A Beginner’s Guide to Twitter Advertising

The rise of the internet and the impact that social media has had on the world is very plain to see. Applications and websites like Facebook and twitter have revolutionized how companies and individuals can market goods and services, creating grass roots movements without the traditional requirements of needing to spread the word on the literal street. Instead, twitter has expanded the ‘street’ to a world wide area and offers exposure to thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands people if your posts start to trend even in your local area. All of this sounds great, but how is it done? Below are some simple steps to begin your foray into twitter advertising.

Create an Account

It might sound basic, but the first thing you need to be able to advertise on twitter is a twitter account. It’ll still work if you’re using a personal twitter account, but unless you’re advertising yourself, it’s a better idea to create a new and distinct account for your business. When creating a new business twitter account, pick as short a name as you can that will still be recognizable and relevant. As with website URL’s, short and sweet is the rule of thumb. Likewise when you’re choosing a twitter account profile picture, something distinctive and obviously corporate is better could be confused as personal. Consider using the company logo or even a picture of the company name. Include the link to your website so people can get more info they want and design the 160 character bio to give them a reason to want to find out more. The header image can be thought of a banner ad of sorts and should be tasteful and informative.

Logistic

Advertising on twitter isn’t new and twitter itself has created tools that help would be advertisers on their way to marketing success. Once you have your twitter account created, add it to an ‘Ads Account’. This is twitter’s wizard that will guide you on your way to promoting your business. Once you’re registered under an Ads Account, you’ll be asked a few questions, the most important of which is what you’d like your first campaign type to be. Twitter has several options: followers, website clicks or conversions,
tweet engagements, app installs or engagements, leads on twitter and custom. Each of them has different strengths and weaknesses. Followers is a great campaign for when you’re starting out and want to add followers while website clicks is useful for redirecting users to your website. Tweet engagements means that twitter will actively server your tweets out to people who are likely to be interested.

A little time, thoughtful preparation and research as well as picking the correct campaign for your new twitter account will go a long way to successfully marketing your business.

What do you think about Twitter advertising? Would you ever consider using it in your social media marketing strategy?