A Look at the New Twitter Advertising Platform

This is a guest post by Gregory Smith.

The social-media giant, Twitter recently released their advertising platform for brands. I provided some valuable screen-shots on RxSEO. And while I’ve been trying to figure out what I was going to publish for you folks over here on Kikolani today, I’ve decided to mix a little of this, with a little of that. I have something very special for you. Hold on to your seats, as I unfold.

Twitter PPC Strategies and Promoted Accounts

Twitter released their very first advertising platform. This is an extremely HUGE breakthrough, and is sure to be a news spotlight, for the next while, within the social media platforms. I feel lucky to have been one of the first to put my hands on that baby. I would like to share with you how you can use this new social media monster, to benefit you and your business, to level a few extra bucks.

All in all the new, yet amazing Twitter advertising platform does look absolutely phenomenal - it is new – and now is the time for you to jump on board, before the rest of the world begins to aggravate their advertising support representatives. Now’s the time when you can and will receive the most help from Twitter per their advertising platform.

Let’s take a few moments and dig into this Twitter advertising platform together, and see what it’s all about, shall we?

Promoted Tweets

What are Promoted Tweets? Promoted Tweets is a new feature from within Twitter that allows you to promote your Tweets. You have the option promote a variety of opportunities, those such as a new product, services, webinar, affiliate links, a campaign or an upcoming event.

After determining what you’d be interested in promoting via Twitter, the next Promoted Tweets option is to choose a target audience. As many of you might already know, you can run a great marketing campaign, but if it’s targeted at the wrong people, places and things – it probably won’t produce any results.

Twitter provides three targeting options when you use Promoted Tweets, each of these three options are based upon how you’d like to reach your audience: search engine results, homepage feeds, or your Twitter profile.

When you are targeting search engine results, anytime a searched (anyone) searches for a keyword, and that keyword is mentioned within your Promoted Tweet, it will show up at the top of their SERP result.  If you’re targeting homepage feeds, you’ll have the option to target your followers, or anyone similar to those who are already following you, with a Promoted Tweet. You’re also permitted to target your profile, in which case the Promoted Tweet shall appear near the upper area (top) of your very own Twitter profile page. i.e You can basically compare this to pinning a Facebook post at the top of your timeline so users see it first – no matter when it might have been published.

Your very next step (option) is to determine a target audience on a geographic level. You can target countries, cities, etc.

Promoted Accounts

Promoting Accounts is really easy and can be very beneficial to driving website traffic. Conjure up several relevant keywords that you think others in your industry will likely use. Once this is determined – Twitter simply handles the rest, as your account is suggested to those of similar interests automatically.

It’s similar to promoting a Facebook page – promoting your Twitter account will increase the total number of users following your brand. To become an industry influencer it is imperative that you have a solid Twitter following. Though I personally can’t justify paying $1.00 per follower.

You will sometimes come across Twitter users who are following 2,000 people but will only have somewhere around 10 people following them for example, it’s extremely likely these folks are missing a few bologna sandwiches in their picnic basket. Having a HUGE Twitter following is really good for your overall marketing efforts. The larger follower base you build, the more likely it’ll be that there’s someone who’s willing to share your content. A large social media arm is perfect for branding, even if you rarely convert leads into sales. Though time is your biggest key factor in all of this.

Promoted Trends

Promoted Trends are visible to all Twitter users. Promoting Trends is by far my least favorite of the three, but can be very beneficial for driving profile traffic. To promote a trend, you will need to contact Twitter directly, and purchase that Promoted Trend. You should all be aware of the trends section, located  on the left side of your Twitter homepage. When a user clicks on a Promoted Trend, all related data & Twitter search results will appear with the Promoted Trend.

In Conclusion

It is absolutely imperative that you track your results when managing any marketing campaign. Twitter also provides Promoted Tweet campaigns with a Twitter ads interface and analytics platform, from which you can track results and monitor spending. As your Twitter promotions begin to drive traffic, make sure to take the time to monitor results to determine what’s working and what isn’t; this will help when crafting future Twitter ad campaigns.

Like any content your business provides, make sure any Twitter promotions are fresh, engaging, and most importantly, valuable. If used properly, Twitter ad campaigns can be a great tool to boost traffic and convert leads into sales.

Be sure to review my findings via the Twitter blog.

Twitter hasn’t made many changes to their interface in many years. I must truly say, I’m happy to see all of these changes asking place. What do you think about the new ability to advertise with Twitter, and if given the opportunity (and budget) would you?