How to use Twitter (X) for Business Marketing
If you have been on the internet these past few years, you would have heard all about the buzz regarding Twitter.
Twitter has been the talk of the town since Elon Musk acquired it last October 2022. Musk introduced a lot of reforms and changes to the app, including its controversial rebrand to X, paid verification checkmarks, and monthly subscription fees. These moves had been extremely divisive to its audience and had gotten a lot of negative press.
However, even after Twitter’s tumultuous year, it remains a popular choice for business marketing. In fact, Twitter (X) has a total of 237.8 million monetizable daily active users and is the 7th most popular social media platform in the world.
That’s why in this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about Twitter (X) marketing — from creating your business profile to hosting Twitter space, to running Twitter ads. We’ll also give you tips on what creative assets you need to prepare, which you can easily create with the help of our AI logo generator and Twitter header maker.
Let’s dive in!
What Are the Benefits of Twitter (X) for Marketing
Twitter (X) is a versatile platform for businesses looking to connect and engage with their audience. Here are some key benefits of using Twitter:
Real-time engagement
Twitter (X)’s live-blogging nature allows brands and businesses to communicate with their audience instantly. This is helpful when participating in trending topics, sharing breaking news, or during real-time events.
Direct communication to your audience
In addition to live-blogging events, Twitter (X) also encourages direct communication. Your audience can easily reach you with questions, comments, or concerns. These also foster faster customer support.
All of this can help build a stronger engagement and relationship with your audience since they experience direct communication with you.
Wide reach and global exposure
Twitter (X) is estimated to have 353.9 million users in 2023. It’s particularly popular in the United States with a total of 95.4 million users. However, it is also popular in other parts of the world such as in Japan and India, with 67.54 million and 27.25 million users respectively.
As you can see, Twitter is definitely a viable option if you want to reach a huge audience globally.
Multiple marketing opportunities
Twitter (X) offers a wide and dynamic variety of marketing opportunities. Aside from the usual ads, businesses can also leverage the app’s features such as doing hashtag campaigns, hosting Twitter spaces for their customers, or making use of Twitter Polls to engage their audience.
How To Set Up A Business Profile on Twitter (X)
Convinced with the power of Twitter (X)? It’s time to create your business profile to get started. Here’s how:
Create an account
Don’t have any existing accounts yet? Follow these steps to create your first account:
- Go to twitter.com.
- Fill up the required information on the sign-up form. These include your name, phone number or email address, and your password.
- Next is to choose your handle or username. This is how your audience will find you so choose this carefully! Use your business name so that your audience instantly knows it’s you. If you don’t have one yet, try our business name generator. We also recommend being consistent with your username across different platforms. For example, if you’re @fashionbyjane on Facebook and TikTok, use the same handle on your Twitter.
- Customize your profile. Add a well-designed Twitter banner, a fun profile photo, and a well-constructed bio.
- You can then start following accounts related to your industry and adjusting your profile’s privacy, notification, and account settings.
- You’re done! Welcome to Twitter.
Convert it to a Professional Account
Now that you have an account, you’ll need to convert it to a professional account to access Twitter (X)’s suite of marketing tools. Only professional accounts can run ads or add direct shopping options on their profiles.
As of 2023, you can’t designate your account to be a professional account as soon as you sign-up. It’s only possible to convert your account. Here’s how to do it:
- Log-in to your account.
- Go to your profile settings and scroll to find the “Switch to Professional” button. Or if you’re in the sidebar, look for the “X for Professionals” tab. Click “Get Started”.
- Select a category for your account. Pick one that best describes your business. It could be Beauty, Education, Restaurant, Real Estate, etc.
- Select an account type. You can choose between Business or Creator. Business accounts are best fit for brands, retail shops, service providers, or organizations. While Creator accounts are best fit for public figures, artists, influencers, or those who are looking to build a personal brand.
- You’re now a professional account! You can then add features to your profile such as Location Spotlight where you can show your business location, driving directions, opening hours, and contact information.
How to Start Your Twitter Marketing
Now that you have your account, I’m sure you’re excited to start doing marketing campaigns. However, there are some things you need to keep in mind first. Let’s take a look at them:
Set your goals
Having a clear goal is important to have a successful marketing strategy. This is because if you have a clear goal, you can make a more detailed and strategic plan on how to get to your goal. You won’t just be randomly making content and hoping it works. You won’t also waste money paying for some unneeded ads.
For example, your goal might be to be known as an industry expert. Your strategy could then be to always participate in conversations and discussions in your industry. If your goal is to increase brand awareness, you should focus on participating in trending hashtags or running ads. And so on.
