Twitter Advertising-Four Marketers Test the New Ad Platform

8/3/2019 Twitter Advertising-Four Marketers Test the New Ad Platform

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Digital Intelligence Copyright 2011 eMarketer, Inc. All rights reserved.

July 2011

Executive Summary : A ter debuting in 2010, Twitters Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends and Promoted Accountshave proved success ul or many companies. While Twitters ad plat orm is not as mature as those on other socialsites, there are several ways in which this social network o ers a di erent type o program.

As o June 2011, Twitter has worked with more than 600marketers on nearly 7,000 promoted trend, tweet andaccount campaigns.

Yet there are drawbacks. The data reminds us that Twitters userbase is small, so marketers dont have the same reach as on othersocial networks. Additionally, the plat orm is changing, as Twittertweaks its advertising o erings, and marketers should be readyto deal with changes in the product and back-end. Others in theindustry point to the ragmentation and possible alienation o Twitter users as challenges to Twitters monetization model.

In this report, eMarketer highlights case studies showing howRadioShack, CMT, ZUJI Australia and Unilevers Magnum Ice Creambrand leveraged Twitters ad plat orm in its rst year o existence.These marketers have ound that advertising on Twitter gives thema tech-savvy reputation, allows them to integrate ads seamlesslyinto social media content, provides real-time interaction and givesadded value to already buzz-worthy events.

Key Questions

How can marketers make the most o Twittersadvertising plat orm?

How are RadioShack, Unilever, ZUJI Australia and CMT using

Twitters promoted products?In what ways are companies and brands linking Twitteradvertising back to business results?

Whats next or the Twitter ad plat orm?

The eMarketer View 2Twitters Ad Platform Gains Traction 3How Marketers Execute Twitter Ads 7

Whats Next 13Conclusions 15Endnotes 15Related Information and Links 16

Number of Companies Worldwide that Advertise onTwitter, End of 2010 & June 2011

End of 2010

150

June 2011

600

Source: Twitter presentation at All Things Digital D9 conference, June 2011129172 www. e Marketer .com

Kimberly Maul [email protected] Aho Will iamson, Tracy Tang

Twitter Advertising:Four Marketers Test the New Ad Platform


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Twitter Advertising: Four Marketers Test the New Ad Platform Copyright 2011 eMarketer, Inc. All rights reserved. 2

The eMarketer View

Marketers are paying attention to how Twitter isincorporating advertising into its site, and are seeinghow the ad plat orm is di erent than other socialnetwork advertising.

Twitter o ers advertisers a chance to interact with ans in

real time, buy ads that look and eel like organic content onTwitter, and enhance buzzed-about events. Several companieshave publicized their results, including Volkswagen, whichused a Twitter ad in conjunction with a 2011 Super Bowl spothighlighting the New Beetle.

But some in the industry are still skeptical and, in order tomake a serious impact, Twitter must scale its advertising, addnew ways to reach users and work to make the experienceseamless or both consumers and companies.

Twitter already seems to be taking such concerns intoaccount. Just this month, or example, it said it would add the

ability or marketers to target promoted tweets directly to theirollowers, greatly increasing the likelihood such tweets wont

get lost in ollowers ever-fowing timelines.

Twitters ad plat orm will grow in size and o erings. In January 2011, eMarketer estimated that Twitter wouldearn $250 million in advertising revenue in 2012. eMarketersupdated social network ad spending numbers will be releasedlater this year and will take into account developments romthe company and the per ormance o Promoted Products.

There will be more changes to Twitters ad plat orm this year,including the addition o a sel -serve option. Twitter is also talking

about the addition o scalable ad units at some point in the uture.Marketers need to discover how Twitter ads canwork or them. Each promoted producttrend, tweet oraccountserves a di erent purpose as part o an overall adprogram, and brands are experimenting with all three. Twitteris very ast-paced and companies have ound that ads onthe site work well when they connect with real-time events,particularly ones that would get attention on Twitter anyway.

Additionally, the ads are eatured alongside regular content onTwitter, making them seem more integrated than other ormso social media ads. As more marketers test these product

o erings, the industry will settle on best practices or usingTwitter ads to reach marketing and advertising goals.

As with any new program, there are obstacles. Twittermust deal with several issues plaguing the company, mostnotably the ragmentation o users who access its content viadi erent plat orms. With the acquisition o Twitter applicationTweetDeck, the company proved it is serious about bringingconsumers together on its plat orm, where it is easier toadvertise and market to users.

Additionally, marketers should be thought ul when working

with Twitter, as with any new plat orm. There is a possibilitythat the ad products could change, and additionally, abrand-related conversation can spiral out o control. Marketersshould also manage their expectations and not anticipate thesame levels o engagement that brands such as Volkswagenhave seen so ar.

Because Promoted Products is airly new and Twitter hascontrol o much o the data surrounding measuremento campaigns, there is not much in ormation ocusing onadvertising speci cally. However, Twitter is working withadvertisers and providing insights to partners post-campaign.eMarketer has collected several case studies to see howadvertisers have leveraged this new advertising plat orm andseen success:

RadioShack. A heavy user o Promoted Products,RadioShack purchased a Promoted Trend in May to garnersupport or the Team RadioShack cycling team, and gainedboth Twitter ollowers and Facebook likes.

CMT. Leading up to its annual CMT Music Awards, thenetwork tested promoted tweets and incorporated this newad ormat into the overall marketing program or the show.

