by John Larkin
John runs the blog here at eCommerceLift and is a verified Shopify Expert. Interested in an initial growth consultation? Click here
9 years ago
A Guide to Advertising your Store on Twitter
Thinking of advertising your eCommerce store on Twitter? Well you should! Twitter is the second largest social media site behind Facebook with over a 100 million daily active users and 500 million tweets sent per day, meaning it is a powerhouse that eCommerce merchants should be using to their best advantage.
Twitter, however, is not your average advertising platform. Although it boasts of some of the familiar features of other social network advertising, it does have some idiosyncratic features that set it apart from others and make it an interesting place to advertise.
In this blog post, we are going to expound how and why online stores should advertise on Twitter and expand their stores reach.
Advertising on Twitter
Currently, Twitter offer three types of advertising options for brands to use. Each has different benefits and can gain different results. They are Promoted Tweets, Promoted Accounts and Promoted Trends. So what does each one do? Let me explain…
Twitter, however, is not your average advertising platform. Although it boasts of some of the familiar features of other social network advertising, it does have some idiosyncratic features that set it apart from others and make it an interesting place to advertise.
In this blog post, we are going to expound how and why online stores should advertise on Twitter and expand their stores reach.
Advertising on Twitter
Currently, Twitter offer three types of advertising options for brands to use. Each has different benefits and can gain different results. They are Promoted Tweets, Promoted Accounts and Promoted Trends. So what does each one do? Let me explain…
Promoted Tweets
Promoted tweets are perhaps the most popular form of Twitter advertising. These are used when you want to promote a specific tweet that you have tweeted from your Twitter account. They are seen in user’s timelines and will also appear at the top of search results pages if the search is relevant.
Use of Promoted Tweets
Promoted tweets are perfect for merchants looking to promote certain content. They are great for brands running competitions, giveaways, and other marketing events to gain some traction behind them. They can also be used to promote your products and generate leads for your store. Finally, they are also useful to promote upcoming events that your brand is launching or partaking in. They can help drive traffic towards your site or landing page.
Promoted tweets are perhaps the most popular form of Twitter advertising. These are used when you want to promote a specific tweet that you have tweeted from your Twitter account. They are seen in user’s timelines and will also appear at the top of search results pages if the search is relevant.
Use of Promoted Tweets
Promoted tweets are perfect for merchants looking to promote certain content. They are great for brands running competitions, giveaways, and other marketing events to gain some traction behind them. They can also be used to promote your products and generate leads for your store. Finally, they are also useful to promote upcoming events that your brand is launching or partaking in. They can help drive traffic towards your site or landing page.
Here is an example of a promoted tweet by Vodafone that is promoting the upcoming launch of the new iPhone 6. It works as a notification for potential customers that a new product is launching and entices them to click through and get their hands on this product if they act fast.
Promoted Accounts
Promoted Accounts are a method to get your brand name out there. It enables you to get more followers and grow your Twitter audience. On Twitter these ads are displayed beside users Twitter feeds under the heading “Who to Follow”. Users can also click “View All” in the “Who to Follow” widget and you will appear in a list of suggested people and brands to follow, and finally it will appear in search results.
Use of Promoted Accounts
Promoted Accounts are perfect for brands looking to grow and gain a larger following on Twitter. They help find followers that are likely to actually have an interest in your brand and raise brand awareness. They also add credibility to your social media as you will have more followers and look like a more engaged brand and a store worth following.
Promoted Accounts are a method to get your brand name out there. It enables you to get more followers and grow your Twitter audience. On Twitter these ads are displayed beside users Twitter feeds under the heading “Who to Follow”. Users can also click “View All” in the “Who to Follow” widget and you will appear in a list of suggested people and brands to follow, and finally it will appear in search results.
Use of Promoted Accounts
Promoted Accounts are perfect for brands looking to grow and gain a larger following on Twitter. They help find followers that are likely to actually have an interest in your brand and raise brand awareness. They also add credibility to your social media as you will have more followers and look like a more engaged brand and a store worth following.
Here are two examples of Promoted Accounts. First, from Sony Xperia that is displayed in the "Who to Follow" widget. The second is from Amazon which is contained within a list that the user's sees when they click "View all" in this widget.
Promoted Trends
Promoting Trends is not for all merchants. It’s something that isn't exactly suitable for the smaller merchant as it is costly but it does get attention. Promoting a trend involves having a promoted hash tag that all twitter users can see. They appear like other hash tags in the Trends widget but they are marked as promoted so users are aware that it isn't an organic hash tag. They are used to get users talking about a brand and if clicked users can see what is being said on Twitter about this has tag.
Use of Promoted Trends
Promoted Trends are a great way to get users talking about your brand and having products or events promoted. It has massive reach and brings amazing awareness as people are using your name as a hash tag and spreading it over the social media. But, once again due to its large cost, smaller stores shouldn't consider it an option.
Targeting on Twitter
Twitter, like other social networks allow ad builders to target customers through a number of ways that narrow down your audience to find the perfect one. They offer a few ways of doing this:
Tailored Audience: This is Twitters version of Facebook’s Custom Audiences where brands can choose to advertise to people who have shown in your brand previously. Ad builders can upload their own lists such as emails and connect with fans that have an interest in your brand and are therefore more likely to click these ads.
Interests: Like other advertising options, Twitter offers brands the choice of targeting their ads at certain interests. Ad builders just have to pick interests that they believe their customers are likely to follow and ads are then shown to this group. This is perfect for narrowing down your audience and targeting a group that have a high chance of wanting to engage with your store.
Keywords: Merchants can also advertise through keywords. These work by appearing in the results page of users who have searched for particular terms. These are useful for building brand awareness and getting customers to find your store.
Conclusion
Twitter advertising for eCommerce stores can be an effective way to reach customer, build awareness and gain a following. The platform offers something for both big and small brands and if bands test and play around with the features that they offer, then merchants could see amazing results.
Promoted Trends
Promoting Trends is not for all merchants. It’s something that isn't exactly suitable for the smaller merchant as it is costly but it does get attention. Promoting a trend involves having a promoted hash tag that all twitter users can see. They appear like other hash tags in the Trends widget but they are marked as promoted so users are aware that it isn't an organic hash tag. They are used to get users talking about a brand and if clicked users can see what is being said on Twitter about this has tag.
Use of Promoted Trends
Promoted Trends are a great way to get users talking about your brand and having products or events promoted. It has massive reach and brings amazing awareness as people are using your name as a hash tag and spreading it over the social media. But, once again due to its large cost, smaller stores shouldn't consider it an option.
Targeting on Twitter
Twitter, like other social networks allow ad builders to target customers through a number of ways that narrow down your audience to find the perfect one. They offer a few ways of doing this:
Tailored Audience: This is Twitters version of Facebook’s Custom Audiences where brands can choose to advertise to people who have shown in your brand previously. Ad builders can upload their own lists such as emails and connect with fans that have an interest in your brand and are therefore more likely to click these ads.
Interests: Like other advertising options, Twitter offers brands the choice of targeting their ads at certain interests. Ad builders just have to pick interests that they believe their customers are likely to follow and ads are then shown to this group. This is perfect for narrowing down your audience and targeting a group that have a high chance of wanting to engage with your store.
Keywords: Merchants can also advertise through keywords. These work by appearing in the results page of users who have searched for particular terms. These are useful for building brand awareness and getting customers to find your store.
Conclusion
Twitter advertising for eCommerce stores can be an effective way to reach customer, build awareness and gain a following. The platform offers something for both big and small brands and if bands test and play around with the features that they offer, then merchants could see amazing results.
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