According to the internet research firm Global Web Index (GWI), Twitter was the fastest growing internet marketing firm during the last six months of 2012 and nearly half a billion internet users have a Twitter account. With this statistics in mind, it comes as no surprise that more and more businesses are looking at Twitter advertising which is a relatively unexplored marketing area.
There are essentially two ways to advertise on twitter. First is through Twitter promoted accounts. On the left side of Twitter’s current layout, there’s a section on the left side that says “Who to follow.” Through this advertising option, Twitter will display your profile prominently in this section. Needless to say this option is suitable for those who are looking to expand their Twitter network. The second option is through Twitter promoted Tweets. Promoted Tweets can be displayed at the top of your followers’ timelines if the Tweet you chose to advertise is relevant to them. Twitter promoted Tweets can also show at the top of the search results and is triggered by related search terms.
Just like any other advertising medium, Twitter has its own advantages and disadvantages and the best practices on how to advertise on Twitter are still being discovered. Based on status quo, below is a rundown of the positives and the negatives of Twitter advertising to help you decide whether this is something that can benefit your or not.
The Pros of Twitter Advertising:
Probably the main advantage of Twitter advertising is the quality of audience you are able to generate and reach. Twitter evaluates whether to show your ad or not to a particular user based on different factors such as recent activities and even who they are following. This way, Twitter is able to create a good assessment whether someone will actually be interested in your Tweets or your company. This can lead to a high level of engagement and can even help in conversion optimization.
The Cons of Twitter Advertising:
On the downside, Twitter advertising for individuals does not have an analytics dashboard that details the demographics of those who clicked on a promoted tweet or who followed a promoted account.If you’re someone who loves data, this can be a disappointment.
Source: SEO-SMO
Peter Zmijewski is the founder and CEO at KeywordSpy. His expert knowledge on Internet Marketing practices and techniques has earned him the title “Internet Marketing Guru“ He is also an innovator, investor and entrepreneur widely recognized by the top players in the industry.