Magnum Ice Cream. The Unilever brand brought together

two UK avorites by purchasing a Promoted Trend or theroyal wedding to promote the UK-based ice cream brandslaunch in the US.

ZUJI Australia. As one o Australians rst companies touse Twitters Promoted Products, the company is takinga long-term approach to see how advertising on the sitecan build brand awareness and connect the travel brandwith customers.

For the list o industry experts interviewed or thisreport, see the eMarketer Interviews section.


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What Are Promoted Trends, Tweets and Accounts?

In April 2010, Twitter introduced its rst ad product,the Promoted Tweet. Promoted Trends debuted in June2010 and Promoted Accounts in October 2010. These adproducts allow companies to leverage the hot trendingtopics on Twitter to become a part o the conversationthrough advertising. The three options or Twitter adseach have their own strategy.

Promoted Tweets: This ad ormat gives prominentplacement to a speci c tweet rom an advertiser. Thetweet will show up as promoted when users search

or certain phrases or non-promoted hashtags. Pricingis based on an auction ormat.

Promoted Trends: This moves a speci c hashtag tothe top o Twitters Trends list, and highlights a tweet

rom the advertiser when users click to learn more.Pricing is $120,000 a day, according to Adam Bain,Twitters president or global revenue. The price wasraised earlier this year in response, partly, to marketdemand, Bain said in an interview with eMarketer.

Promoted Accounts: This highlights a branded accountas one o the top accounts on Twitters Who to Followlist. Pricing is based per new ollower.

The promoted trend is what sparks the interaction andsparks the experience, said Adrian Parker, social mediadirector at RadioShack, in a June 2011 interview witheMarketer. But without the promoted tweets, it wouldend a ter a day. Promoted accounts bene t the companythrough an increase in ollowers.

Over the past several months in media interviews and atindustry events, Twitter executives have released variousstatistics about Promoted Products, including the act

that 80% o companies that advertise on the site return.Additionally, the average engagement rate or promotedtweets is between 3% and 5%, while the averagecost-per- ollower or a promoted account is less than $10.

Twitter Snapshot500,000 accounts created daily600 advertisers currently supported by Twitter vs. 150 advertisers

at the end of 201080% of advertisers renew with Twitter80% of engagement is people clicking on a tweet, while 20% is a

retweet or @mentions or @replies40% of users follow at least one brand3%-5% engagement for Promoted Tweets or up to 7%-10% when you

combine Promoted Tweets and Trends


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By the end o 2010, Twitter had partnered with 150 companiesor advertising campaigns on the site. By June 2011, that

number had jumped to 600.

Number of Companies Worldwide that Advertise onTwitter, End of 2010 & June 2011

End of 2010

150

June 2011

600

Source: Twitter presentation at All Things Digital D9 conference, June 2011129172 www. e Marketer .com

In January 2011, Gartner surveyed IT and marketingpro essionals rom the US and UK or the Business GetsSocial: Social Media Tools and Sites, Buyers and Budgetsstudy. The participants, all o which were rom companies thathad more than 50 employees, were rom a wide spectrum o industries and were about hal US-based and hal UK-based.

O the nearly 600 respondents whose companies used Twitter,Gartner ound that 25% used a promoted tweet as part o theirTwitter activities, and 22% used promoted trends. Additionally, 9%hadnt yet used promoted tweets but planned to in the next sixmonths, while 4% planned to experiment with a promoted trend.

% of respondentsTwitter Activities of UK and US Companies, Jan 2011

Use Twitter for product announcement70%

Use Twitter for customer service48%

Use Twitter to track users37%

Promote discounts, coupon codes

28%Use Promoted Tweets (advertising)

25%

Use Promoted Trends (advertising)22%

Currently do not use Promoted Tweets but plan to in the next 6months

9%

Currently do not use Promoted Trends but plan to in the next 6months

4%

None of the above7%

Note: n=590 Source: Gartner, "Business Gets Social: Social Media Tools and Sites, Buyers and Budgets," March 29, 2011128262 www. e Marketer .com

However, looking at companies that used social media overallrather than just those who used Twitter, these percentageswould likely be much smaller.

Additionally, these advertising activities trailed broadermarketing activities by a wide margin: 70% o respondentssaid they used Twitter or product announcements and 48%used it or customer service.

Because o marketers inherent interest in Twitter and the real-timeengagement it allows or earned media, marketers were quick topay attention to the new Promoted Products when they debuted.

In November 2010, the TWTRCON Con erence and one orty, anonline directory or Twitter tools, asked US marketers about theirreaction to seeing promoted products on Twitters site. A ull 82%o respondents had noticed a promoted tweet, compared to 68%who noticed a promoted trend and 60% who noticed a promotedaccount. The data did not distinguish between marketers thatwere using Promoted Products vs. those who were not.

% of respondents

Twitter's Promoted Products that Have Been Noticed

by US Marketers Who Use Twitter, Nov 2010

Tweets 82%

Trends 68%

Accounts 60%

Note: n=103 Source: TWTRCON and oneforty, "Twitter Promoted Products Poll," Nov 11, 2010122691 www. e Marketer .com


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Naturally, marketers are paying close attention to the plat ormso they may be more likely to notice promoted products, whencompared with the average consumer. Additionally, 70% marketershad a positive or neutral reaction to seeing a promoted tweet and69% had a positive or neutral reaction to a promoted trend.

