Twitter Will Bid Fleets a Goodbye

Twitter will bid Fleets goodbye! Launch in November 2020, such an Instagram Stories clone will be removed by the 3rd of August. When Twitter launched Fleets, it aims to serve as a new way to spark conversations in the platform. It is an ephemeral and low-pressure way to share thoughts. Unfortunately, the platform has not seen a significant increase in Fleets’ usage. As it no longer serves public conversations, Twitter decided to remove Fleets and develop new features better than it.

WHAT ARE TWITTER FLEETS?

Fleets are tweets that only go live for 24 hours. These transitory thoughts can be posted as GIFs, photos, text, and videos. The video length can be up to 2 minutes and 21 seconds (521 MB). They cannot be publicly replied to, retweeted, or shared. But viewers of a Fleet can send reactions via direct messages (DM). Anyone can react to Fleets from users with an open DM but only people followed by a user with closed DMs can react to them. Authors of Fleets can see who viewed them by tapping Fleets and the “seen by” text at the bottom of the screen.

To create a new Fleet, simply tap the bubble-like icon and the “+” sign on your Twitter profile. Fleets appear above a home timeline. A social media agency Hong Kong reported that Fleets also now appear underneath tweets to boost exposure. Fleets differ from Instagram Stories when it comes to viewing functions. Users need to swipe down vertically before they can view the next Fleet. With Instagram Stories, users can do it horizontally. Fleets are designed for mobile use on both Android and iOS. Since the time Fleets was launched, Twitter continuously added enhancements to such features including animated stickers, custom backgrounds, and twemojis. A dedicated Fleets tab to display related Fleets has also been rolled out to boost its discovery.

HOW DO BRANDS AND BUSINESSES USE FLEETS?

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong notes that the Twitter nation craves authentic interactions. Fleets are the perfect ways to do that by celebrating fans, driving brand awareness, and offering behind-the-scenes stories. Businesses have been using Fleets to boost their marketing goals as follow:

Celebrate brand advocates. Fleets allow brands and businesses to shout out tweets from their biggest fans. This is a great way to celebrate with your brand advocates. Featuring them on Fleets can make them feel extra special and valued.

Drive product awareness. If a brand or business will have last-time purchases, top-selling items, or upcoming new products, Fleets are a perfect way of sharing images of these items on full screen.

Engage with fans. Using eye-catching photos, text, and videos on Fleets can boost fan engagement. Brands and businesses can also invite their fans to share similar content. In turn, they can reply to additional thoughts directly on those fan Fleets. Brands and businesses can also share funny memes or start conversations via Live Fleets.

Offer promotions and giveaways. Fleets only last for 24 hours. As such, they can be a great way to create a sense of urgency in offering promotions and giveaways. If such discounted deals are still going on, make sure to create a new fleet about it.

Share updates. Fleets are also great ways to announce updates. Whether it is a new sale or shipping delays, keep your fan base informed with the latest news. It is a sure way to avoid Twitter content being missed as Fleets stay on top of your followers’ timeline all throughout the day.

Show behind-the-scenes. The most authentic way to connect with your followers is by showing behind-the-scenes. It may be how a product is being made or what an ordinary day in the company looks like. Fleets are perfect tools for sharing these casual pieces of content with your fan base.

Elevate your Tweets. When brands and businesses share a tweet via Fleets, they are sure that their content is seen because Fleets take prime real estate on Twitter feeds. This is because they appear above home timelines and underneath the latest tweets.

According to a video marketing agency Hong Kong, Twitter will bid Fleets a goodbye because the platform is evolving. Twitter is trying to create bigger and bolder things to serve public conversations. If a certain feature will not work out to fulfill such a goal, they will remove it after careful evaluation. Twitter will no longer take chances improving Fleets and decided to remove them by the 3^rd of August. But the platform will use its learning from Fleets to create a better way to talk about what’s happening in the world. Moving forward, Twitter will continuously build new ways to change directions, listen to feedback, and participate in meaningful conversations. The platform’s main goal is to find better ways to serve the Twitter nation.

Reference: https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/product/2021/goodbye-fleets