As a podcaster, staying updated with the latest changes in the tech world is crucial to keep up with the times and ensure that your marketing strategy is on point. Lately, the buzz has been around Twitter’s “new” algorithm. Elon Musk announced that the algorithm would be published for transparency reasons, but user feedback has not been entirely positive. So, why is it essential to know about these changes? Because your content strategy may need tweaking to get the visibility and engagement you need. Let’s dive into these changes.
LIKES vs RETWEETS vs REPLIES
Twitter has always been a place for conversations, and as a podcaster, you want people to talk about your latest podcast and why it’s a must-listen. Reviews bring new listeners, right? This leads us to a conversation about reach boost. Twitter reach boost is defined as the increased visibility and engagement resulting from the platform’s algorithm promoting content of interest to individual users. This is key to follower growth, retweets, likes, and replies. So, what does the Twitter algorithm say?
According to the code, likes will give you a 30x reach boost, while retweets get you a 20x reach boost. However, replies get only a 1x reach boost. It’s unclear what quoted retweets get you, so the assumption is that they are counted as retweets. Although getting more likes and retweets is crucial for wider reach, it’s also essential to get replies, which can serve as reviews and bring in new listeners.
IMAGES & VIDEOS
A post with only plain text doesn’t perform well compared to one with a video or image attached, which gives your content a 2x reach boost. So, use Canva to create cool graphics, add GIFs, snippets from your podcast, and grab photos from sites that provide royalty-free images.
LINKS
Unfortunately, external links are detected as spam, so when you post your new podcast episode and add a link, Twitter automatically thinks you’re spamming your audience. Coders suggest that the exception falls for those who have subscribed to Twitter Blue. Another exception is that you need to get good engagement to counter spam detection, making it confusing. If posting with a link gets you marked down, how will you get the engagement to get you boosted? Could it be that they use past data to determine whether or not links have given you good engagement? It’s all unclear, leaving us with two options: treat Twitter like Instagram and direct people to the link in our bios or spend $8/month for that blue check. Twitter Blue also gets you better reach in general.
CLUSTERS
The algorithm places each account in a group according to profile descriptions. This way, your content reaches similar people, which sounds great, but it also appears limiting. It means that the content consumed and shared by each individual is boxed. If one’s interests go beyond what is defined in their profile, the algorithm does not recognise this, and your listeners may miss out on your content. Unless, of course, they understand how this works and add your podcast genre to their bio.
In addition, the cluster code also reads “out of network” and “in network” data. Out-of-network means that you tweeted on a topic that does not fall under your cluster, which results in being penalised. The opposite is true for sticking to your niche.
More things to take note of are avoiding muting, blocking, unfollowing, and reporting spam and abuse as all these actions get your account penalized. Also, be wary of misspelling and making up new words when using your Twitter account, the penalty boost for that is 0.01 which is very bad.
There is a lot to take in when it comes to the changes made by Twitter. There is a need to review your content, and how you have been presenting it and definitely proofread your tweets or run them through Grammarly. The other thing is taking into consideration the cost of Twitter Blue and if it makes sense for your podcast to pay for it or find an easier way to keep in touch with your audience. Newsletters may be a great plan!
