In a somewhat hilarious moment in a client meeting a couple weeks ago, I was asked...

So Paul, "What's your take on 280 vs. 140?"

I froze, not knowing what the hell just happened, then I realized the client was talking about the recent increase in Twitter characters from 140 per tweet to 280 characters per tweet.

Not being one to have a take unless I've actually done something, I said, "let me get back to you on that in a few weeks."

So here goes. Since the Twitter character increase, I've tweeted A LOT MORE. And I mean, A LOT MORE. Reason being, I'm long winded and like to get my thoughts out there.

In the previous version, I had to constantly rethink my thoughts and edit my tweets to make them publishable. It was kind of annoying.

Now, I jump on, type away and tweet. 280 characters is legit longer and way better.

Bottom line - Twitter needed to innovate. Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat Innovated at such a level for so many years, and Twitter stayed the same.

But Twitter didn't just guess. They used their data telling them that longer tweets drove the most engagement, and they used that to innovate.

That, my friends, is Data Driven Design.

So, what's my take on 280 vs. 140? Well, great question. I'm in. I'm all in. I love it. And I'm tweeting more than ever. So if you want my Web Design, SEO and Digital Strategy tips and thoughts in a bite sized version now, follow me here - @nooffseason.

Thanks and have a great day!

Paul Hickey has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.