Social media is the place to advertise, but with so many options, how do you know what's right for you?

If you're considering Twitter as an option, then you're in luck! 

Before we jump straight in, let’s first take a look at some of the platform’s stats:

  • Twitter has pretty broad demographics age-wise, but 63% of the user base are between 35 and 65 years old
  • 66% of the users are male, but there is still a strong female presence
  • On average, users spend 3.39 minutes on the platform per session — be that daily, or multiple times a day
  • Over 500 million tweets are sent everyday, which equates to roughly 5.7 tweets every second
  • Best of all, 40% of Twitter users reported purchasing something after seeing it advertised on the platform
No doubt, after looking at those stats, you’ve decided that Twitter is definitely the place you want to advertise. So, let’s check out the options you have to do just that.

If you'd rather check out this information later, you can download the full guide here. 

Promoted Tweets

What is a Promoted Tweet?

Promoted Tweets are just like regular tweets, except that they are backed by funding to reach a wider group of users or spark engagement from existing followers.

Tweets that users have paid to have placed are clearly marked as being ‘Promoted’, but all other aspects are just like regular tweets that can be liked, Retweeted, replied to and more.


Where will a Promoted Tweet appear?

These tweets can appear in a number of places, including:
  • at the top of relevant search results pages on Twitter
  • in search results for a Promoted Trend
  • on users’ timelines. Promoted Tweets may be visible on a user’s timeline if an advertiser has promoted a tweet that is relevant to that user, and
  • user profiles. They will display on select profiles that fit the targeting credentials configured for a campaign.
Keep in mind, it is possible for users to see a Promoted Tweet that doesn’t appear on the advertiser’s profile page. Although, advertisers do have the option to send highly-targeted and relevant Promoted Tweets to a specific audience only, without that tweet being sent to all followers.

Promoted Accounts

What is a Promoted Account?

Promoted Accounts are suggested accounts that people don’t currently follow, but may find interesting. They can help to introduce a wider variety of accounts that Twitter users may enjoy.

These accounts appear under the ‘Who to follow’ section and are marked as being ‘Promoted’.


Where will a Promoted Account appear?

Promoted Accounts are displayed in various locations across Twitter, including:
  • the ‘Who to follow’ section,
  • a user’s timeline, and
  • in search results
Promoted Accounts are only suggested to particular users if the account is relevant to their interests.

Promoted Trends

What is a Promoted Trend?

A Promoted Trend is a high-impact, 24-hour takeover of the Trends list on Twitter, where users go to see what’s happening in real-time.

They can be used to launch something new or to connect users to something that is happening.


Where will a Promoted Trend appear?

These trends are displayed at the first or second slots of the ‘Trends for you’ section in a user’s timeline, as well as on the ‘Explore’ tab.

When a user clicks on a Promoted Trend, they see all the Twitter search results for that topic, with a related Promoted Tweet from the advertiser at the top. Tweets that appear on the search results pages are unfiltered, open and authentic.

However, if you’re still feeling a little unsure of what your best options are, Twitter also offers Automated Ads where the platform does all the work for you!

Automated Ads

What is Twitter Promote Mode?

If you’re new to Twitter advertising, unsure of how much to spend, or if you have a very small team with limited time, Twitter Promote Mode might be exactly what you’re looking for!

All you have to do is simply Tweet as you normally would and then Twitter Promote Mode automatically selects Tweets to promote on your brand’s profile.

Twitter calls it an “always-on advertising solution.”

How does it work?

Each day, Twitter selects the first 10 Tweets your brand creates and automatically runs a Promoted Tweets campaign, targeting your selected audience. Simultaneously, it also runs a Promoted Account campaign.

Basically, this is Twitter's way of helping you to manage your ads, without you having to put in the work to set up individual ad campaigns.

Now that we've covered all the options you can choose from, let's get you advertising on Twitter!

Step 1: Set up a Twitter Ads account

If you haven't used Twitter Ads before, you'll need to open an account, but the good news is that it is really easy!

Simply visit ads.Twitter.com and log into your brand's account. From there, enter the country that you're in and choose your timezone.

… And, you're in!

You'll immediately have access to Twitter Ads Manager, where you can track your ad campaigns and view your performance analytics.

Step 2: Pick your objectives

Choosing your advertising objectives will help Twitter understand what it is you want to achieve with your ads. Your objectives determine the types of engagement you’ll get, as well as the actions you’ll pay for.

The objectives are split into three groups: awareness, consideration and conversion.

Awareness

  • Reach: This is the option to choose if you want the maximum number of people to see your Promoted Tweet. You are charged per 1 000 impressions.
  • In-stream video views: The option to choose if you want to run video ads at the beginning of other videos from Twitter’s premium content partners. You are charged per video view.

Consideration

  • Video views: This is the best option if you want people to watch your videos. You are charged for each video view.
  • App installs: The option to select if you want people to download your app. You are charged for each time your app is installed.
  • Website clicks or conversions: This is the option to choose if you want people to visit your website. You are charged per advert click.
  • Engagements: The option to select if you want maximum engagement with your Promoted Tweets. You are charged per engagement by unique users.
  • Followers: The option to choose if you want to grow your audience on Twitter. You are charged per new follower.

Conversion

  • App re-engagements: This is the option to select if you want to encourage people who have already downloaded your app to open and use it. You are charged for every app click.

Step 3: Set up ad groups

Once you’ve selected your objective, chosen the amount you want to spend and filled in all your payment details, you’ll end up on the ad groups setup page.

For first-time users, you’ll likely be running one ad group at a time. The more experienced folks might run several at a time — and this is the place to manage them all.

Here, you can separate your campaigns into different categories, targeting different audiences, A / B testing visuals or trying out different budgets and timing.

You can also select how much you want to pay for each interaction and the bid type — remember that Twitter has no minimum spend on advertising, so your budgeting is up to you.

If you choose the automatic bidding option, Twitter sets your bid to get the best results at the lowest price, based on your budget.

This is a great way to start if you’re brand new to Twitter advertising and want to get a good grasp on how bidding works.

Step 4: Hone in on your target audience

To get the most out of your Twitter ads, you have to know who you want to reach.

You can start by defining your target audience by gender, age, location, language and devices that they use to access Twitter.

You can also target your ads to specific users based on specific interests — and even specific keywords and TV shows that users Tweet about. How cool is that?

As you fill in your audience specifications, Twitter gives you an estimate of how big your audience is based on your criteria. Obviously, the more specific your criteria, the smaller your target audience will be.

You can even upload your own list of people to target (from an email list, for example), or select to target people similar to your current Twitter followers.

Step 5: Decide where you want your ads placed

With everything else in place, you now need to decide where you want your Twitter ads to display.

Twitter offers the following options:
  • user’s timelines
  • profiles and Tweet detail pages
  • search results
You can select one or more of the options, based on what you want to achieve.

And that’s it! You’re now ready to launch your very first campaign.

For more information, visit amasocial.co.za or connect with the amaSocial team on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.