After years of complaints and requests for change, Twitter has finally acquiesced and increased the per-Tweet character minimum to 280. For those of us who have difficulty being concise, this is a godsend. However, how will this affect your Twitter strategy?

Here are some potential benefits for marketers:

• A time saver. The beta testers for the 280-character limit found that they saved time because it took less time to compose Tweets with the higher limit. There was less need for editing to get the message to fit within the character constraints.
• Increased social engagement. The beta testers tweeted more often and increased engagement with the longer Tweets. They also earned more followers. While more followers may mean more time spent on Twitter, it’s arguably a good use of a marketer’s time.
• Improved reputation management. With more characters available, you can give more detailed responses to followers and others who engage with your tweets.
• Better communications. With more characters available, you don’t have to be so cryptic when using Twitter. The grammar Nazis among us will be relieved to see fewer Us for you or 2s for to or too.

Even with twice the characters available, you should still plan to be concise with your tweets. You just have a little more flexibility now.