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Everything You Need to Know AboutTwitter Promoted ProductsBy Jennifer Beese on March 9, 2015

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By Jennifer Beese on March 9, 2015

Advertising Twitter

With a focus on concise, real-time conversation, Twitter is the perfect marketing

channel for businesses looking to generate awareness, connect with customers

and drive sales. In fact, 49 percent of Twitter’s 288 million monthly active users

follow brands, and 42 percent of users learn about products and services on the

platform.

49 percent of Twitter’s 288 million monthly active users followbrands.

Whether your business goal is to drive awareness or leads, it’s important that

your Tweets are being discovered. If you’re going beyond the conversational

nature of Twitter and working within specific campaigns, Twitter Ads provide

you with an easy way to get your those Tweets in front of more people.

Twitter’s suite of Promoted Products help you connect with the most receptive

Twitter users at the most relevant moment. To help you supplement your organic

efforts and reach business goals, here’s everything you need to know about

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Promoted Accounts, Promoted Trends, Promoted Tweets and Promoted

Videos.

Twitter Ads Terminology

Before we dive into each Promoted Product, here are a few commonly used

terms that every Twitter advertiser should be familiar with.

Clicks: Counted when a user clicks on a Promoted Tweet. It includes all clicks,

including on the URL, profile picture, screen name, user name, detail, hashtag

and follows. It also includes @replies, Retweets and favorites.

Click Rate: The number of clicks on a Promoted Tweet divided by the number of

impressions. This is an indicator of how well your Promoted Tweets are

performing.

CPE: Cost per engagement, or what an advertiser actually pays for each

Promoted Tweet interaction—meaning you’ll only pay when someone Retweets,

favorites, expands, clicks on, replies to or follows you from your Tweet.

CPF: Cost per follow, or what an advertiser actually pays for each Promoted

Account follow—meaning you’ll only pay when someone clicks the Follow button

on your ad.

CPV: Cost per view, of what an advertiser actually pays for each Promoted

Video—meaning you’ll only pay when someone starts playing your video.

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Follow: To follow someone on Twitter means to subscribe to their Tweets or

updates.

Follow Rate: The number of users who follow a Promoted Account divided by

the number of impressions.

Impression: The number of users who see a Promoted Account or Promoted

Tweet. Impressions can only be counted on promoted content, so any

impressions generated organically aren’t counted.

Promoted Accounts

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As part of the Who to Follow feature, Promoted Accounts will suggest accounts

that people don’t currently follow but might find interesting. Promoted Accounts

will be suggested based on the public list of who an individual is following.

When you promote an account, Twitter identifies accounts similar to your own.

Similarity is determined by a variety of factors, including the followers

who different accounts share. For example, a lot of animal lovers who follow

animal-related accounts also follow @ASPCA. If someone follows animal-related

accounts but not @ASPCA, Twitter might recommend @ASPCA to that

individual.

Since this Twitter Ad is designed to boost your follower count, it’s best used

when you’d like to be more discoverable to people who are likely to be

interested in your business. You can connect with people who are interested in

broad categories related to your business or those who are similar to the

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followers of your competitors or influencers in your industry.

This ad unit is often your first impression with an individual, so make every

character count, especially in the timeline. Promoted Accounts are displayed in

several places in an individual’s timeline and profile. When creating your ad, you

will have the option of pairing a Tweet that will carry your campaign into the

timeline. Although this isn’t required, it’s a good way to let potential followers

learn more about your brand.

If you’re choosing an existing Tweet, don’t select one that has a link. Not only

can it distract from the Follow button, but Twitter won’t expand any additional

links or pictures. If you’re creating a new Tweet to pair, craft a short description

that explains why someone should follow your account, and make sure you also

include a strong call to action.

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You’ll also want to visually optimize your account to appeal to new followers. A

quick and easy way to do this is to use a clear profile picture that’s consistent

with images used on other social profiles. Additionally, your bio should be

concise and offer viewers the most informative details about your business.

Most of all, give your followers something to engage with. If you’re going to

promote your account, make sure you’re posting fresh, engaging content.

How to Promote an Account

Once you’ve logged into your Twitter Ads account, follow these steps to create

your followers campaign:

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1. Click the blue Create New Campaign button on the main campaign

dashboard.

