wishpond EBOOK A Simple Guide to the New Twitter Ads wishpond.com Table of Contents Chapter Introduction Chapter Types of Twitter Ads Chapter How to Create a Twitter Ad 12 Chapter New Feature: Twitter’s Ads API 16 Chapter New Feature: Self-Service Ads Upgrades 18 Chapter New Feature: Twitter Ads Center Developments 21 Chapter Tips to Promote Your Twitter Ads 24 wishpond social marketing suite is the easiest way to run great marketing campaigns on every channel: Facebook Pages Twitter Pinterest Websites Mobile Local Learn About The Suite Book a Personal Consultation introduction Twitter Ads are Changing Twitter ads were launched in April 2010 By 2013, Twitter has made major developments in their advertising platforms The way businesses - both big and small - can use paid Twitter ads as marketing tools is changing With the many exciting and significant upgrades, our customers wanted to know more We want you to be well informed, so we’ve put together this simple guide There will likely be ongoing changes to Twitter ads, and we will our best to keep you posted Changes include: • Addition of Ads API • Self-service advertising upgrades • Overhaul of Twitter Ads Center In this ebook you’ll learn how to create successful Twitter ad campaigns and maximize their benefit to your business, including: • What Twitter ads are right for your business, and when • New features • Tips to boost your success and much more chapter Introduction wishpond EBOOK Twitter ads can be a great addition to your content marketing strategy Ads not replace organic growth or the viral growth you can achieve from social promotions For many businesses, however, ads can complement the reach of your more organic campaigns Twitter ads can offer a relatively low cost alternative to other PPC (pay per click) platforms, too On the onset, as in any good plan, you will want to set up goals to track and measure your campaign example of business goals when advertising on Twitter: • • • • • increase brand awareness generate engagement improve customer service get more followers gain more sales Many businesses use Twitter ads for a specific purpose and for a set time It may be: • for an event, such as a sale, a new service offered, or a new product launch; • for a contest or sweepstakes the business is running, to offer an additional boost; or • to give a push in driving traffic to the business website Whatever your reason is for using Twitter ads, they can be quite effective Furthermore, with the new features Twitter keeps adding, they are becoming more targeted, more analytical, and provide more options through which to manage them The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I chapter Types of Twitter ads: Promoted Tweets, Accounts, and Trends wishpond EBOOK To give your content and Twitter account an added boost, PPC ads may be right for your business Always keep in mind: Just because you promote yourself does not mean your feed or tweet will go viral For a tweet to actually become popular and drive a large amount of engagement, the content itself has to make a deep connection with your audience There are two distinct Ad clients on Twitter: Twitter Ads self-service, and Twitter Ads full service Find out through the ad.twitter.com page which service your business is eligible for With the full service, there are three options to promote your company on Twitter: • Promoted Tweets • Promoted Accounts • Promoted Trends The self-service clients are not eligible for Promoted Trends (as of this writing, anyway!) Promoted Tweets Promoted Tweets can be used to amplify your message to targeted groups and geographic locations They let you extend the reach of your best tweets to the right person, in the right place, at the right time Because Twitter is so accessible on mobile, the geographic location feature works particularly well if you have a physical location for your business Promoted Tweets can be used in search When a user is searching for your particular keywords, your tweet will show up in their search results The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I wishpond EBOOK Promoted Tweets can also be used in timelines Your tweet will show up in followers’ feeds at or near the top when they refresh their timeline and even extends to users like your followers, to generate more interest in your company Here is an example of a promoted tweet, from @VirginAmercia: Promoted Accounts Promoted Accounts let you quickly be seen and followed by influencers and advocates of your brand They are a great way to expand or build your follower base Promoted Accounts are shown in the Twitter section of “Who To Follow”, located on the left hand side of your Twitter feed The “Who To Follow” section is Twitter’s recommendation engine that identifies accounts similar to the user, and helps followers discover new businesses, people and content With a Promoted Account, you will show up in users’ “Who To Follow” list The users are those who have been identified as having most similar interests to your company These campaigns can be geo-targeted by country The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I wishpond EBOOK Here is an example of a Promoted Account from @Volusion: Promoted Trends Promoted Trends can build mass awareness to your brand or product They are great to use for a product launch or event, and to build brand by association A Promoted Trend shows up in the Trends section on the left hand side of a user’s feed Trends show what topics are currently trending this moment and can be changed by geographic location, and are based on the users’ interests By creating a Promoted Trend, your brand is exposed to your consumers en masse and can successfully drive interest to your product, service or event Here is an example of a Promoted Trend: source: https://business.twitter com/advertise/promoted-tweets/ The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 10 wishpond EBOOK 2) Target the audience you want to reach: Twitter’s new targeting technology lets you reach your audience based on the interests