What Twitter Ads Offer Marketers

The nature o Twitter means ads on the plat orm have a very

real-time eel and can be leveraged to coincide with live events.Promoted tweets, trends and accounts look very similar to thetraditional content on the site, integrated into the user experience.And Twitters ads can be connected to buzzworthy events andhappenings to enhance the conversation already taking placeand bring additional value to an overall marketing campaign.

Twitter also o ers a place or brands and their ans toconnectand consumers have said they are willing to doso. The May 2011 Twitter Q&A Census rom InboxQ oundthat more than hal o Twitter users would like businesses toanswer their questions on Twitter.

% of respondents

Twitter Users Worldwide Who Would Like to ReceiveAnswers from Businesses* to Their Questions onTwitter, by Number of Followers, May 2011


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Marketer Skepticism Persists

Several brands and marketers have seen success usingTwitters Promoted Products, but some in the industry are stillskeptical o the o erings. Twitters user base is growing butsmall, there is not much publicly available data on advertisingon the site and Twitter continues to tinker with the plat orm.

There are several issues with Twitter and its advertisingplat orm that the industry is currently ocused on:

Fragmentation. The Twitter ecosystem is spread out, withusers accessing their accounts via TweetDeck, HootSuiteand other applications. Promoted products are more visibleon Twitters site than through third-party tools, and Twittermust gure out a way to combat that.

Twitter purchased TweetDeck in May 2011 as a step towardconsolidating the user experience and in early July purchasedsocial analytics company BackType, which would improvemeasurement or both paid and earned Twitter campaigns.

Meanwhile, media outlets have reported that the FTC isinvestigating the way Twitter treats outside developers and i the social networks practices are harming competition.

Twitters swimming upstream, and those acquisitions arenecessary, but theyre inherently trying to x a model thatwas too open, said Nathaniel Perez, global head o socialexperience at digital advertising and marketing agencySapientNitro, in a June 2011 interview with eMarketer.

Integration. Integration is also important, as someinterviewed by eMarketer elt the ads werent vital to theconversations happening between users. ConsideringTwitters strategy to ocus on user experience rst, it may bemore di cult to bake advertising into the site a ter the act.

The way you use Twitter is by picking only the peoplethat you actually want to hear about, and listen to theirmessages, said Matt Britton, co- ounder and CEO o socialmedia agency Mr. Youth, in a June 2011 interview witheMarketer. Its very hard or an advertising message tocram its way into that experience.

Brand control. Marketers also take a risk when advertisingon Twitter, as a conversation can quickly and easily spiralout o control. Additionally, with paid Twitter ads, tweetsbecome more high-pro le and any missteps are evenmore noticeable.

For example, on July 1, 2011, McDonalds purchased thepromoted trend #ANewMcDFavorite to tout its smoothies.McDonalds, however, was unprepared or the negative

tweets posted to the hashtag by users declaring their belie in the unhealthy nature o McDonalds products and thehigh sugar content in their smoothies.

In the middle o the day, McDonalds switched its trend to#LoveMcDsSmoothies to promote more positive aspectso the drinks, but Twitter users continued to badmouth thebrand there.

While McDonalds is no stranger to criticism and negativecomments about its products, the high-pro le nature o aPromoted Trend made those negative tweets more visible toTwitter users.

Sustainability. Twitter is working with advertisers to makethe advertising experience seamless.

The biggest thing they do is give data on the ront end tomake you smarter, said Parker, rom RadioShack, who hasworked with Twitter on several Promoted Product purchases.Then at the end o your campaign, they actually send you arecap o suggested enhancements and takeaways. I haventseen that rom a lot o partners recently.

But will that level o personalization and customizationbe sustainable as the plat orm grows and moremarketers participate?

Key Takeaways

Twitter is evolving its ad plat orm, xing some o the issuesthat marketers have concerning ads on the site. As the sitegrows and more users sign up, this new orm o advertisingcan allow marketers to advertise in real time, enhancepopular events in the social space and create ads that moreorganically t in with social media content.

As with any new orm o advertising, there are drawbacksand a learning curve to using Twitters Promoted Products adplat orm. But by analyzing other companies and their work,

marketers can gain insights into what Twitter activities getconsumers to take notice o them or how Twitter ads may allshort o other social network adsand thereby mold a Twittercampaign unique to their brand.


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How Marketers Execute Twitter Ads

Twitter is still experimenting with new ways toincorporate advertising into the site, but there is noshortage o brands willing to join them or the ride.These include Volkswagen, Old Spice and Papa Johns,all o whom have seen success on the site.

In May 2011, Advertising Age compiled a list o the top promotedtweets and the engagement rates companies saw or their work.

Top 5 Promoted Tweets Worldwide,Ranked by Engagement, 2010-2011

1. Volkswagen

Engagement

52%

38%

36%

34%

34%

Tweet: The 21st Century #VWBeetle was just revealed. Check out therevolutionary new take on the iconic design at http://vwoa.us/hZdaLm(4/18/2011)

Why it worked: Linked to a live unveiling of theNew Beetle, teased during Super Bowl.

2. Google

3. Old Spice

4. Ford

5. Papa John's

Note: read chart as saying 52% of people exposed to the Volkswagen adinteracted with it

Source: Twitter as cited by Advertising Age with Advertising Age analysis,May 9, 2011129175 www. e Marketer .com

Engagement

Tweet: Search: now faster than the speed of type. Introducing Google

Instant http://bit.ly/cgHv2Y (9/8/2010)Why it worked: New tech products resonate andGoogle used Twitter to launch Google Instant,NexusOne and Chrome.

