Twitter has over 300 million active monthly users and can be a great place to reach a large number of people. Twitter announced that advertising would be available back in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the advertising was open to everyone. While Twitter advertising isn’t as developed as Facebook or Google Ad Words there are still benefits to advertising on Twitter.
Twitter ads allow you to narrowly segment who your ad is shown to. You can narrow your audience by using keywords, common interests (Twitter has 350 interest categories to choose from), or you can even use your own CRM list to target even more precisely. You can also choose the objective of your Twitter ads, such as gaining more followers, website clicks or conversions, tweet engagements, app installs, or engagement leads. The best part is you only pay if someone performs the exact outcome that you want them to. For example, if you are trying to grow your followers, you will only pay if someone clicks the follow button on your promoted tweet.
You also have several options for the type of ad you want to run. You can run a promoted tweet where you create a tweet that is pushed out onto timelines that match your target (similar to a Facebook ads). You can promote your account, which will show your account in timelines to encourage people to follow you. You can also run a promoted trend, which will show up on the left-hand side in the trending box. Keep in mind that promoted trends are very expensive, on average it costs around $200,000 per day to run a promoted trend. Twitter also allows you to choose where your ad shows up — it can be shown in search results, timelines, and on profiles.
There are some drawbacks to Twitter ads, the first of which is that the reporting may not be as vigorous as some other options like Facebook and Google. Twitter does provide you with analytics around your campaign, but it may not be as in-depth or user-friendly as some other platforms.
Since Twitter is a constant stream of information, your ad may be missed by someone who would be interested simply because it got lost in the clutter.
It can also be hard to prove if someone actually purchased something because they saw and clicked on your ad, so it can be hard to get a correct ROI from your ads.
Overall, Twitter ads benefit small businesses by allowing them to specifically narrow and target the audience that the ad is shown to. You can also set the maximum amount your willing to spend on the entire campaign, the amount you’re willing to pay per click, and daily maximums as well. While the platform does have disadvantages, it is possible to find success with Twitter ads. It’s definitely worth a try to see if they will work for your business and audience.
