Twitter is at it again...

Twitter is at it again adding more weaponry to their paid advertising arsenal. Twitter recently introduced paid advertising to the UK and Ireland and now they are preparing themselves for another assault on the pay-per-click landscape.

The latest updates from Twitter include two new ad formats and two new targeting capabilities designed to deliver the #RightMessage to the #RightAudience at the #RightMoment.

So let's touch base and see what's new in the Twitter camp:

New Twitter Ads

Promoted Accounts in timeline

Previously, when promoting your Twitter account, you had the option to either promote your account or promote your tweet. Promoted accounts in timeline blends these two together through the use of mobile phone timelines.

Case Study: The Replace Base

An online retailer of mobile device repairs and replacement parts

Here you can promote your account along with a Tweet that runs in the users' mobile timeline.

This new ad format helps increase your follower base by only giving the user the option of following your business. A normal promoted tweet encourages the user to retweet or favourite, but doesn't necessarily generate followers who will then go on to view more of your tweets and in turn generate brand awareness.

Lead Generation Cards

Lead Generation Cards are an in-tweet format that lets interested users give you their email address - with one click.

By clicking the button attached to the ad - the user agrees to share their name, email address and twitter handle with you.

The users details are then stored in your Twitter Ads dashboard where you can download the users details into an excel spreadsheet format. You can also set up the Lead Gen Card to automatically store users details into your CRM system which you could have set up to send out automatic emails to that user such as a welcome message.

Lead Gen Cards are a powerful tool in obtaining information on potential customers which you can then use to create targeted email marketing campaigns for example.

Targeting on Twitter

TV Conversion Targeting

This is a targeting option that reaches people talking about a TV show before, during or after it airs.

Through the use of appropriate hashtags e.g. #MOTD during an episode of Match of the Day, TV conversion targeting allows you to put your business or brand directly into the conversation, regardless of whether or not you're running a dedicated TV advert.

Why is this important to do on Twitter? Twitter and TV go hand in hand. Users like to tweet during TV - 60% of UK Twitter users use Twitter whilst watching TV.

This is a powerful tool for smaller businesses to benefit from the halo effect that had traditionally only been available with TV advertising.

Tailored Audiences

With tailored audiences you can target groups who have shown an interest in your brand outside of Twitter - allowing you to reach your email database with specific messages on Twitter and help reinforce your marketing message across platforms helps.

This is executed in three different ways:

1. Web approach - through the use of cookies, if one of your potential customers visits your website and you have cookie data on them you can set your Twitter Ads to a list of users who have come to your website.
2. CRM Approach - these are likely to be your existing customers because you already have their email address, which means you can serve your Twitter Ads to a certain list of email addresses.
3. Twitter ID Approach - target your Twitter Ads to a specific list of users Twitter handles that are of particular interest to you.

Tracking activity

Online Conversion Tracking allows you to track the results of your direct response campaigns through your ads.twitter.com dashboard.

There you can monitor the impact of your Twitter campaigns in terms of traffic back to your website and how your twitter ads lead to sales.

So, should you give them a try?

With over 241 million active accounts - Twitter is becoming the go to format for getting your message across to a wide range of potential customers.

However, are all those Twitter accounts relevant to your business? Unlikely. What the new formats do is reign in those 241 million active users and helps you deliver your message to those who will make a difference to your company.

After all what's the point in advertising to those that don't.

So in summary, these new Twitter tools are there to generate relevant followers and potential leads, heighten brand awareness and help retain healthy relationships with current customers which in turn should lead to an increase in sales.

If that's something you're interested in - then we would recommend giving these a go.

If you need help with a Twitter ad campaign or any social media advertising, please get in touch.