Define your audience
Next is to know your audience. It’s crucial to know and understand them since they are the ones who will be consuming your content.
Figure out their demographics — their age, gender, location, job, income, or education level. Another is their psychographics, which is their interest, hobbies, values, goals, and pain points. From the above information, you can create a buyer persona, which is essentially a representation of your ideal customer.
Your audience will largely dictate your strategy and your brand voice on Twitter (X). One great example is Wendy’s. Their Twitter account is immensely popular due to their sarcastic and witty posts. This fits their younger audience who prefers a lighthearted approach instead of the usual business-like posts.
Understand the Twitter Landscape
Twitter is different from other social media platforms as they are a text-based app first and foremost. Conversations and discussions are what drive their success, compared to the beautiful visuals on Instagram and short videos on TikTok.
Prioritize your written content. Craft a compelling brand voice that fits your brand. Your brand’s personality should shine on your captions and your posts.
Know the landscape and key statistics of the app as well. For instance:
Twitter (X) has a 56.4% male audience and 43.6% female audience. People spend an average of 30.9 minutes a day on the app. Sports, higher ed, and nonprofits are the top three leading industries in terms of engagement rate on Twitter (X). The majority of Twitter’s audience belongs to the 25 to 34 age group.
Knowing all of this information can help you create a more effective marketing strategy.
How To Use Twitter (X) To Market Your Business
Let’s now discuss how to properly use Twitter to grow and boost your business. Keep in mind that the best marketing strategy for you will depend on your audience, industry, budget, or goals. But in general, here are some key tips that you can use:
Strategically make use of hashtags
Hashtags are available on other social media platforms, but they are a bigger deal on Twitter. Tweets that use a hashtag will get more visibility and reach as anyone can see your posts under those hashtags, even if they don’t follow you. Your reach will get even bigger if you use one that is currently on the “Trending” tab.
Always add relevant hashtags to your tweets in order to boost your visibility as well as promote your content. Remember, no matter how compelling your content is, it’s pointless if no one sees it.
The key word is also relevant. Don’t be that Twitter account that just adds random or trending hashtags just because they want to be seen. People will get annoyed at you really quickly! Use only hashtags that are suited for you. Check third-party listening tools, hashtag tracking tools, or research on Twitter (X)’s Explore or Trending tabs.
You can also run hashtag campaigns. Businesses can set a hashtag for their audience to use in exchange for a prize. An example is Etihad Airways where people can use #EtihadFreeFlights and tag a friend to get a chance to win free flights. This generated tons of engagement and buzz around their business.
Leverage Twitter for customer support
Great customer service is the heart of a successful business-to-customer relationship. What’s great about Twitter (X) is that they make it so accessible. Customers can instantly tweet or message an account to get a resolution to their concerns.
Since tweets are also visible to everyone, it obliges businesses to be transparent and honest with their responses. This level of authenticity and realness is appreciated by customers.
The nature of Twitter also makes it easy to find customers who may have concerns but haven’t directly messaged you. Make sure you also address their concerns. You can find them if you routinely check mentions of your name or if you use social media listening tools.
Some brands even have dedicated accounts for customer service. Some famous examples are Hootsuite_Help, XboxSupport, and AdobeCare.
You don’t have to focus on just the complaints or concerns as well. If someone posted about liking your products or commented on one of your posts, make sure to always send them a response or a shout-out. This builds engagement with your audience since they know they are heard.
Do Twitter polls
Polls are a very versatile and useful feature on Twitter (X). It’s a great way to get a pulse on your audience’s preferences as well as start a discussion.
For example, you can ask people’s opinions on a trending topic or news event. Based on their responses, you can start a discussion. Or just use it to prompt a fun conversation as well. How about a poll on what’s the first thing they do on a Monday morning?
Another is to use the poll to guide your content direction. For example, you can ask your followers what kind of content they want to see more of. Try to use it as market research as well. Ask them what their favorite product is.
Host or join Twitter Chats
Twitter Chats have been around for so many years but they are still a popular way to engage your followers. If you don’t know what they are, Chats are live conversations that are centered around a specific hashtag or topic. Participants can use the hashtag to follow the conversation.
Twitter Chats are an incredibly helpful tool in building yourself as a thought leader. You can use the Chats as a way to give expert advice or opinions to important issues regarding your industry.
One great example is of Dan Barker and James Gurd from #EcomChat, where they used to talk about anything e-commerce. Their weekly Chats garnered a lot of followers and participation, and over 500 hours of discussion.
Host Twitter Spaces
One of the new exciting features on Twitter (X) is Spaces.
Twitter Space is essentially an open audio chat room that allows users to have a live conversation on the app. You can either join a Space or host one on your own.
