Advertising on Twitter: How to use ad formats for a winning strategy

It’s no secret that different types of ads on different platforms produce, well, different kinds of results. Ad formats have their own end goals in mind, and platforms have varying “personalities” that reach a multitude of audiences. For example, the average user on Facebook is 25-34 years old. If you have a product geared towards high schoolers, it wouldn’t make sense to optimize ad spend on that platform. 

Twitter’s main appeal is that it’s a platform where people can learn about current events and hear what people are talking about. As such, it’s a fantastic platform for increasing brand awareness and driving traffic. You even have the ability to cater your ads towards people who are interested in your business based off of their activity and who they follow.

In order to be successful on Twitter, it is important for advertisers to utilize the right ad format to increase reach, in addition to implementing strong creatives to keep users engaged. Think of Twitter as a platform where you can put a bug into people’s ears about your business. A strong creative will ensure your brand stays in people’s minds! 

What Twitter ad formats should I use?

As Twitter has various ad formats, you might be wondering how to best set up your strategy to meet your business goals. Using 3-5 different ad formats, depending on your prime objective, has proven to drive the strongest results. 

Below are ad types you should use based on performance goals:

• If your main objective is to drive Awareness, Website Cards and Promoted Videos are the way to go. Promoted videos are 9% more likely to drive awareness than Promoted text-only tweets, and Website Cards are 12% more likely.

• If you want to drive Message Association, use Media Poll and Promoted Video Tweets. Media polls are 56% more likely to drive message association than Promoted text-only tweets, and Promoted Videos are 29% more likely.

• If your goal is to drive Purchase Intent, go for Convo and Website Cards. Website Cards are 89% more likely to drive purchase intent and Convo cards are 94% more likely to drive intent compared to Promoted text-only tweets. 

The following ads help you connect with your target audience even further:

• Video Website Card – This ad type lets you share creative that drives your audience to a landing page of your choosing. There is a 2x higher click-through-rate than mobile and a 60% higher user retention when the site loads. 

• Promoted Poll – Promoted polls help drive engagement. If you’re a running company, you might ask users what their favorite type of shoe is. Ask away and simultaneously gain more information about your followers! 

• Conversational Card – Conversational ads have captivating images and/or videos that include a Call to Action with customizable hashtags. This ad type allows for your audience to easily tweet about your brand. 

So, why do I need a strong creative?

Engaging creative is essential in order to hold a user’s attention and expand brand awareness. People browse Twitter to learn about current events, get info on their interests, etc. According to Twitter, 47% of sales can be attributed to creative. 

It’s no secret that video marketing is quickly skyrocketing as a top performer across multiple marketing platforms. Most brand recall is driven within the first three seconds of a video. While it’s vital to choose the correct format, state-of-the-art creative is vital for success as well. Check out the following tweet from Taco Bell poking fun at the current reality of remote life!

When launching video ads, remember to be concise, feature branding within the first three seconds, and feature people! Imagine how quickly people scroll through social feeds. Even with video, you have a very short window to grab a user’s attention. Getting your message out as quickly helps ensure you are heard. Increasing brand awareness can be done by featuring your brand early on, and highlighting people in ads builds an emotional connection with the user. We live in a world where we strive for connection, and video ads are one way to achieve that.

In summary

All in all, a high-performing Twitter strategy requires thought about which ad type to use and a creative brain to connect with users early. Hopefully this post can give you a head start on how you want to strategize your campaign!