2. Choose the Followers option from the campaign picker.

3. Name your campaign and set your dates.

4. Select targeting options for your campaign.

5. Compose or select a Tweet for targeting timeline.

6. Set your budget and bid—Promoted Accounts are priced on a CPF basis.

7. Save and launch your campaign.

Once your followers campaign is launched, your Promoted Account will appear

to the users you’ve targeted in the following places:

Home timeline

Who to Follow widget on the right side of the Home and Notification

tabs

Who to Follow widget on the right side of the People search results

page

Who to Follow widget on the right side of the Profile page

Because it’s your account that’s being promoted, there isn’t an easy way to see

your Promoted Account live on Twitter. The best way to tell if your campaign is

running is to check the impression count in your analytics, which will increase as

people start discovering your ad.

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Success Story: Nylabone

Nylabone, a maker of doggie chew toys, used Promoted Accounts to grow its

Twitter following. But rather than launch a Promoted Account campaign and hope

for the best, the company monitored trending topics around dog-related

conversations. This gave Nylabone insights to create interest keyword groups

for its Promoted Accounts campaign.

As a result, Nylabone saw a 1,200 percent increase in followers—from 1,700 to

more than 20,000. And by providing links to helpful health and wellness

information on its website, Twitter became a top-three referrer to the company

website.

“Hey, human, give me a push!” Caption this photo! #pets #dogspic.twitter.com/FD77xpo9— Nylabone Products (@nylabone) October 7, 2012

Nylabone saw a 1,200 percent increase in followers—from 1,700 tomore than 20,000.

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Promoted Trends

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Twitter Trends are organic topics that are starting to generate more

conversation. The Trends list helps people discover the “most breaking”

breaking news from around the globe in real time.

Understanding the impact this list could have on advertisers, Twitter introduced

Promoted Trends. This ad unit lets you shine a brighter light on time- and event-

sensitive trends by positioning yourself at the top of the Trends list for 24 hours.

This has made Promoted Trends the perfect option for kick-starting

conversations, launching products and running major campaigns. The catch?

Guaranteed placement at the top of the Trends list isn’t cheap. Reports claim

that Promoted Trends campaigns cost $200,000 a day. As such, they’re not

recommended for smaller businesses.

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If you represent a national brand looking for more exposure, here are some stats

that might pique your interest. In a 2013 study, Twitter found that Promoted

Trends boosted brand conversation, maximized awareness and purchase

consideration, and exhibited long-term impact. Here are some key findings from

that study:

In the 14 days following exposure, Twitter users produced 22 percent

more conversations about an advertiser compared to the two weeks

before exposure. What’s more, there was a 30 percent lift in positive

brand mentions and a 32 percent lift in Retweets of brand mentions.

People were 151 percent more likely to Tweet about a product after

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Promoted Trends exposure. Conversations about intent and purchase

also increased 19 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Promoted Trends are most impactful the day they run, with a 73 percent

lift in brand mentions. That said, advertisers still saw 20 percent lift in

brand mentions, 22 percent lift in positive mentions and 10 percent lift in

Retweets even three weeks after a trend.

People were 151 percent more likely to Tweet about a productafter Promoted Trends exposure.

Based on that data, Promoted Trends not only complement product launches

and important events but can also prop up other campaigns that span two weeks

or longer. For best results, it’s recommended that you use keyword-targeted

Promoted Tweets to reach the most relevant, receptive audience.

At this time, Promoted Trends can’t be created from the Twitter Ads dashboard.

If you’d like to learn more, reach out to your Twitter account representative.

Success Story: Virgin America

To promote a one-day, Twitter-exclusive flash sale, Virgin America used

Promoted Trends to broadcast the promotion to a wider audience. The Fly

Forward, Give Back campaign was a partnership between the airline and Stand

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Up to Cancer. Here’s what was promoted: fares starting at $49, with $5 per

booking going to the charity. While the Promoted Trend amplified the sale,

Virgin America also targeted Promoted Tweets its followers.

As a result, the #FlyFwdGiveBack campaign was one of the top five sales ever

for the airline. Virgin America’s loyalty program, Elevate, also saw a 25 percent

increase in sign-ups over the previous week. This was achieved in addition to

raising $50,000 in charitable donations for Stand Up to Cancer.

Do right and take flight! Our #FlyFwdGiveBack Sale has fares from$49 (+taxes/fees/restr). $5/res goes to @SU2C!http://vgn.am/6016R3G4 — Virgin America (@VirginAmerica) August10, 2011

Virgin America’s loyalty program saw a 25 percent increase insign-ups.