Engagement

Tweet: Hello ladies! Let my newest commercial take you on a scentvacation. http://www.youtube.com/OldSpice #scentvacation (2/6/2011)

Why it worked: Connected paid tweet to existingsocial campaign. Brought Old Spice guy out ofretirement on Twitter.

Engagement

Tweet: Happy Valentine's Day!! Show some love for your Valentine witha #HeartShapedPizza. Order at http://bit.ly/ff0Oc0http://twitpic.com/3zl47p (2/13/2011)

Why it worked: Good timing and a socialcomponent encouraged users to submit and retweetphotos of people receiving a heart-shaped pizza.

Engagement

Tweet: RT @FordMustang Have you heard? The 2012 @ Ford MustangBoss 302 was revealed today! http://cot.ag/cegLYB (8/13/2010)

Why it worked: Auto category strong on Twitter.Linked to exclusive spy photos of the Mustang

Boss 302.

While these results may be outliers, the campaigns provide

roadmaps or other brands wanting to leverage PromotedProducts. Twitter reports that the average promoted tweetsees between a 3% and 5% engagement rate, and up to 7% to10% when combined with a promoted trend.

Eighty percent of marketers that use theplatform come back again. Marketers dontrepeat something that doesnt work.

Adam Bain, president of global revenue at Twitter,Conversational Marketing Summit, June 6, 2011

What Is Success on Twitter?

Companies have di erent perspectives o how manyretweets or new ollowers are considered a success.But overall, the way brands are measuring their Twitterparticipation is through engagementor how o ten

ollowers interact with their content.

Twitters Bain explains that engagement withadvertising on Twitter is mostly about consumersclicking on the ad, with approximately 80% o engagements on Twitter alling into that category. Theremaining 20% o engagements include retweeting apromoted tweet, using the @ unction to respond toor mention the company, sending a direct message ormarking a paid ad as a avorite.

The retweet is an interesting and, in some cases, evenstronger signal than a click, because youre basicallybroadcasting out to your network that you endorse orwant to rebroadcast this ad out to your ollower base,said Bain.

Volkswagen, Old Spice and Papa Johns have publiclydiscussed double-digit engagement rates or theirpromoted tweets, but have not shared sales or businessresults rom this advertising. For now, engagement isthe metric companies are using to measure successand other marketers are looking to these brands orinspiration when purchasing Promoted Products.

Television network CMT is one company whose e orts haveallen in the average range, with a 3.5% engagement rate on

a recent Twitter advertising campaign or the annual CMTMusic Awards.

Our goal is ultimately to drive ratings, said Chris Nelson,director o social media or CMT, in a June 2011 interview witheMarketer. We set secondary metrics or us to look at, suchas number o engagements, number o hashtag mentions.

But despite not being able to connect money spent on Twitterto more people watching the show, Nelson said CMT waspleased with a recent campaign around its awards.


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Case Study: CMT

Television network CMT has been marketing on Twitteror our years. For the 2011 CMT Music Awards on

June 8, the network incorporated Twitter ads into itsmarketing campaign and connected its social mediaoutreach to o fine, on-air content.

Background

CMT tested Twitters Promoted Products plat ormin April 2011 to promote its new show CMTs NextSuperstar. It advertised on Twitter again in June, tosupport the CMT Music Awards.

We wanted to have some amiliarity with the plat ormand how it works, said Chris Nelson, director o socialmedia or CMT, in a June 2011 interview with eMarketer.It was help ul to understand how the targeting worked

and how to adjust the promoted tweets and promotedaccounts over the course o the campaign.

Challenges

CMT wanted to integrate Twitter into its overall campaignor the awards and tie that outreach back to ratings.

Because awards shows have so many moving partsper ormers, celebrities in the audience, plus the awardsthemselvesCMT had to decide which o Twitterspromoted products would allow the fexibility to promoteseveral aspects o the show over a period o time.

Even though CMT used Twitter ads or the smaller CMTsNext Superstar campaign, Nelson said the company wasunsure how they would a ect the awards show. On that

rst go-around, he said, we did it with a brand new showthat nobody knew anything about. So with this, it wastough to gauge what kind o tra c we would get.

Strategy

A week be ore the awards show, CMT began usingpromoted tweets and a promoted account. The networkdecided against using Promoted Trends because o thehigh cost$120,000 a dayand the added fexibilitythat comes rom the other two ad ormats.

With promoted tweets, we could mix it up a bit andmake sure the content was always resh, Nelson said.We used the analytics dashboard that goes with settingup and optimizing the campaign to see, Ok, were using

ve promoted tweets right now, but which ones areper orming best?

CMT linked its ads to search terms related to thecelebrities involved with the show, such as Kid Rock orTaylor Swi t, and to general terms such as summer or amily. The ads announced new per ormers, led people toonline voting, included videos and encouraged tune-in. Thepromoted account was used throughout the week to gain

ollowers or CMTs @FollowCMT account.

Additionally, CMT pushed the Twitter participationthrough other means, promoting its hashtag#CMTawards in emails, newsletters and other materialsabout the show.

With all the ocus on its Twitter participation, Nelsonsaid it made sense or CMT to also advertise on Twitter,to complete the circle. The day o the awards, thenetwork posted tweets on-air during the red carpetpreview and displayed the hashtag on-screen during theshow. Throughout the awards broadcast, @FollowCMTannounced winners, posted pictures and retweetedrelated content.

