Get started with your advertising on Twitter

Background

The microblog Twitter was launched in 2006 and initially served as a social forum primarily used by young people to debate and discuss current topics. In recent years, the platform has evolved into a medium for innovative companies, political movements, and news agencies. Today, the platform has over 353 million global users who are active each month. As many as 70% of Twitter's ad audience are men. Twitter is mainly used in the USA, with 68.7 million users, and the majority of users are between 25-49 years old.

Why Advertise on Twitter?

Reaching the right audience is key to successful advertising. With Twitter, you can target individuals using specific keywords, topics, hashtags, and gain insights into their interests by seeing which accounts they follow. Not as many have started advertising on Twitter yet, which means competition is lower compared to other major platforms. Another advantage is the limited number of formats, simplifying ad creation, and they resemble regular posts, allowing them to blend into the feed.

Here's what you need to get started with Twitter ads

The first thing you need is a Twitter account for your business and then link it to Twitter Ads Manager, which is Twitter's own advertising tool.

To measure and optimize your ads, you'll need technical implementation; a website tag. There are two types of website tags. You can choose whether you want to measure only conversions or every single interaction your audience makes on your site.

Step-by-Step - Advertising on Twitter

Step 1 - Goal

First, you need to set a goal for your ads. It could be awareness, engagement, website traffic, new followers, or app installations. You also choose the campaign type based on your goal: Website Clicks, Followers Campaign, Tweet Campaigns, App Installs, and Video Views.

Step 2 – Audience

You can use Twitter's ad tools to create specific audiences through demographics, geography, age, and gender, ensuring you reach the right audience while increasing your reach.

Step 3 - Budget

Costs are regulated by a bidding system similar to Google Adwords, and you can choose whether to set a specific amount to bid or opt for automatic bidding based on your budget and goal. You choose a budget but pay only when your user follows your account, retweets, likes, or replies to your ad tweet. There are no minimum spend requirements, so you choose how much you want to spend.

Step 4 - Format and Placements

On Twitter, you can easily reach a relevant audience by using specific keywords, hashtags, interests, engaging in trending topics, and following specific accounts. Some formats and placements may be perceived as more flexible than Facebook's.

So what ad formats do we have here?

Promoted Tweets: Two variations. The first option is to further boost engagement for a tweet you posted that received high engagement. The second option is to boost a post so that only the targeted audience sees it. Run a poll, add a GIF, or promote your account. These formats work best with campaigns for engagement, reach, and followers. A great way to get potential followers to discover you. Learn more here.

Carousel Ads: Tell a story, showcase different products, or highlight more features—all in one ad. Carousels can host up to six images or videos that seamlessly drive directly to your website or app. Learn more here.

Video Ads: Videos are among the fastest-growing and most engaging media formats. Launch a Twitter video view or amplify a pre-roll campaign to make a memorable impact and maximize performance. Learn more here.

Want to stand out on Twitter? Preparing for a big launch day?

Twitter also has some takeover ad products to go a step further than traditional Twitter ad campaigns by giving you exclusive ownership of Twitter’s premium properties on desktop and mobile, allowing you to maximize your reach and boost lift across the funnel. Let’s explore their premium offerings:

First View: First View is an exclusive, one-day ad package for "mass awareness" using Twitter's most valuable impressions. You can reach a massive audience to our receptive audience over a 24-hour period using immersive, auto-playing videos at the top of the timeline. Explore First View here.

Promoted Trend: A Promoted Trend is an exclusive, 24-hour takeover of the top trends list on Twitter and the Explore tab on mobile—where people go to see what’s happening in real time. Explore Promoted Trend here.

Promoted Trend Spotlight: Promoted Trend Spotlight is a takeover ad placement that pairs the undeniable stopping power of video with the premium real estate on Twitter’s Explore tab over 24 hours. Explore Promoted Trend Spotlight here.

Step 5 - Measure Ads

To see how your campaign is performing based on the goal you set, it’s beneficial to measure your advertising. What you are looking for are KPIs, which are metrics necessary to ensure you reach your campaign goal.

These KPIs are the most common:

Reach – How much exposure do your ads have? Click-Through Rate – How many people click on your ad? Cost Per Click – How much does each click on your ad cost? Frequency – How many times does your audience see your ad per week? Video Engagement Rate – How many people interact with your ads based on video view length? Traffic – How many leads does your website generate for your ads? ROAS – What is your return on advertising costs? Conversions – How many convert through your ads? Cost Per Action – What is the cost per lead?

A/B Testing

Just like advertising on Facebook, you can also create A/B tests to see what your audience interacts and engages with. You do this by creating two similar ads but changing small details like color, copy, language, etc. Then you can evaluate what attracts your audience and optimize your ads.

Summary

Twitter is a growing platform, especially in the B2B segment. The ability to comment on current events and build audiences from other companies' followers make the platform unique. You can also get specific audiences specified via Twitter's search function and by allowing you to review your audience's behavior, such as what topics they're interested in or which accounts intrigue them. The channel has not been open for advertising long, allowing you to gain a foothold and effectively control costs by paying for your results only.

Whether you’re new to advertising on Twitter or have done it for a while, you must experiment. What works in your ads today might not work tomorrow. There are just guidelines – but no conclusions about how to reach your audience with advertising. So test things, learn by doing, and OPTIMIZE more!

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