Look at Google trends or any social media blog and the topical discussion point is around the fact that Twitter have announced their new ad platform. The best description of this slightly strange mechanic I have heard to date has come from Mashable:
“Twitter’s new ad platform will begin by charging per thousand impressions, but will eventually switch to a model that the company calls “resonance.” Essentially, a sponsored tweet gains points based on factors such as retweets, favorites, impressions, and clicks. Combined, this resonance score will tell Twitter whether or not an advertisement is performing, which will affect its longevity and its price. “
Its quite an interesting way of optimising campaigns, ads that are retweeted are given a higher score, live longer and thus cost more. Therefore, as always its all about creating great copy…nothing new there then.
The big issue to me, is that Twitter users favour Twitter because of its ad-free environment. In fact, there is a certain sense of satisfaction that the only way Twitter has made money to date is by charging away from its main site. However, we are all realists and realised this day was dawning a while ago. The question for brands is then “how do we produce an ad which doesn’t alienate the population of Twitter?”.
Here are my Quick Tips for A Great Twitter Ad:
1) Use social media monitoring to understand how people are discussing your brand within Twitter and other social areas – forums, blogs, and message boards. Take the key terms from here to help your first drafts at your ads.
2) Create a “Twitter” tone of voice and point of view, characterised by the need to fit a short message into a short ad. Personally, I think this means radio and outdoor creatives are going to be the strongest creative minds for delivering this experience.
3) Don’t treat it like another digital banner/ad. The above clearly dictates that the first brands to enter this arena need to tread carefully. Why not reach out to your Twitter following and let them help plan the copy for you? There is nothing like consumer creation to get something retweeted.
4) Personalise the ad. Create 1,000s of different ads which fit within each user group or list that you use within Twitter. Therefore, pulling in relevant content into ad which will help the sell.
5) Optimise and Create in real-time. Don’t let an ad dwindle. If its not being retweeted immediately, then perhaps you need to tweak it.
One thing I can certainly see is the rise of Twitter Ad experts, those who claim to know the technology inside out. However, I see the above being a very simple way of creating a good purposeful creative for Twitter without too much drama.
Original Post: http://digigen.co.uk/2010/04/13/how-to-produce-a-great-twitter-ad/