Results

CMT gained 4,000 new ollowers in the week itadvertised the CMT Music Awards on Twitter. The hashtag#CMTawards was mentioned more than 30,000 timesduring the night o the show and the CMT Music Awardssection on CMT.com saw more than 265,000 uniquevisitors during the evening, up 40% rom 2010. O thosevisitors, 38% were driven by social media. Nelson said thecompany saw a 3.5% engagement rate with its tweets.

Our ollowers were de nitely clicking through tothe site, watching videos, retweeting and that sorto thing, which expands the reach o the show,Nelson explained. While we dont know exactly how

that engagement refects on ratings, i we do seetremendous growth in one o those areas, we try towork under the assumption that higher engagementequals higher opportunity or viewership.


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Key Takeaways

By comparing the campaigns or the new CMT showand or the established awards show, CMT learned thatTwitter ads work well when used to support an event orsomething o note, Nelson said.

I you have something that gets a lot o buzz on itsown, its great to partner with Twitter ads and getresidual value by supporting it on multiple plat orms,he said. Going into its rst test, with CMTs NextSuperstar, the network didnt have high expectationsand mostly used Twitter ads as a way to get to know thesystem and ad plat orm.

Next Steps

Nelson said CMT will de nitely use Twitter adsagain, but their use will be dependent on the type o campaign. Another tent-pole event, such as the CMTMusic Awards, would be a good opportunity, he said. Thenetwork plans to experiment more with the plat ormand will continue to ocus on integrating it with otherelements o campaigns.

For more in ormation about how television networksare using social media, see eMarketers June 2011report , Socializing the TV Experience .

Conversations around events, brands and news are happeningon Twitter whether or not marketers and companies areinvolved. Twitters ad plat orm gives these companies a way toconnect with ans in real-time around these events. Meanwhile,promoted accounts can be used to gain ollowers leading up tothe event. CMT was able to encourage voting and tune-in andconnect with ans during, as well as a ter, the show.

The fexibility o promoted tweets and promoted accounts,combined with the auction-based pricing model, allows brandsto mix up their strategy, change keywords or tweet new content,depending on how their current ads are per orming.

Additionally, advertising on Twitter can have a positivee ect on a brands reputation. CMT took the country musicindustrywhich can o ten seem old- ashionedand madeit seem tech-savvy, using on-air hashtags and mentions toencourage its ans to interact online.

Another brand that used Twitter to be seen as tech-savvy

is online travel reservation site ZUJI Australia. As one o therst companies in Australia to advertise on Twitter, ZUJI istaking a long-term approach to its strategy around TwitterPromoted Products.

International Spotlight: ZUJI Australia

ZUJI Australia was one o the rst companies in Australiato test Twitters Promoted Products. As part o theTravelocity amily, the online travel reservation site hasbeen on Twitter with @ZUJIAustralia since 2008.

ZUJI Australias goals are to raise brand awarenessand interact with current and potential customers,said Katie Malone, the companys head o marketingand communications, in a June 2011 interviewwith eMarketer.

As a digital company, it was important or ZUJI Australiato be seen as a leader in the tech space. Maloneexplained that the company started using promotedtweets and accounts at the end o May 2011 and istaking a long-term approach, working to slowly buildbrand awareness with the ads.

Weve really stretched our campaign with lowerrequency over a longer period o time, she said. We

didnt go out with a Wow! $1 Hotels! o er. It was moreo a Hey, were ZUJI, we want to help you travel in yourown style.

The company noticed that Twitter is relevant or thetravel sector, as consumers enjoy sharing travel storieson the site. Twitter is also a popular site or Australians.Each country or culture has a di erent approach tohow they use social media, Malone said. Our topicshere are mainly relevant to Australians and we wantAustralians to be able to relate to us.

The results are still coming in, but the company hadalready more than doubled its ollower base in the twomonths since it started using Twitter ads, rom 1,800

ollowers to more than 3,600.

Malone said one lesson the company learned was tokeep its keywords tight, so ads only appear where thecompany is relevant. This means purchasing promotedtweets or search terms and nonpromoted hashtags thatrelate to travel, Australia and other issues where ZUJIcould contribute. By participating in conversations relevantto the brand, ZUJI Australia is seen as an expert ratherthan imposing on a conversation with an un-related ad.

Our next step, she added, will be to see how ourrelationship evolves with the new ollowers thatresulted rom the campaign.
http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Reports/Viewer.aspx?R=2000811http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Reports/Viewer.aspx?R=2000811http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Reports/Viewer.aspx?R=2000811http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Reports/Viewer.aspx?R=2000811


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ZUJIs Malone hits on an important element or marketersto remember: The relationship doesnt stop when thead campaign is over. This is particularly important whenmarketers plan their post-ad campaign strategy or keeping upinteraction with new ollowers and those who interacted withthe brand during a Promoted Product push.

The S-Net: The Impact o Social Media study, sponsored byROI Research and Per ormics, ound that 61% o Twitter users

who ollowed a company or product talked about it, and 59%recommended it. By comparison, 49% o Facebook userstalked about a company or product a ter liking their page,and 53% recommended it.

Such data does not di erentiate between consumers whoollowed the brand a ter seeing a Promoted Product ad

and those who independently ound the brand on Twitter.Either way, they are still ollowing the brand, which has aresponsibility to make sure ollowers are engaged, particularlya ter a paid or unpaid Twitter campaign is complete.

