Are You Prepared for the New Twitter Advertising?

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Guest Post by Chris Kieff from 1 Good Reason |

Twitter’s new advertising programs are now in private Beta testing phase and are closed to all but a select few. However if you are interested in advertising when Twitter opens the programs to wider availability there are some things you need to do now to prepare.

Twitter has not released details of how these programs will be sold or their requirements. However it is clear that they are going to attempt to keep the experience as natural and non-interruptive for the user as possible. This means that many advertisers will need to prepare their Twitter accounts to ensure they are properly positioned to take advantage of the advertising programs when they are announced. Below are some suggested techniques that advertisers can employ now to prepare their accounts for the new advertising programs when they are released to general availability.
The programs:

  • Promoted Tweets– Delivered as search advertising, is displayed when a user performs a search on the Twitter website. Not delivered to users of 3rd party searches or desktop applications.
  • Preparation- Your tweets must appear in the search results, then a Promoted Tweet will be pinned to the top of the search results. Identify your search terms and ensure that you have twitter accounts with content which will appear in searches on the terms.
  • Promoted Trends– Delivered on the Twitter website in the “Trending Topics” window. Works with Promoted Tweets above. Trending topics will perform a search of the topic and then display the search results when clicked.
    • Preparation- When planning your Promoted Trends advertising you must ensure that you choose a topic which will become a Trending Topic. Best if used in conjunction with large events which will generate lots of Twitter traffic to ensure a Trending Topic. Promoted Trends will move a Topic up the list but will not put it on the list in the first place.
    • Geographic Targeting- Promoted Trends can be used with geographic targeting because users can select some cities or country in their Trending Topics display.
  • Promoted Accounts– Delivered on the Twitter website using the “Who to follow” list. Not currently supported by 3rd party sites or desktop applications.
    • Preparation- The Who to follow list is organically generated much like Google search results. For your Promoted Account to appear you must be in the organically generated list to begin with. Ensure that you establish your account and create tweets which contain keywords to match the profiles of your target demographic. Begin this as soon as possible to ensure you are positioned within the organic list. This activity can be managed by SEO experts who understand the organic listing process. Although the exact nature of its operation is not generally known today.

    Conclusion
    You need to establish a Twitter account and start to build a community to be able to use the new advertising options that Twitter will open to general advertisers in the coming months. The first advertisers on Twitter will have a greater impact than those that take a while to get up to speed. If you need help with your Twitter account preparation or with any online marketing contact 1 Good Reason to put yourself in a leadership position.

    Chris Kieff is CEO of 1 Good Reason an online marketing consultancy. We don’t make websites, we make websites better. Experts in Online Advertising, SEO, social marketing, social media, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and website optimization. 1 Good Reason helps clients get more from their website and their online marketing efforts by optimizing their efforts and improving on site conversions. Read more of Chris’s ideas at: www.1GoodReason.com
    Contact Chris at 201-677-8302 or chris@1GoodReason.com