you specify You can choose from over 350 interest categories that are relevant 3) Choose a location: Advertise locally, nationally or globally or hand-pick multiple locations The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 13 wishpond EBOOK 4) Pay only for what works: Twitter lets you set a daily spending limit You pay only when users follow your Promoted Account or when they retweet, favorite, reply or click on a link in your Promoted Tweet The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 14 chapter Twitter’s Ads API: A Game Changer wishpond EBOOK Twitter’s new ads API may very well be the most significant change to ads on this platform The letters “API” may not mean much to you, but they completely change the way your ads can be managed For example, Facebook launched its advertising API in 2009 It has made marketing on this platform much simpler, more manageable, and richer in customer data The Twitter ads API will likely have similar results Twitter has enabled a select groups of partners to seamlessly integrate with their ad platforms For social media marketers, this means a simpler way to manage Twitter ad campaigns You get the benefit of the pre-existing management systems of the five partners It allows the execution of real time advertising campaigns on Twitter, scaleable campaigns, and improved ROI, all with access to the more than 400 million Tweets generated every day The current Twitter ad API partners are: • • • • • Adobe HootSuite Salesforce SHIFT TBG Digital The Ad API is being launched carefully As of this writing, it is only available to select advertisers The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 16 chapter New Self-Service Twitter Ad Features: More Powerful, More Targeted wishpond EBOOK For self-service Twitter advertisers in the U.S., two major changes have been made to upgrade the ad tools Twitter will be launching these changes internationally at some point this year Eligible US businesses now have access to new targeting options New Targeting Options: • • • • Fans of specific Twitter handles Interest: 350 fine-grained interest categories Platform: Apps and web access on specific families of devices, such as iOS or Android Gender: Choose male or female, which Twitter guesses but does not guarantee Fans of specific Twitter handles The new targeting features allow businesses to directly advertise to the followers of those with a similar interest to your company For example, if a travel related company were promoting itself, it could target users who were like those who follow @travelchannel, @TravelMagazine @fodorstravel Interest: 350 fine-grained interest categories Businesses in the self-service advertising program can also target their ads to interest categories This makes marketing to a your niche market a whole lot easier You can specifically word your messages to engage with your target market For example, if your travel business is promoting an adventure tour for river rafting in the Grand Canyon, you can choose from over 350 interest categories that are relevant Additionally, you can message your tweets to specifically mention these interests The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 18 wishpond EBOOK Platform: Apps and web access on specific families of devices, such as iOS or Android Self-serve advertisers have the option to choose the exact devices and platforms on which the Promoted Tweets are displayed This is particularly useful for apps or other products designed for one particular device For example, a Blackberry app could be directed to Blackberry devices or an Android, or Apple, or Samsung, etc Gender: Choose male or female, which Twitter guesses but does not guarantee Like Facebook, gender is now an option when you are targeting Twitter only guesses on this, based on behaviours and does not actually collect gender information when someone signs up The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 19 chapter Twitter Ads Center Upgrades wishpond EBOOK Upgrades to Twitter’s Ads Center means better reporting for campaigns, more control over campaign performance, better analytics and spend, and better ability to manage all your Twitter ad campaigns in real time It is easy to switch to the advanced interface through your dashboard if you are already signed up as an advertiser on Twitter Once you sign in, you will see the button on the dashboard to allow you to upgrade The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 21 wishpond EBOOK Additionally, the upgraded Ads Center provides much more detailed campaign breakdowns Marketers will have a more targeted understanding of how their audiences engage with Promoted Tweet and Promoted Account campaigns It can now be broken down by device, location, interest, and gender preferences For a marketer, this makes it much easier to A/B testing, target specific segments of their market, and even target users of particular mobile devices The best part is that you no longer need to use a third party to see these results to optimize your campaigns Example of analytics and spend in the new Twitter Ads Center (source: http://advertising.twitter com/2013/03/The-new-Twitter-Adscenter.html ) The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 22 chapter Tips to Promote Your Business by Promoted Tweets wishpond EBOOK Twitter’s advertising platform overhaul will make your Twitter campaigns more manageable These tips we put together at Wishpond may help too! Here are Tips to boost your brand by Promoted Tweets: • • • • • • • Promote Great Content Focus On Events Increase your Budget Own the Hashtag Geotarget Promote Tweets That Will Be Shared Drive Action Promote Great Content: Make your content engaging and interesting; think informational or inspirational, not salesy Remember, a Promoted Tweet is only the beginning of a long engagement conversation You’ll need to continue tweeting great, shareable content via both regular and Promoted Tweets, so your followers continue to get frequent updates on your messages and promotions Focus on Events: Make your ad spends exciting, and time based Promote events you are having to spread the word quickly and exponentially Increase your Budget: Twitter recommends using up to tweets in a rotation for your Promoted Tweet campaigns – all aimed at one specific landing page Having different tweets to play with means you can tweak messaging, create a story, and give additional info about your campaign or offering The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 24 wishpond EBOOK Own the Hashtag: Promoted Tweets are a great way to introduce a new hashtag you intend to use either for an event, new product, or new brand campaign Introduce and use the new hashtag in all your Promoted Tweets Make sure that the Promoted Tweet you’re purchasing contains phrases and keywords that are directly relevant to your business Geotarget: Even if your business doesn’t operate in one geographic place, target your Promoted Tweets to an area where your demographic lives Start by targeting traffic that’s more specific than U.S.-based so you aren’t wasting your money on people who won’t buy Promote Tweets That Will Be Shared: As with any social media push, you need to provide consumers with “information they can use.” When using Promoted Tweets, make sure to give readers a reason to either follow you or retweet your message If they simply read your message but take no action, you have missed a major opportunity for engagement Drive Action: Focus on Promoted Tweets that promise to deliver immediate value if readers click through Mentioning that you’re an awesome company is far less effective than describing why you can make a difference in people’s lives Make the call to action clear, and time based to drive quick retweets and click throughs The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 25 contact us Thanks for reading! We would love to give you the advantage of our learnings Book a Personal Consultation Written by: Krista Bunskoek PR and Content Marketing Manager Wishpond wishpond.com [...]... Choose male or female, which Twitter guesses but does not guarantee Like Facebook, gender is now an option when you are targeting Twitter only guesses on this, based on behaviours and does not actually collect gender information when someone signs up The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 19 chapter 6 Twitter Ads Center Upgrades wishpond EBOOK Upgrades to Twitter s Ads Center means better... your campaigns Example of analytics and spend in the new Twitter Ads Center (source: http://advertising .twitter com/2013/03/The-new -Twitter- Adscenter.html ) The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 22 chapter 7 Tips to Promote Your Business by Promoted Tweets wishpond EBOOK Twitter s advertising platform overhaul will make your Twitter campaigns more manageable These tips we put together... only for what works: Twitter lets you set a daily spending limit You pay only when users follow your Promoted Account or when they retweet, favorite, reply or click on a link in your Promoted Tweet The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 14 chapter 4 Twitter s Ads API: A Game Changer wishpond EBOOK Twitter s new ads API may very well be the most significant change to ads on this platform... way your ads can be managed For example, Facebook launched its advertising API in 2009 It has made marketing on this platform much simpler, more manageable, and richer in customer data The Twitter ads API will likely have similar results Twitter has enabled a select groups of partners to seamlessly integrate with their ad platforms For social media marketers, this means a simpler way to manage Twitter. .. 5 New Self-Service Twitter Ad Features: More Powerful, More Targeted wishpond EBOOK For self-service Twitter advertisers in the U.S., two major changes have been made to upgrade the ad tools Twitter will be launching these changes internationally at some point this year Eligible US businesses now have access to new targeting options New Targeting Options: • • • • Fans of specific Twitter handles Interest:... better ability to manage all your Twitter ad campaigns in real time It is easy to switch to the advanced interface through your dashboard if you are already signed up as an advertiser on Twitter Once you sign in, you will see the button on the dashboard to allow you to upgrade The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 21 wishpond EBOOK Additionally, the upgraded Ads Center provides much more...chapter 3 How to Create a Twitter Ad wishpond EBOOK Creating your ad on Twitter is fairly straightforward process The new upgrades give you a lot more options for targeting your market with the new interest feature Here are 4 basic steps to making a Twitter ad: 1) Promote your Tweets, your account, trends, or a combination: You can choose... 12 wishpond EBOOK 2) Target the audience you want to reach: Twitter s new targeting technology lets you reach your audience based on the interests you specify You can choose from over 350 interest categories that are relevant 3) Choose a location: Advertise locally, nationally or globally or hand-pick multiple locations The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Social Media ROI I 13 wishpond EBOOK 4) Pay... handles Interest: 350 fine-grained interest categories Platform: Apps and web access on specific families of devices, such as iOS or Android Gender: Choose male or female, which Twitter guesses but does not guarantee Fans of specific Twitter handles The new targeting features allow businesses to directly advertise to the followers of those with a similar interest to your company For example, if a travel... the benefit of the pre-existing management systems of the five partners It allows the execution of real time advertising campaigns on Twitter, scaleable campaigns, and improved ROI, all with access to the more than 400 million Tweets generated every day The current Twitter ad API partners are: • • • • • Adobe HootSuite Salesforce SHIFT TBG Digital The Ad API is being launched carefully As of this writing,