With 336 million monthly users in 2018, Twitter is one of the most popular social networks of its generation. The 140-character publications platform is very popular with mobile users. It has up to 80% mobile traffic. Twitter is a platform with an average age of users between 16 and 34, making it a prime space for advertising. In June 2018, Twitter introduced the Promoted Trend Spotlight, or ” Sponsored Trends which gives advertisers the opportunity to target a new advertising format on the blue bird platform. Today, it makes sense for any business to have a Twitter profile, but you need to know if using Twitter advertising is a strategy that can pay off for your business.
What are Promoted Trends?
In January 2017, the Explore tab of Twitter came to replace the Twitter Moments, created in 2015. This tab, available only on Apple Store and Android, allows users to have a selection of appropriate content based on trending Hashtags and pages followed by the user concerned. Less than 18 months later, in June 2018, Twitter expanded Promoted Trends as part of the app’s Explore tab.
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Promoted Trends appear as a banner with a GIF or image as the first result of the Explore tab, for the first two times of the day that you visit this tab. By clicking on them, they will then appear as the first result of the “Trending for you” section.
This paying tool offered to advertisers allows them to have additional instruments to promote their brand and encourage interaction with their
users and customers.
How does it work ?
Promoted Trends appear at the very top of the “Trends For You” section of the Explore tab. Clicking on this link will take you to Twitter’s results on this topic, with an advertisement from a sponsored advertiser at the top of the search results. Promoted Trends appear identical to other Trends, and offer the main advantage of appearing at the top of Trends. These advertising formats can be recognized by the mention “sponsored” clearly displayed on the platform. So Disney was the first company to try Sponsored Trends in an effort to promote their latest movie. Christopher Robin. This campaign was also reinforced by Tweets from the account of the characters of Winnie the Pooh, created for the occasion. According to Disney, the campaign was a success.
What are the changes in the user experience?
Sponsored Trends offers users 24-hour promotions based on events sponsored by advertisers. Previously, users had to select tweets themselves to find the most relevant ones. Now, by further developing its results algorithm and video promotion, Twitter directs tweets to be as relevant and user-friendly as possible.
Our tips for optimizing your sponsored trends
Choose your moment
To maximize the performance of your Promoted Trend, choose the day you promote your Trend carefully. Sponsorship lasts 24 hours, and it can be much more impactful if it is associated with a current context.
Indeed, news is the very essence of the platform, and news content tends to be more and more part of the heart of the algorithm.
Choose your hashtag
In order to maximize the potential of your posts, it is a good idea to think carefully about the Hashtags you will use, because some Hashtags will make users want to click more than others. In addition, if Internet users tweet this Hashtag themselves, the popularity of your publication will also be boosted. The Hashtag must be clear and users must be able to easily identify with it. It should be as broad as possible, and that’s always a plus when it’s related to current events. Obviously, this is all the more relevant when you rely on news related to your business. To understand how the popularity of brands on Twitter works, we can take inspiration from the results of companies during events such as the World Cup.
To be reactive
For 24 hours, the interaction with Internet users will be very strong, because everyone will have access to your Tweets and will be able to answer you, comment, ask you questions. You must therefore be reactive in order to optimize the performance of your sponsorship. Moreover, most interactions occur after 4 p.m.
The limits of this innovation
Like many ad platforms, Twitter tends to push organic content behind sponsored posts that aren’t always the most relevant to the user. The real added value is for advertisers who can gain visibility and for Twitter which is increasing its advertising formats (and therefore its
income). Also note that the Explore tab is still relatively little used by Internet users and Twitter has not yet succeeded in getting users to take full advantage of this function, which could reduce the expected visibility of campaigns.
Finally, sponsored trends represent a certain cost for advertisers and you must ensure the relevance of your approach and the potential return on your investment before undertaking such a campaign.