With the introduction of expandable in-stream video and image previews in tweets, Twitter offers several possibilities for social media marketing such as display of ads, traffic acquisition via attractive visual content posts, and increase in the number of content shares. Display ads are a more effective way of targeting customers as compared to attracting their attention via words, links and hashtags. However, many people who follow a large number of users and brands are finding too much image-heavy promoted tweets in their feeds and they are forced to unfollow many accounts just to control their feeds. An ad that is inconsistent with the expectations of users and shown several times within their feeds is not good for either advertiser or user. So how can you use Twitter ads in the right manner to drive the attention of customers and enhance your social media marketing efforts?
Enhancing Marketing Efforts with Image Previews in Tweets
Industry experts suggest the following methods to enhance your Twitter marketing efforts by making more effective use of image previews in tweets.
- Optimize Your Images - Though Twitter prefers you to use images with 1024 by 512 pixels to benefit users who click with larger image, your images must have at least 440 by 220 pixels. Make sure that the most important visual aspect is at the center. This will ensure that the users do not miss out on what you are trying to say. For example, if you are featuring your product, the users would not able to see the image of the product, the center of attraction in the preview, if it is not in the top or central part. Do not expect users may always be ready to expand your image. Try to use photos with a single visual focal point and powerful hues to lure your audience. Experts say that red is a hue that can drive higher user engagement compared to other shades.
- Limit Your Advertising Content - Of course, image previews provide you with an opportunity to advertise your brand without too much effort. However, no matter what your objectives are, it is quite imperative to limit advertising content on tweets. Placing too much of image-laden prompted tweets would shoo away followers rather than attract them. Avoid constantly feeding ads to your audience. Instead, share only unique information that defines your brand.
- Mix Image Tweets - Appending an image to every tweet you post is not an effective Twitter marketing strategy. Instead, select news that requires more attention and mix images in those tweets. You can avoid creating a mess in the stream and losing followers by mixing image tweets with regular ones. Rather than pushing the same image repeatedly, share images that represent your brand or are relevant to your subject area or industry.
While you integrate image tweets into your daily posts, consider the quality of your pictures and how their content will reverberate among followers.
Tailored Audiences Program
In a blog post published in January 14, 2014, Twitter described its new addition, the Tailored Audiences Program, which is very useful for Twitter advertisers. Twitter provides two ways for advertisers to create tailored audiences: using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database and using the lists of Twitter usernames or user IDs. This allows advertisers to exclude certain audiences from their advertising campaign and target their potential customers so that user feeds will be no longer be flooded with Twitter ads that are inconsistent to their expectations.
- CRM Approach - In this approach, you can create tailored audiences using the lists of email addresses available in your own CRM database or your CRM database records store with an ads partner. Suppose a fashion retailer needs to advertise a spring clearance sale and prefers to show their ad to current membership cardholders. The retailer can create a tailored audience using unreadable scrambles of email address of each cardholder with the help of an ads partner. That information is then matched against their Twitter accounts and a promoted tweet with the sale information is shown to the matched users.
- Twitter ID Approach - Suppose the fashion retailer needs to build relationships with new Twitter users who are influencers in fashion. The retailer can capture their public information on Twitter such as bio, follower count, verified status or past tweet directly from Twitter or using Twitter's API or Certified products and use that information to identify who are the most appropriate potential customers. The list of Twitter IDs thus prepared can be used to create a tailored audience with the help of an ads partner, show them a promoted account, and engage them as followers.
However, a minimum audience size is specified for all tailored audiences to avoid excessive specific ad targeting. Also, Twitter users can go to their privacy settings and uncheck the box near "Tailor ads based on information shared by ads partners" if they don't want their accounts to be matched against the information from ads partner for tailored audiences. So you need to pay proper attention while using these options for your social media campaign. A professional SEO company can help you utilize these options and manage your image-laden Twitter ads the right way to attract your targeted audience.