Top 5 Optimisation Tips for Twitter Ads

If you’re still looking to set up Twitter Ads for your business, have a look at Katy’s blog which will run you through the basics. But if you’ve made it that far, read on and let’s get to work making Twitter successful for you!

Twitter Ads: Top 5 Optimisation Tips

I love Twitter. There, I said it. Happy now? I spend unholy amounts of time scrolling through endless Tweets about what my friends had for breakfast and who Zayn Malik is picking a fight with today (purely outside of working hours, of course). But as someone who manages Twitter Ads for various clients, something that really grinds my gears is a poorly optimised Twitter Ads account. Luckily, if your Twitter Ads account isn’t up to scratch and you’re not seeing great results then help is on hand. Through conversations with both Twitter and the team here at Periscopix towers, I’ve compiled a list of our top 5 optimisation tips for Twitter Ads.

5. Make the most of what's already there

Coming in at number 5, it’s getting rid of targeting that doesn’t work. It sounds obvious to many, but it’s something that seems to be overlooked when it comes to Twitter. The side bar in the campaign view is your best friend when it comes to optimisation. Let’s take the handles tab in particular for example.

When you set up the campaign you undoubtedly put in a huge list of potential handles that you thought would work, and then a whole raft more from the suggested users list. But by sorting the list in the handles tab, we are able to see impressions, clicks, CPC, CTR and spend for each of these handles and make judgements as to whether you should be advertising there for this particular campaign. If you’re seeing a low CTR, it could be an indication that your content is not relevant to the followers of that particular user so consider dropping the handle for this campaign. And for those that do work and provide strong engagement rates, have a look at Twitter’s similar user lists to try and find some new targets. Don’t be afraid to split out your campaigns after reviewing your targeting; the greater level of control over who sees what may turn out to be crucial.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that targeting competitors' handles is an option that’s available and probably worth considering. From past experience this does really well, especially if you’re pointing out unique features that you provide but your competition can’t. Don’t be afraid to try it out, but be warned; anything you can do, they can do too!

4. De-clutter

A somewhat surprising entry at number 4, it’s de-cluttering your promoted Tweets. When we advertise on Google, the idea is to take up as much space on the page to draw users in by using sitelinks or callout extensions for example. When using Twitter however, we need to try and keep the text clean and clutter free. I’ll take a punt here and say that when you first promoted a tweet you tried sticking in as many #hashtags or @handles as possible in an attempt at boosting engagement rates. After all, that’s the aim… Right? Well yes, but that click on #SummerSale takes users to the Twitter search page and there’s a fair chance that they will forget all about you by the time they have had a scroll.

For your organic tweets they are a fantastic way of gaining passing trade and new users. However when it comes to Ads, unless you’ve conceived that hashtag and you have a great presence on the Twitter search page, get rid. That handle to the brand you’ve got on sale? Don’t even think about it. You’re just giving them free traffic and that’s not the idea here. Results for one of our clients from April this year show that, in a test of the same targeting methods, engagement rate drops from 1.42% when using hashtags to 1.06% without. However, that 1.06% was nearly all traffic to the website, rather than users hitting the Twitter search page. Which leads us nicely on to number three...

3. Test, test, test!

Here at Periscopix we love testing, so it’s no surprise that testing is on the list. Although Twitter doesn’t offer you anything similar to the experiments tool in AdWords, you can still set up your own tests, and don’t be afraid to get creative.

Use multiple campaigns to test out different handles, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Your company sells Blinds? Why not try targeting users who follow Grand Designs Live and are likely to be visiting, or have visited their live shows.

Try testing different wording to different users. If you compare flights, the wording for trips to Magaluf and trips to Shanghai probably need to reflect the target demographic. Don’t blanket target them both with the same ad copy.

2. Refresh

Number two is more of a plea from a big user of the Twitter platform. Ads on Twitter can get stale, fast. Its good practice across any platform to keep ads fresh, but the amount of time spent on a single page on Twitter means that seeing the same promoted tweet over and over can really start to irk users. Depending on who you ask, the frequency of a refresh can vary from weekly to a strong never. However conversations with Twitter have indicated that you should be refreshing these ads at least once a month. If you’re spending a lot of time using the platform, try to do this every few weeks for the best results. If you happen to notice your impressions dropping in spite of no changes to targeting, it’s probably best to get a new set of creatives in even if this is just a change of image. Which segues neatly on to number one…

1. Add visuals

And it’s a new entry at number one: adding visuals. I know I said you should de-clutter, but bear with me here. Images on Twitter don’t take you to another part of the Twitter website, and if you’re running a Website Clicks campaign, they won’t cost you either. Hubspot suggests that tweets with images get 18% more clickthroughs, and I would suggest that this figure was conservative if you’re targeting the right people. They look better, and if they are relevant are great at engaging users.

As a final note, it’s best to get testing what works for your business, and don’t settle with a stagnant campaign. If the above list brings in some positive results then do let us know. If you aren’t already, then why not follow @Periscopix on Twitter to keep up to date with our latest news, blog posts and more. Happy Tweeting!

To view the blog as written by Tom Howes, please visit Periscopix's website.