Check out an earlier Insights article for more Promoted Trend success stories,

and make sure you review the Promoted Trend Guidelines before launching your

campaign.

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Promoted Tweets

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Promoted Tweets get your best content in front of the right audience at the right

time. Just like regular Tweets, they can be Retweeted, replied to, favorited and

embedded. What makes Promoted Tweets different is that they can reach more

people because they’re not limited to just people who follow you.

Some Promoted Tweets appear in your followers’ timelines near the top of the

page. This allows your content to be highlighted regardless of when people log

in. Also, the ad unit can appear to people similar to your followers. The catch

here is that Promoted Tweets will only appear in the timeline of non-followers if

the Tweet is likely to be considered interesting and relevant to those people.

Twitter uses a variety of signals to determine which Promoted Tweets are

relevant, including which accounts people choose to follow, where they click on

a Tweet and what they Retweet. To preserve user experience, any Promoted

Tweet people see in their timelines will appear only once. After that, the ad will

scroll through the timeline just like any other Tweet.

Although Twitter users can’t opt out of seeing a Promoted Tweet, they can

dismiss it from their timelines. Twitter pays close attention to how its

users interact with ads, so too many dismissals could impact future changes to

the product. As such, you’ll want to put a lot of thought into which Tweets you

promote.

How to Promote a Tweet

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Once you’ve logged into your Twitter Ads account, follow these steps to create

a basic Promoted Tweet campaign:

1. Click the blue Create New Campaign button on the main campaign

dashboard.

2. Choose the Custom option from the campaign picker.

3. Name your campaign and set your dates.

4. Select targeting options for your campaign. Read in-depth about your

targeting options here.

5. Compose or select a Tweet to promote.

6. Set your budget and bid—Promoted Tweets are priced on a CPE basis.

7. Save and launch your campaign.

This process is made even easier by the Quick Promote button that was

introduced earlier this year. The Quick Promote button lets you promote a Tweet

directly from your Tweet activity dashboard. In just a few clicks, your Tweet with

automatically be targeted to people who have interests similar to your followers.

And since you’re already viewing your analytics, you can watch your Promoted

Tweet perform in real time.

How to Create a Promoted-Only Tweet

Promoted-only Tweets are created directly from ads.twitter.com and are only

shown to people targeted in your campaign. These Tweets won’t appear in your

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followers’ timelines, in search or on your profile. The only exception is anyone

@mentioned in your Tweet—those people will receive a notification that they

were mentioned, with a link to the Tweet.

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You can create a Promoted-only Tweet in step five noted above. Rather than

selecting from a pool of existing Tweets, compose a new Tweet in the box

provided. You’ll have the option of including an image, location or Twitter Card

by clicking on any one of the three icons below.

How to Promote a Tweet, Using Quick Promote

Introducing a quick and simple way to get your best Tweets in frontof more potential customers. https://t.co/x4ckxmPwDI— Twitter Small Biz (@TwitterSmallBiz) February 4, 2015

Introduced earlier this year, the Quick Promote button lets you promote a Tweet

directly from your Tweet activity dashboard. In just a few clicks, your Tweet will

automatically be targeted to people who have interests similar to your followers.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Log in to your Tweet activity dashboard.

2. Select a Tweet to promote, preferably one that’s already resonating with

followers. You’re able to tell this by looking at the total number of

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impressions and engagement rate.

3. Choose a budget.

4. Click Confirm, and watch people engage with your Tweet in real time.

Campaign Objectives

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Promoting a Tweet is a great way to gain exposure and drive actions, but make

sure that campaigns are aligned with your business objectives. For example, to

increase Twitter engagement, you’ll want to select Twitter engagements from

the campaign picker. Or if you want to connect users with your website, you

should select website clicks or conversions from the campaign picker.

The steps that follow are similar to those listed above for basic Promoted

Tweets, regardless of objective. The only differences you’ll run into are different

levels of targeting and the option to incorporate Twitter Cards. Don’t forget: You

can create multiple campaigns to suit each of your goals, so don’t limit yourself

to just one.

With any business objective, consider the following Promoted Tweet tips for

best results:

Keep it short. Promoted Tweets with fewer than 100 characters see

higher engagement rates.

Include rich media. Photos and videos work better than text-only

Tweets, and including Vines or multiple photos outperforms showcasing

a single image.