% of respondents

Activities that US Social Network Users Are More

Likely to Do After They Follow a Company/Product onFacebook or Twitter, April 2011

Talk about the company or product61%

49%

Recommend the company or product59%

53%

Purchase the brand/company's product58%53%

Link to an ad for the company or product

54%42%

Attend a promotional or sponsored event47%

34%

Twitter (n=372) Facebook (n=1,906)

Note: ages 13+; among respondents who follow at least one company Source: ROI Research Inc., "S-Net: The Impact of Social Media" sponsoredby Performics, June 7, 2011128657 www. e Marketer .com

When we talk about being on the pulse, leveraging trends,being in the know and engaging with consumers, Twitter is the

rst place you look, said SapientNitros Perez. Youve got toquickly acquire ollowers through media buys, but then youvegot to re ne that ollowing in your relevance and invest inanother wave.

RadioShack has purchased several Promoted Products since theprogram began, and works to keep ans engaged year-round bydiscussing cycling as well as consumer electronics on its eed.

Case Study: RadioShack

Consumer electronics retailer RadioShack has purchasedsix promoted trends since it began advertising on Twitterat the end o 2010. Its campaign or a pro essional cyclingrace in May 2011 netted the company more than 1,200new ollowers. It also gave RadioShack insights about howto use Twitter ads in a new way.

Background

RadioShack has a relationship with cyclist LanceArmstrong and sponsors Team RadioShack riders inraces around the world. For the annual Amgen Tour o Cali ornia, held this year rom May 15 to 22, RadioShackwanted to incorporate Promoted Products into itsoverall marketing campaign supporting the team.

We kicked it o with a promoted trend on the rst dayo the race, and then we had a Facebook tab that was theepicenter or all the content, said Adrian Parker, socialmedia director at RadioShack, in a June 2011 interviewwith eMarketer. We used Twitter to spark [the campaign],but it was just one part o a bigger campaign.

ChallengesThis use o Promoted Products was di erent romRadioShacks previous Twitter campaigns because itwas centered on a hashtag relevant only to RadioShack:#BackTheShack. The companys previous promotedtrend campaigns used hashtags #UNeedANewPhone and#I IHadSuperpowers, both o which were hashtags priorto RadioShacks participation, and eatured tweets notrelated to the RadioShack promoted trend. This time, theconversation would be led solely by RadioShack.

RadioShack also needed to nd a way to keepollowers attention a ter the rst day o the campaign.

A promoted trend is an easy way to create 24-hourexcitement, Parker said. But the challenge is how doyou make it relevant a week later?


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Strategy

On May 15, RadioShack purchased the #BackTheShackhashtag. During the day, the company tweeted about theCali ornia race and team and encouraged users to go toa tab on the Facebook page (https://www. acebook.com/RadioShack), which had interactive elements, includingcontests and videos.

This campaign was a great way or us to makeRadioShack and Twitter relevant to cycling ans, but alsoto people who werent cycling ans, Parker said. By alsousing the Tour o Cali ornias #ATOC hashtag, RadioShackgot involved with the overall conversation around the raceand was able to introduce its Twitter eed to cycling ans.

A ter the promoted trend ran or 24 hours, RadioShackpurchased promoted tweets throughout the rest o theweek, highlighting the tweets that reminded users toenter the daily contests on Facebook. The company alsotweeted regular updates about the cyclists, announcedthe daily winners o the Facebook contests and repliedto ans. Parker said RadioShack did not use a promotedaccount during this campaign, though the company has

purchased them in the past.

Results

When it comes to measuring success, RadioShack looksat engagement metrics, such as new ollowers, retweetsand other analytics, as well as measuring conversation,share o voice and resonance.

RadioShack gained 700 ollowers on the rst day o thecampaign, when the promoted trend ran. During the entireweek, its Twitter account gained 1,200 new ollowers,while its Facebook page gained 1,800 likes. There weremore than 16,700 mentions o #BackTheShack and 4,000

retweets o RadioShack tweets during the week.We were able to carry a conversation or more than justa 24-hour period, Parker said. A Twitter conversation orthat long was something that we had never done be ore.

Key Takeaways

With the #BackTheShack campaign, RadioShack took agamble by working with a brand-speci c hashtag.

We learned that we can do both a brandedconversation that just supports RadioShack, like#BackTheShack, Parker said, and we can also spark aconversation thats bigger than our brand, but where we

have a ront seat, like #UNeedANewPhone.Additionally, Parker said that using the combination o promoted tweets and a promoted trend rein orced hisopinion that Twitters ad products are best viewed as asuite that work in tandem to keep a conversation going.

Twitters fexibility is key or brands because youreable to manage your investment in real time, Parkersaid. A brand can monitor how engaged ans are withthe content and change the plan or maximum impact.

Next Steps

RadioShack planned a Twitter advertising campaignaround the Tour de France in July. The company intendedto use Promoted Trends to kick o the campaign and

ollow it with promoted tweets and a promoted account.Prior to the race, the company searched or a team o social media correspondents to tweet about and reporton the amous cycling race rom their mobile devices.

Integrating Twitter Ads

As with all social media outreach, having an integrated modelcan provide greater returns. Most marketers ound success whenpartnering Twitter advertising with earned Twitter activities, othersocial network outreach and overall marketing plans.

