Twitter over the last few months has really given their advertising network thought and made awesome changes to their targeting. Other than it being a cost-effective way to generate a buzz, it’s a network that’s been growing each year 2 times. Next, Twitter tells you a lot about the users and people who follow you as you’ll learn later on. If you haven’t started to utilize Twitter to gain brand awareness than your losing out some valuable exposure. I asked a handful of people in my audience what they thought about Twitter and its advertising platform. Here’s what they had to say…
Very Cost-Effective
As with every advertising campaign what you pay in PPC will depend on your niche, keywords and locality. However, Twitter is generally known to be much cheaper for some of the more popular niches like SEO, content marketing, professional niches, etc. For example, the cost can be anywhere from $0.50-$1.50 however you only pay when someone engages with your ad with a re-tweet, reply, favorite and clicking the link. Unlike other networks the PPC ranges from $0.75-$8.00 a click. Many people will argue cost doesn’t matter as much as long as you have the right targeting options. Twitter is awesome in reference to targeting starting with tapping into niche relevant followers.
User Engagement
What differentiates Twitter and Facebook is how people interact with other people. For example, Facebook.com shows ads to targeted people, but the whole concept of “Like†can be debated. When using Facebook.com ads the whole interface is based on how many people click-through or “Like†your page. However, you have to keep in mind to use Facebook you don’t have to “Like†anyone to setup a profile. This means you can setup an account and start building your profile without people generally knowing until later on what your true interests are. Next,
Twitter approached the interface a completely different way. For example, Twitter is considered more “interested-based†and you’ll often follow those who are relevant to your niche. To use Twitter you have to follow people and in most cases will follow, retweet, click-through on content relevant to your niche. This is why engagement tends to be more powerful and ads get more engagement than on other networks.
Regional Targeting
Twitter offers awesome regional targeting options perfect for local businesses. Some social networks have done a poor job of adding regional targeting to their network like Linkedin.com which is very limited. However, Twitter has followed the same approach as Facebook.com offering people a way to target right down to the city, municipality, etc. If you consider both Facebook and Twitter including their regional targeting then it all comes down to price. As discussed, Twitter is generally cheaper PPC and the network is growing at the same time.
How They Display
When using Twitter advertising your getting great looking ads that capture the attention of people within your niche. Unlike Facebook ads that are displayed on the right-sidebar, Twitter displays them right on the wall so they can’t be missed. This helps when you can target your region, add some awesome #hashtags and really get them in front of people who are influential within your niche. Next,
You have the ability to combine text and images within your ads so you can tweak them for optimal performance. Twitter users are known to be information searchers often looking for relevant trending news in their niche. It’s for this reason I would suggest adding more text and a smaller image to get people to click-through and share. However, what works within “1†niche might NOT work within another so try different things until you find a winning combination. However, here’s the point…
You get some solid adverts displayed right on the wall which can be huge for user engagement and brand awareness.