This is inclusive of both the social user and the business user. Recently Twitter has been very much the topic of discussion within marketing circles. The question being pondered is whether or not Twitter can act as a viable as well as scalable PPC channel.
PPC practitioners are always looking for new and promising avenues to ply their trade through. As Twitter has proven itself an online traffic magnet, it is only plausible that these two ventures should join forces. What remains to be seen however is if Twitter as a platform can successfully support the PPC model of advertising.
Opportunities accorded by Twitter to support this:
1. Far reaching and widely Global audience
Of course Twitter has a Global audience. It is one of the most popular social media platforms available today. Not only has it pervaded the masses, but it has also positioned itself as a non-expendable resource center.
Almost everyone in the know spends a little time on Twitter every day. Be it for the news feeds or just simply keeping up with society as is. Twitter can be a great outlet for those businesses that want to advertise to a Global audience.
2. Geo-specific
Much like Google has developed location based optimization, Twitter also has most of its features Geo-tagged. This means that anyone looking to target a specific region with his/her marketing campaign can do so with a lot easier than before.
Ads that are locally relevant to certain areas tend to be more successful than those that are cast out on a wider net with no specifically targeted region.
3. A very high click through rate
When it comes to engagement rates, Twitter is up there with the rest of them. It can only be ranked along side Google and Facebook. By studying this engagement level and trends, companies can simply customize their optimization efforts depending on the quality and level of desired engagement from their specific niche.
4. Network building and acquisitions
Twitter is of course going to grow in the future. This means that it will acquire additional services and platforms that compliment what the site does. One such example is the recent acquisition of one of the leading mobile ad servers. The data collected from such acquisitions can go a long way in helping marketers target specific users with relevant advertising and offers.
OK so now let’s take a look at some of the problems that this business model may face –
1. Teething issues
This appertains to the fairly new concepts and terminologies that this model will bring into the marketing fields.
As much as people understand what a hashtag on Twitter is and what a tweet or a follower is, it might take a little bit of time to adequately grasp the concepts behind the acquisition of a valuable hashtag. Much like it took people a little while to understand the true value of a great domain name.
2. Smaller target
PPC practitioners are used to a very wide range of target as far as audience is concerned. PPC campaigns generally run on much larger scales that Twitters 200 million users. This might present a limited target for most PPC marketers who will choose to take the ‘wait and see’ approach.
3. Difficult mode of communication
Twitter runs on tweets and these have a limited number of characters. This means that creating an engaging campaign will take a higher level of creativity than most PPC practitioners are used to.
4. Mobile limitations
Even though the entire world is going mobile now, conversion rates from mobile devices are still much lower when compared to desk top conversions. Twitter’s major ad inventory and revenue come from mobile, this might prove a little problematic to PPC practitioners who are used to seeing high returns thanks to desktop conversion rates.
Thanks to the recent IPO, Twitter is set to be bigger than ever. This means they will find ways to make this business model work for marketers in order to get a share of this particular market. But until then, PPC practitioner might take a step back and have a look at the major opportunities, and challenges of leveraging twitter advertising.
