I had a bit of a Twitter Ads geek-out recently. I had noticed several promoted tweets showing up in my timeline over the last few months. Most interestingly, I wasn’t getting annoyed by them! Most of them were highly relevant, and I even clicked on a couple of them because the information or services being presented was of interest to me.
While I was writing this article, I had a brief interchange with @jonnyvaughan who mirrored my feelings on the increased likelihood of clicking a Twitter Ad compared to Google / Facebook ads…
Prior to this, I had noticed a promoted tweet from @TwitterUKI_SME offering £25 free credit for @buffer users. I tweeted about it (surprise surprise)…
Heh pic.twitter.com/pfpWIx132l
— Jon Jackson (@iamjonjackson) January 29, 2014
This was the nudge I needed to finally jump in and explore Twitter Ads for myself. Here’s a selection of my tweets while I explored the Twitter Ads dashboard…
Have you seen the “Lead Generation card” concept available with #TwitterAds? Genius
The targeting for #TwitterAds is of course fantastic, very powerful.
How many #TwitterAds have you clicked on, if any? I’ve clicked on a couple.. as they have been highly relevant to my techie interests.
#TwitterAds vs #GoogleAdwords. I’ve clicked on zero Google ads in several years. I’ve clicked on several #TwitterAds in the space of months
#TwitterAds vs #GoogleAdwords. Twitter Ads have “Lead Generation cards” – built in lead capture from day 1. Awesome!
#TwitterAds vs #GoogleAdwords – no need to create an “ad” for Twitter Ads. Just use a tweet!
Promoted #TwitterAds a lot less susceptible to user “advert blindness” compared to #GoogleAdwords in my opinion. #marketing #advertising
One of the features that appealed to me most was the “Lead Generation Card” feature. Effectively, it allows Twitter users to indicate that they’re interested in being contacted by the advertiser.
Setting up a Lead Generation Card in the Twitter Ads dashboard is nice and straightforward…
The execution of this feature is wonderfully simple, and it doesn’t require entry of any details (e.g. Name, Email Address) because Twitter manages the sharing of the user’s email address with the advertiser once the user has indicated their interest. Simple! I like simple!
The Twitter Ads reporting tools also look pretty slick. Data started appearing within minutes of starting my test campaign. No frustrating delays in reporting here.
Campaign summary emails are also nice and easy to digest. Here’s one a screen-grabbed earlier…
If you’re yet to look into Twitter Ads, I hope this post has given you a brief glimpse into what it’s all about. Twitter advertising is no longer just for huge corporate brands! It has been geared nicely towards small businesses (SMEs) and lets you spend as little or as much budget as you want.
It is now just as accessible as Google Adwords and I personally think it is even simpler to setup and monitor. I also believe the targeting features are more powerful than those available in Google Adwords.
Just make sure you get your targeting right, and think about what you’re trying to achieve with your campaign(s). Twitter Ads may seem to have a lot of advantages over Google Adwords, but there is still the risk of being burned if you don’t setup your campaign targeting and budgets properly.
Bottom line: Twitter Ads looks fantastic for small business. Simplicity is central to the offering. Just tread carefully, don’t get carried away. Keep your targeting focussed. Limit your budget and then increase your spend once you’ve established the value you’re getting in return.
As always, if you’d like to discuss anything around online marketing or Twitter Ads specifically, give me a shout on jj@bseen.co or tweet me on @iamjonjackson. Happy to grab a coffee if you’re local to High Wycombe or Beaconsfield (I’m buying!)
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