When it comes to Twitter, keep messages short and to the point

When it comes to Twitter, less is more. Speculation is swirling around what sort of changes Twitter may be making to its 140-character limit for tweets, after tech site Re/Code published an article that an undisclosed new feature was in the works. Some media experts think it may mean the end of including links as part of the character limit or excluding the @ sign when tagging users. One thing is certain for advisers, however: Try not to get too excited. Although a few extra words in tweets won't break a brand, less is more remains a good habit for posting on the social media channel. "More space isn't necessarily better," said Amy McIlwain, author of "The Social Advisor: Social Media Secrets of the Financial Industry" and vice president of social and digital strategy at Moore Communications Group. "One of the beauties of Twitter is putting together concise messages with the limited amount of space and still being able to get the point across." (On Re/Code: Twitter Plans to Go Beyond Its 140-Character Limit) The most useful part of Twitter, Ms. McIlwain said, is to open the door for future conversation — not necessarily to use the platform to say all that needs to be said. "It is about creating awareness," she said. "You're not selling on social media. You're earning a right for a conversation or to send an email and staying top of mind." MORE ADVISERS ON BOARD More advisers are starting to take advantage of social media channels across the board. About 75% of the 228,000 advisers in the industry, actively use social media for professional reasons, according to a Cogent Reports' survey. And Smarsh found that social media sites have seen significant jump in adviser usage: 72% of advisers use LinkedIn today versus 39% in 2011; Twitter usage has reached 44% from 14% in 2011; and Facebook is not far behind at 34% today, up from 23% in 2011. Instead of using Twitter to ramble, or banter with one another, advisers should be using Twitter to foster a sense of leadership and marketing.

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That's why Walter Lis, a digital marketing strategist for financial advisers, said expanding the character limit for tweets wouldn't be all that big of a deal. "There's always a bias you have to lean toward brevity," Mr. Lis said. There is a sense of control advisers need to maintain if they were to take advantage of any sort of extension in character limit. Mr. Lis compares a tweet to a subject line: You don't have to make it too long. There are also tricks advisers can use to keep the message short, but the impact large. Mr. Lis said he's seen his adviser clients get more engagement when they post an image, with or without text. Images do take up character space, however, so Twitter expanding this could mean using more images in the future.

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Adam Zuercher, a financial adviser at Hixon Zuercher said although a few more words wouldn't hurt, there's definitely a benefit to having a limit. "I wouldn't want a stream of tweets that are full stories or paragraphs, I think that's what blogging is for," Mr. Zuercher said. "People don't have a lot of time to read the whole paragraphs." In fact, he said Twitter's 140-character limit has actually helped him. "I used to be frustrated with the length and always wished I could say more," he said. "It teaches people to communicate better."