Brands cannot live by tweets alone. Adrian Parker, social media director at RadioShack, in an interview with eMarketer, June 16, 2011

Weve actually tested a lot o plat orms, and each one playsan important part o that arsenal, said RadioShacks Parker.Where we see Twitter really being aggressive is real time. Wecan send the message out instantly and get real eedback.

For the recent US launch o the Magnum Ice Cream brand,Unilever hired Karl Lager eld to create commercials and onlinevideos eaturing actress Rachel Bilson, partnered with theTribeca Film Festival, and leveraged social networks such asTwitter and Facebook or paid and earned media.

Twitter is one element o a broader marketing campaign, saidMike Hurley, senior brand manager or Magnum Ice Cream in the

US, in a June 2011 interview with eMarketer. Rachel Bilson wasthe star o our television spot. We worked with People magazineand other li estyle publications. And we had Facebook activityand were on Twitter. You really need to look at it coming togetheras an integrated, ull 360-degree plan.

Twitters Bain was also excited by the way Unileverincorporated Twitter into its marketing plans or the launch.

They were marketing the Magnum Ice Cream Bar, whichis a bar that started in the UK that they brought to the US,he explained. The royal wedding was the per ect vehicle tolaunch that here.


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Case Study: Unilevers Magnum Ice Cream

Unilevers Magnum Ice Cream brand, sold in 40countries, is well known outside the US. When thecompany launched in the US, it used marketing that

ocused not only on selling the product, but sellingthe whole li estyle o the brand based on luxury andindulgence. A key part o the e ort was a marketingand advertising campaign on Twitter that leveraged thebrands tagline, For Pleasure Seekers, and tied in with

Britains royal wedding in April 2011.

Background

To promote the brand through its ocus on indulgence,Unilever wanted to associate Magnum with the topicsand events that its target audience enjoys, such as

ashion, technology and pop culture.

Were trying to promote it as a li estyle brand, saidMike Hurley, senior brand manager or Magnum in the

US, in a June 2011 interview with eMarketer. Weregoing a ter a consumer target o women in their 20s or30s who are into pop culture, are ashion- orward, andare really tech-savvy.

Magnum was rst introduced in the US at an event atthe Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, where the companyshowcased videos and ads directed by ashion designerKarl Lager eld and eaturing actress Rachel Bilson.

Objectives

Unilever wanted to gain ollowers on Twitter who werein the target audience or Magnum and encourage themto share content and in ormation about the brand. Thismeant nding a way to reach that audience on a busysite like Twitter.

Obviously, were trying to make sales and we need to doadvertising, but we want to do it in a way thats unobtrusiveand organic, Hurley said. Part o the draw o advertisingon Twitter is that the ads are more like the overall contentand consumers are o ten more willing to engage. On the fipside, Magnum had to break through the noise on the siteand o er relevant content or its audience.

Strategy

Magnum launched its Twitter account, @MagnumIceCream,in March. It posted tweets teasing the April 21 launchevent, talking about the brand and asking ollowers whenthey had rst tried it and about their avorite indulgences.During the launch event, Magnum posted photos andvideo content. Then on April 29, Magnum purchased apromoted trend ad using the hashtag #RoyalWedding tosolidi y the connection with its target audience and gain

more ollowers.Magnum wants to be where its customers are, Hurleysaid, and it believed many o them would be usingTwitter to talk about a news event that was importantto them. Its ad read: Join us as we watch the @PBSlivestream o the #RoyalWedding, and included a link tothe Ustream page.

We went into Twitter making a guess that this wasgoing to be a site that resonated with our consumers,Hurley explained. And the royal wedding was going tobe a pretty big thing on Twitter.

Connecting a ood brand to the royal wedding was aunique move, and Magnum had to prove it was relevantand engaging or Twitter users. Starting early in themorning, Magnum asked ollowers what they thoughto the attendees as they arrived, discussed guesses

or who had designed Catherine Middletons dressand retweeted Twitter users observations about thewedding. Additionally, the brand posted links to theMagnum website, Facebook page and the livestream o the wedding.

To expand its reach and continue to gain new ollowers,the company subsequently purchased a promotedaccount, which highlighted @MagnumIceCream in a listo Who to Follow on Twitter.

Results

Magnum received 89 million impressions on April 29that were related to the #RoyalWedding hashtag. Thepromoted trend ad had a 6% engagement rate andMagnum saw 83,000 clicks on the links it posted, morethan 1,000 retweets and 270 replies, mentions or directmessages. Magnum planned to continue to use thePromoted Account program through July 2011.

Magnums account, though only a ew months old,is also already one o Unilevers biggest Twitter

communities. Since the account launched in March,Magnum has gained more than 34,000 ollowers.


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Key Takeaways

Magnum was able to use Twitters Promoted Productsto build up a community o its target audience,who identi ed interests in line with the companysFor Pleasure Seekers slogan and interacted withthe company on Twitter about the product and keytouchpoints such as ashion, celebrity and technology.

Linking with the royal wedding was a risky step or aproduct with little brand awareness in the US, but byengaging in conversation and not just latching onto apopular hashtag, it enabled Magnum to reach its targetaudience and tie the brand to a high-class li estyle event.Something like the Super Bowl may cause an equalamount o activity on Twitter [as the royal wedding], butthat isnt where our consumer is, Hurley said.

Next Steps

Magnum is looking or pleasure seeker events, suchas New York Fashion Week, to leverage on Twitter inthe uture.