Spaces is a great feature to use if you are looking to boost engagement with your followers. After all, people love having conversations. Being in an open chat room allows your audience to freely share their thoughts and opinions organically. You also don’t have to be limited by the 280-character limit on Twitter.
Some brands also treat Spaces as another podcasting platform. They use this opportunity to invite thought leaders, experts, or celebrities and have their audience connect with them. It’s also great if you are an industry expert as it gives you a way to talk to your audience and share your expertise or behind-the-scenes stories.
Create or join Twitter Communities
Twitter Communities are private groups that people can join, post, and participate in. Think of it as Twitter (X)’s version of Facebook Groups or Reddit’s subreddits. It’s a space where people can find other individuals with the same interests. Communities can range from a general topic like Baking, Gardening, or Science, to more specific niches like “R&B lovers in LA”.
As you can imagine, engagement is at an all-time high in Communities. Which is why it’s crucial for businesses or creators to leverage Communities.
How? The key is to be a friend or leader — one that shares helpful and relevant topics and information. Don’t go to Communities with the mindset of promoting your products. Only comment if you have advice or relevant content that can help the community out.
If you have an app, game, or product, you can also create a Community of your own where your users can ask questions, share feedback, or inform you of any issues they encounter. This can help you address their concerns while also gaining market data.
Run ad campaigns
Of course, who could forget ads? We have a more thorough guide about that later in this article. Scroll down a bit further to read it!
How to Track Your Twitter (X) Growth
To effectively grow your presence on Twitter, it’s important to regularly review and analyze your account. This helps you understand how your profile is perceived by others and what changes might improve its impact and reach.
Spend some time on your profile account
Before delving into the metrics and analytics, it’s a good idea to visit your profile. Having the perspective of the visitor will let you see the overall vibe of your profile. Be critical. Use your knowledge of other people’s profiles to assess what’s wrong or what’s right with your brand.
Assess if you’re the kind of profile you would want to follow if you’re a visitor. What posts have caught your attention? Does the tone of voice suit the profile picture or the owner’s credentials?
These are some of the things you can focus on or improve as you casually browse your profile:
- Logo or cover photo
- Twitter name
- Slogan / Bio
- Pinned tweet
- URL
- Twitter Posts
- Hashtags
- Comments
- Replies to comments
- Likes
- Top Followers
Deep dive into your content
Now that you’ve seen the profile’s first impression, it’s now time to do a complete audit of the content.
What are the topics you usually discuss? What is the format of your content? Do you usually post long threads or short tweets? Where do your links and landing pages go? Do you mention or get mentioned by other users? Do you provide value in your posts and is it research-backed?
Take note of the following:
- Engagement spikes
- Famous tweets
- Hashtags that skyrocket your tweets
- Tweet formats
Consider your engagement too
Your content is not the only thing that’s keeping you from blowing out on Twitter. Maybe it’s how you interact with your followers too or with other people. Remember that Twitter is a social media platform too just like Instagram and TikTok, so the more you interact with other accounts, it could grant your platform an audience like never before.
See all of your posts and see which ones have been commented on. Which of these comments did you reply to? Which ones you’d like to see more on your profile? How many brands have mentioned you or you mentioned in the past?
How about your DM’s? 64% of Twitter (X) users expect a response within an hour. Audit your responses on your DMs and see if they meet people’s response expectations.
How to Create Twitter Ads
Advertisements are one of the most effective ways to gain audience attention. Facebook advertising is really great at this, as well as TikTok ads.
On Twitter (X), if your organic content does not perform well, you can leverage the power of advertisements. Twitter ads are inexpensive and effective. With more than 500 million users worldwide, your ads can be seen by varying groups and demographics, with ease. Beginners can publish ads and can gather an audience in no time.
But first, let’s understand what ads can be seen on Twitter (X).
What are the different types of Twitter Ads?
Ads appear in many different formats and placements. Understanding those can help you pick which ones would grant you the best results. This way, you’ll also know how to create the creatives or the content itself.
Promoted Ads
Promoted ads are like organic tweets in their format. They can have photos and videos or just texts alone. Like all tweets, these promoted posts can be liked, commented on, and retweeted. However, to distinguish it from organic posts, Twitter would label it as “Promoted” in the lower left corner.
Promoted ads can come in various formats:
- Text Ads: text-based ads with no other media components.
- Image Ads: a simple tweet with one photo
- Video ads: A tweet with text and video that can last up to 60 seconds.
- Moment Ads: a collection of tweets or a thread that helps you tell a longer narrative
- Twitter Live Ads: livestream ads
- Carousel Ads: swipeable collection of images with one caption.
