Twitter is one of the great overlooked social media platforms for connecting with a targeted audience. While many advertisers focus on Facebook and Instagram, Twitter has been able to deliver unique targeting options thanks to its Twitter Audience Platform.
Here, we will explain what the Twitter Audience Platform is, its unique advantages, and how you can use it to grow your brand. At Typefully, we help Twitter users manage their content with a feature-rich app. We encourage you to use the app today and make it part of your Twitter growth strategy.
What is the Twitter Audience Platform?
The Twitter Audience Platform is an advertising product where you can create a campaign through unique targeting of various audiences on Twitter. The platform works much like the advertising products offered by Google and Facebook. However, the Twitter Audience Platform offers unique targeting opportunities which may make it a better place for you to reach a specific audience.
How does the Twitter Audience Platform work?
First, you will be able to target the goal of your campaign. For instance, here are three objectives that you can consider:
- Website traffic
- App installs
- App re-engagements
The Twitter Audience Platform is unique in that the audience lives on the ad group level. From there, you will go to the first targeting option which is demographics:
- Gender
- Age
- Location
- Language
You can target your audience and receive a running total of your estimated audience
As you can see, you should be able to narrow down your audience rather tightly. For instance, you can easily target English-speaking females from ages 18 to 35 living in the United States, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
On the left hand side of the platform, you will see the audience estimate. This is a running total that will adjust as you modify the targeting.
Next, you will be able to target the type of devices where your campaign will appear. Currently, the Twitter Audience Platform allows you to target the following:
- IOS
- Android
- Other devices
- Desktop
You can also target the device model as well as the carrier.
After that, you will be able to add keywords that can help pinpoint the interest of your audience. For instance, if you are selling make-up products, then you may want to consider words such as beauty, lipstick, and make-up as well as popular make-up brands such as Armani Beauty, Hourglass, Fenty Beauty, L'Oréal Paris, and Pat McGrath Labs.
While you are setting up your keywords, the platform will also suggest keywords. You can check to see if these keywords are worth adding to your campaign.
This section also allows you to re-target an audience that has already engaged with your Twitter account. This is why it is important to maintain an active Twitter schedule.
With Typefully, you can easily create, schedule, and manage your Tweets inside of an easy-to-use app. The more active your account, the more engagement you will receive which can lead to more retargeting opportunities.
Typefully can help you better manage, schedule and publish your Tweets
After you have set up your ad group and targeting, you can select the format of your ads:
Now, you will be able to choose the type of ad format that will best serve your creative:
- Full
- Full landscape
- Banner
- Native
- Medium rectangle
Finally, you will be able to set up the budget. With the Twitter Audience Platform, you can set a daily or a lifetime budget.
Unique Features of the Twitter Audience Platform
In the previous section, we took a look at how the Twitter Audience Platform works. Now, if you have created campaigns with Facebook and Google, lots of the targeting options will look familiar to you. But the Twitter Audience Platform does offer some unique features that really make it worth your consideration. Here’s a look at some of the more notable unique features.
Where your campaign appears
Your ads is displayed on Twitter timelines as well as Twitter’s network of thousands of mobile apps on the Twitter Audience Platform. This allows you to reach a wide audience that is also very targeted and unique.
Targeting conversation topics and breaking topics
One of the unique aspects of Twitter is that the microblogging site is the first place people go when there is breaking news or an event. Because of that, you can target breaking topics or trends. For instance, let’s say that you sell survival gear and there is a Hurricane headed towards Florida, you can quickly set-up a campaign and target people in Florida to visit your survival website.
You can also target regular conversation topics like an election or celebrity news. This is something that you really won’t find on other platforms.
7 tips for using the Twitter Audience Platform
Now that you are familiar with the Twitter Audience Platform, how it works and its unique features, let’s take a look at some tips on how best you can use the platform to get better results.
1) Target followers of influencers
One of the great secret weapons in the world of Twitter is its influencers. In fact, you will find lots of major players Tweeting on a daily basis, from the President of the United States to the President of Apple.
With the Twitter Audience Platform, you can target people who engage with these influencers. If you have a smaller budget, then it is a better idea to consider smaller influencers. The key here is to target those who engage since they will be more likely to engage with your campaign ads.
2) Target people who engage with your Tweets
Also, don’t forget about those that engage with your own Tweets! Retargeting is a must for any campaign. Therefore, you will want to specifically re-target those who already like, comment, and retweet your own content.
3) Keep your Twitter account active with daily content
If you want more retargeting opportunities for your ad campaign, then you will need to make sure that you are keeping your own Twitter account active.
Be sure to Tweet several times a day. With the Twitter Audience Platform, you can easily create, manage and schedule your Tweet. You can even turn your Tweet threads into a blog post.
4) Use visuals for your ads
Visuals and videos will drive more engagement with your campaign. Make sure that you include something visual with your ad campaign. There will be some standards that you will have to adhere in order to get approved by the platform. However, here is some tips to consider:
- If you are selling a product. Don’t just show the product, show the product in action.
- Post an endorsement from a happy customer. A real person endorsing your product or service is going to be much more effective than a simple text quote.
- Use professional photography. A good photo will have more stopping power and help drive engagement.
5) Offer News or Information
Just because you are creating an ad, it doesn’t have to look like an ad. Many people come to Twitter for news or information. By offering some sort of news or content, you may be more likely to gain some engagement. Here is a great example of using an enticement of information to drive click-thrus.
Lots of people come to Twitter for news. Offering something newsworthy can drive engagement.
6) Ask questions, use polls, or spur engagement
Here is another secret weapon that lots of savvy marketers use on Twitter - simply ask a question or solicit ideas. For example, if you sell a product that comes in a variety of flavors, then you can ask the audience which flavor is their favorite. This question will not only drive more engagement, but it can also help provide you with some valuable market data.
7). Micro Target your campaign
If you don’t have a huge budget for your campaign, then it doesn’t make sense to target 10 million or 20 million people. After all, you probably only need a handful of sales in order to make your campaign profitable. Be sure to continue to target your audience as narrowly as possible. This will not only drive up your conversation rate, but it can also help lower your cost per conversion. Here are some ways that you can micro target your campaign:
- Only target those who already engage with your Tweets, topics or influences
- Narrow down the geographic location
- Target recent buyers (if you are selling a product or a service)
Getting more from the Twitter Audience Platform
The Twitter Audience Platform is a unique way to target the right people and make the most of your budget. Of course, having a well-developed Twitter account will help keep your new audience engaged. Therefore, we recommend that you use Typefully to organize, schedule, and manage your Twitter content. Get started with Typefully and download the app today.