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Use Twitter Cards. Website Cards and Lead Generation Cards perform

better than Tweets with URLs because they provide context and remove

barriers.

Avoid using all capital letters, profanity and irrelevant or insensitive

hashtags.

Success Story: Hailo Ireland

If you must promote a text-only Tweet, do what Hailo Ireland did and create

copy based on real-time happenings, such as weather, holidays, traffic and

events.

With refined targeting and highly relevant messaging, the brand saw a 20

percent increase in downloads of its app per day.

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Hailo Ireland saw a 20 percent increase in downloads of its appper day.

Another solid text-only approach can be seen in this Tweet from Blackboard.

The education software company used Promoted Tweets the day before a

branded competition to build anticipation and excitement. The company

launched another Promoted Tweet when the competition went live and

continued to engage followers with interesting content throughout its duration.

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As a result of its campaign, Blackboard saw a 78 percent increase in daily brand

mentions and exceeded its competition participation goal by 50 percent.

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Blackboard saw a 78 percent increase in daily brand mentions.

Promoted Video

Promoted Video, the newest addition to the Promoted Products suite, builds

upon the Amplify program and makes it even easier for businesses to upload

and distribute video on the social network. But why would you want to when

there’s auto-play ads on Facebook and pre-roll ads on YouTube?

Early testing from Nielsen found that purchase intent lift was 28 percent higher

for people who chose to watch brand videos on Twitter than for people who saw

the same videos as pre- or mid-roll ads during a 22-minute program. What’s

more, people watching branded content on Twitter versus other platforms were

more willing to remain engaged with videos longer than 30 seconds.

Purchase intent lift was 28 percent higher for people who chose towatch brand videos on Twitter.

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Product spotlight: Get to know our native video player & see howPromoted Video can help your brand drive engagementhttps://t.co/0onRzAukbe— Twitter Advertising (@TwitterAds) January 13, 2015

So how is this different from embedding a video in a Tweet and then promoting

that Tweet? It all comes down to data. Promoting a Tweet with a video

embedded means you’ll only see metrics for interactions with the Tweet and

impressions. Any engagement with the video won’t be recorded. With Promoted

Video, you’re given access to video analytics, so you can track data like

completion percentage and a breakdown of organic versus paid views.

Success Stories

Brands have found creative and successful ways to incorporate Promoted Video

into their social media marketing strategies. One of the challenges that

advertisers face, however, is finding the right balance in terms of length. It’s

recommended that you test different video lengths, Tweet text, thumbnail

images and targeting options to learn what resonates. You’ll also want to keep in

mind that 90 percent of Promoted Video views happen on mobile devices, so

make sure your video plays well on smaller screens.

Let’s take a look at Promoted Video from two different brands: Glade and Nike.

The former effectively communicated the value of its Tweet in just 12 seconds

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and received hundreds of Retweets and favorites.

Get in the #holiday spirit with @kevinrossmusic—then download thesong for free: http://t.co/HVksIZpqgV #FeelGladehttps://t.co/i4VQjoNYCA— Glade (@Glade) November 17, 2014

Meanwhile, Nike engaged viewers from start to finish with its four-minute World

Cup spot and received thousands of Retweets and favorites.

Every four years, the world expects phenomenal soccer. It’s time.#riskeverything https://t.co/WZMpf3DxlP— Nike Soccer (@nikesoccer) April 26, 2014

You can also align your TV and Twitter strategies by combining Promoted Video

and TV Targeting. For example, to maximize distribution and social sharing, Foot

Locker used Promoted Video to distribute a TV commercial just as the spot

began to air, earning the brand thousands of Retweets and favorites.

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WATCH Charles Barkley and @ScottiePippen give some greatadvice to @JHarden13 in our new #Approved commercial!https://t.co/8nJ12qgchR— Foot Locker (@footlocker) August 5, 2014

At this time, Promoted Video can’t be created through the Twitter Ad

dashboard. If you’re ready to get started, reach out to your account

representative.

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JENNIFER BEESE

Jennifer is a former sorority girl turned geek, writer, and

mobile app enthusiast. She has worked as a community

manager/social media strategist for several startups. Most

recently she has written for Sprout Social, Today’s iPhone,

and 20 Something Bloggers. Jennifer is passionate about

social media, apps, and physiology – she literally has a

skeleton in her closet.

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