Since it launched in 2006, Twitter has become a key platform where people go to interact with brands, from contests to customer service, to Twitter chats and more. With 328 million active users, there are plenty of potential eyeballs out there for your brand messaging. But with 500 million Tweets sent per day, it can also be easy for your message to get lost in the noise.
While you can (and should) develop a Twitter marketing strategy to connect with users organically, there are several Twitter ad options targeted to specific business goals that can help get your brand in front of the very users who have the most potential to bring value to your business. In this Twitter ads guide, we show you exactly how (and why) to use Twitter ads to promote your business, including some Twitter ad examples you can model when creating your first campaign.
Bonus: Download the free strategy guide that reveals how Hootsuite grew our Twitter following to over 7 million users and learn how you can put the tactics to work for your business.
Why your business should advertise on Twitter
Twitter’s brand-friendly environment is a great place to reach potential new clients and customers, and Twitter followers have been shown to bring real value to business: 66 percent of Twitter users have discovered a new small or medium business (SMB) on Twitter, and 94 percent plan to purchase from the SMBs they follow.
Read that last number again. That kind of purchase intent just can’t be ignored. Perhaps that’s why in a recent survey, 63.5 percent of social media managers listed Twitter as one of their top social media platforms in terms of ROI.
Types of Twitter ads for business
There are three different Twitter ad types: Promoted Tweets, Promoted Accounts, and Promoted Trends.
Promoted Tweets
Promoted Tweets are simply regular Tweets that an advertiser pays to display to people who are not already following them on Twitter. Like regular Tweets, they can be Retweeted, liked, and so on. They offer a wonderful chance to extend the reach of great content that is already performing well on Twitter or other social channels.
Promoted Tweets appear directly in targeted users’ timelines, at the top of search results, and in the Twitter mobile app.
Promoted Accounts
Promoted Accounts allow you to get your Twitter account in front of targeted Twitter users to gain relevant followers. A 2016 customer insight study showed that 85 percent of people believe Promoted Accounts help them discover new businesses on Twitter.
Promoted Accounts are displayed directly in potential followers’ timelines, as well as in the Who to Follow suggestions and search results.
Promoted Trends
Trending topics on Twitter are the most talked about subjects on the social network, appearing on the left side of the page, on the Discover tab, and on the Twitter app. Promoted Trends allow you to promote a hashtag at the top of that list.
When Twitter users click on your Promoted Trend, they see an organic list of search results for the topic, with a Promoted Tweet from you at the top of the list. As people pick up on your hashtag and start using it themselves, you can gain additional organic exposure that increases the reach of your campaign.
Types of Twitter ad campaigns
The various Twitter ad products are used alone or in combination to create Twitter campaigns. Campaigns are categorized based on your campaign objective, and you pay for different results depending on the type of campaign you choose.
For Tweet engagements campaigns, you promote Tweets with the goal of starting conversations around your brand and pay only for the initial engagement with each user. You do not pay for impressions of your Promoted Tweet that do not result in engagement, and you do not pay for ongoing organic engagement with users who react to your Tweet.
Followers
For followers campaigns, you promote your Twitter account and pay per follower you gain. Impressions and engagement (other than a follow) are free.
Awareness
For awareness campaigns, you promote your Tweets to a broad audience and pay for impressions (cost per thousand, or CPM). This is the only type of campaign where the Twitter ads pricing is based on impressions rather than engagements, so make sure your Tweet is compelling enough to cause viewers to take some kind of action.
Video views
Perhaps not surprisingly, a video views campaign aims to increase the number of users who view your videos. You promote your videos to a targeted audience and pay per video view. You pay once a user sees two seconds of playback in the timeline, clicks to watch in fullscreen, or takes the video off mute.
Website clicks or conversions
For both clicks and conversions campaigns, you promote Tweets to people who you want to visit and take action on your website. You’re charged per click in both types of campaign, but a conversions campaign has additional functionality to track conversions. Both of these types of campaign allow you to include a Website Card, which includes a preview of your website right in your Tweet.
App installs or re-engagements
For app installs or re-engagement campaigns, you promote your Tweets to users you want to download your app, or to users who have already downloaded your app but have not used it for a while. You can pay per app install or for both app installs and app opens, depending on your goal.
This type of campaign allows you to include an App Card, which shows a preview image of your app, along with the app’s ratings, right in your Tweet, and gives users the option to open or install the app with one click.
Lead generation
In lead generation campaigns, you promote Tweets that incorporate Lead Generation Cards to collect leads and pay per lead collected. Lead generation cards, which you can create in the Twitter ads manager, allow users to share their name, email, and Twitter handle with two clicks directly within the Twitter interface. The information is saved to your Twitter ads account, and you can download the list in CSV format.
How to advertise on Twitter
Now that you understand the…
