at a time. Equally painful, is providing excellent customer service in bite-sized pieces. As a solution, your brand may have used Direct Messaging as a stepping stone to an email (e.g. “Hi, David! Thanks for reaching out. Please email us at XYZ so we can better assist you.”). Now brands have the opportunity to skip the extra step and handle issues completely on Twitter. If you can swing it, do it! Consumer who reach out on social are doing so in hopes of resolving their issue on the channel — not being sent to a call center or contact form they likely already found and passed over on your website.
Revamp social media programs with ease.
Restriction-free direct messaging means a fresh look at getting user-generated content or fulfilling surprise and delight campaigns. Instead of trying to figure out how to get your point across in 2-3 DMs that invokes the response you want, brands can now craft their ideal message in 300 or 800 characters. Go crazy, kids!
What else can you do with 10,000 DM characters? Get creative and share your ideas with us in the comments.