Follower Ads
If you want to promote your Twitter account and not just a single post, then the Follower ads is the perfect format for you.
This way, your account will be seen by other non-follower users. It’s an ideal format if you want to grow your followers.
However, since users can only see your Twitter name and handle, it’s important to include words that would indicate who you are. Or demonstrate it through your profile picture either in the form of logos.
Trend Takeover
There are two takeovers. One is the timeline takeover where you’ll see the promoted posts at the top of your tweets or For You page. And the second is a trend takeover where you’ll see the ads along with other trending topics. Of course, both will be branded as “Promoted”.
Branded Hashtags
Not all hashtags are organic. Some can be claimed by advertisers as their own. So whenever someone uses those hashtags, they can be given a visual emoji of some sort. This feature allows brands to add a fun, visually appealing creative element whenever their hashtag is used across Twitter.
How to set up an Ad account and create an ad
Setting up an ad account and crafting an effective ad campaign on Twitter involves a series of strategic steps, each crucial for achieving your marketing objectives.
From choosing the right campaign objective to designing the ad itself, each element plays a vital role in the success of your advertising efforts.
Choose your objective
The first and foremost step in setting up your Twitter ad account is selecting the campaign objective, which is the cornerstone of your advertising strategy. This crucial decision shapes your campaign’s direction and influences every aspect of your ad strategy.
Twitter offers a range of objectives, including but not limited to increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, promoting app installs, encouraging tweet engagements, and expanding your follower base.
This choice will not only determine the type of content you need to create but also influence the way you will engage with your audience and measure the success of your campaign. It’s important to align your objective with your broader marketing goals to ensure a cohesive strategy.
Here’s the complete list of objectives that you might prefer as you start Twitter ads:
Set your ad group and bidding
This step involves organizing your campaign into specific ad groups and determining your bidding strategy. Each ad group targets a different segment of your audience, allowing for tailored messaging that resonates with each group’s interests and needs.
This targeted approach can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your ads. When it comes to bidding, Twitter offers several options. You can opt for automatic bidding, where Twitter optimizes your bid amount to achieve the best results within your budget, or manual bidding, which gives you more control over how much you spend per interaction.
It’s important to understand the nuances of each bidding method and choose one that aligns with your campaign objectives and budget constraints.
- Choose audience
Targeting the right audience is key to the success of your Twitter ad. Twitter’s platform provides a plethora of targeting options, allowing you to reach specific user demographics, interests, behaviors, and even custom audiences based on your own data.
You can also utilize lookalike audience targeting to reach users similar to your existing customers. This step is critical in ensuring that your ad is seen by users who are most likely to be interested in and engage with your product or service. Fine-tuning your audience targeting can significantly improve the effectiveness and ROI of your campaign.
Choose placement
Deciding where your ad will appear on Twitter is another crucial aspect of your campaign. Twitter offers various placement options, including in users’ timelines, on profile pages, and within Tweet detail pages.
Each placement option has its own set of advantages and is suited for different types of content and campaign objectives. For instance, ads in timelines might garner more visibility, while those on profile pages can seem more personalized.
The placement of your ads should be strategically chosen to complement your campaign goals and content type.
Create your ad
This is the creative phase where you design the ad content. This step is vital as it involves deciding on the ad sizes and understanding the best practices for ad creatives. Twitter supports a variety of ad formats, including text, image, and video ads.
The key to a successful ad is creating content that is not only engaging and visually appealing but also aligns with your brand voice and resonates with your target audience. High-quality images or videos, clear and concise messaging, and a compelling call-to-action are best practices.
It’s also important to consider the specifications for each ad format, such as optimal image sizes and video lengths, to ensure your ad is displayed correctly and effectively.
Track performance
The final step is tracking and analyzing the performance of your ad campaign. This involves monitoring a range of metrics, such as engagement rates, impressions, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
Twitter’s analytics tools offer valuable insights into how your ads are performing, allowing you to measure their impact. Regular analysis of these metrics is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of your campaign and identifying areas for improvement.
This step is not just about gathering data but about making informed decisions that can refine your advertising strategy, optimize your spending, and improve the overall performance of your future campaigns.
Conclusion
Effectively growing your brand on Twitter (X) requires a blend of savvy digital strategies and traditional marketing tools.
By knowing how Twitter (X) algorithm and advertising platforms work, you can better position your account as the only brand of choice. In turn, you don’t waste your time creating content because they will surely have an audience.
Additionally, incorporating your Twitter logo on business cards and flyers can significantly bridge the gap between your online and offline marketing efforts.
This holistic approach strengthens your brand’s visibility and draws a broader audience to your Twitter profile, fostering comprehensive growth and engagement.