Key TakeawaysCMT, ZUJI Australia, RadioShack and Unilevers Magnum IceCream all tackled Twitter advertising in di erent waysandthe companies reported success with their campaigns. Theydemonstrated how a Twitter ad buy can enhance a companyslarger marketing program, work to connect with ans whereverthey are, spread brand awareness and even connect a brandto a speci c topic o conversation.

These brands saw increases in ollowers, mentions andretweets, and engaged consumers on Twitter. But there isstill a gap when it comes to connecting this social mediaengagement with sales, ratings and other solid results. Thiswill be the next evolution or marketers. As Twitter grows its adplat orm, companies will work to connect this outreach andadvertising to business results.

Whats Next

Promoted products are only a rst step. While marketersare testing these ad o erings, Twitter is also looking atways to scale its advertising, leverage its user data andallow or more innovative uses o the site.

To start, Twitter has publicly con rmed that it plans to release

a sel -serve ad plat orm in 2011 to supplement its currentPromoted Products opportunities. This new service will openup Twitter to smaller marketers that may not have the budgeto a RadioShack or a Unilever.

The sel -serve model might make it a little more nimble andintuitive as you do a campaign, RadioShacks Parker said,noting that the company will try the sel -serve plat orm. Ittakes a lot o energy to do a Promoted Trend campaign right,not only in terms o resources, but also the investments

you make and having a sta in place. But something thatsaccessible to a larger audience might be something that we

could look into or smaller campaigns.CMTs Chris Nelson told eMarketer that he suspects the sel -serve plat orm will o er a di erent way to get smaller brandsand companies advertising on the site, but it will still be similarto Promoted Products.

Currently, to run a Twitter ad campaign, you have to get aninsertion order through a Twitter representative, he explained.I believe what is launching will be very similar to whats alreadyavailable to people who have done ad campaigns through Twitterrepresentatives, but where you can go in, create an account,connect a credit card and just start running ads.

No matter what details emerge about the sel -serve plat orm,it will open up the unnel or Twitter signi cantly and exposetheir ad plat orm to hundreds o thousands o potentialcustomers who will start to test and use it regularly, saidMeteor Solutions Ben Straley.

Additionally, on July 28, 2011, Twitter introduced a eature thatallows companies to purchase promoted tweets that show upin their ollowers eeds, enabling marketers to target speci cTwitter users who have already expressed an interest in thecompany or brand.

In an interview with eMarketer, Bain explained that these

ads will appear at the top o users timelines when they signon to Twitter, and then will gradually move down as moretweets appear above it in the timeline. Launch advertisersinclude HBO, Nike, Red Bull and Dell, as well as charities. Thisnew targeting not only makes Twitter ads more relevant tousers but also helps marketers reach their current ollowers,particularly those who dont log in on a regular basis or dontactively ollow that brands timeline.


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Developments like the release o a sel -serve plat orm andthe increased interest in Promoted Products alone wouldmake 2011 a big year or Twitter. But there is still nearly hal a

year le t and the social network has several options or newdevelopments in advertising:

As Twitter becomes more developed in di erent countriesand establishes sales teams internationally, there areopportunities or country-speci c ad plat orms.

At the June Conversational Marketing Summit, Bain said,You are what you tweet. Twitter can tap into data aboutwhat users tweet about, whom they ollow and whatcontent they retweet to determine interest targeting.

As Twitter expands its plat orm into photos and videos andusers get com ortable with these new developments, it willbe a natural progression or Twitter to allow advertisers toparticipate as well.

The next step for us is to move down thepath in terms of scalable units, so that our

units scale as our user base scales. Adam Bain, president of global revenue at Twitter, in aMay 2011 interview with eMarketer.

Q&A: What do you want Twitter to offer next withits ad products?

Marketers are becoming savvier when it comes to leveragingTwitter and its advertising plat orm, and have their own wishlists or the social network.

Adrian Parker Social Media Director

RadioShack

People use Twitter all the time to talk about where, when,how and why they shop. As a retailer, I would love to see ashopping tool or engine that allows me to directly incentivizemy ans or ollowers in a customizable way, with a coupono er or promotional opportunity. A great addition to the Twitterplat orm would be something like a plug-and-play retail suitethat would be used to engage with ollowers.

Matt BrittonCo-founder and CEO

Mr. Youth

What Twitter can really o er is data and insights intoconsumers. Facebook is very privacy-sensitive and doesntallow you access to that in ormation, so 90% o whatconsumers are saying about brands on the web is coming

rom Twitter. I I were Twitter, I would shi t my ocus to helpingbrands directly understand that data, and not necessarilyopening it up to third-party research companies. Thatsa massive opportunity or Twitterto basically reinventmarket research.

Chris NelsonDirector of Social Media

CMT

Id love to see more targeting elements. Id like to have agood picture o whats going on with our paid campaigns andhow were reaching people and where were most e ective.I I got 4,000 ollowers out o a campaign, where did they

come rom? Was it because I targeted Taylor Swi t or becauseI targeted country music? Can I drill down and gure out i those ollowers are male or emale and what age bracket they

all into? Where I am hitting people most e ectively?

Ben StraleyCEO and Co-founder

Meteor Solutions

One thing that would be interesting is di erent ormats o thepromoted products that might be more e ective and moreappreciated, both by the advertisers as well as the people whosee the adssomething such as photos or videos. You cancertainly go overboard, but its hard or brands to pack a lot o relevant content or in ormation into 140 characters.

Key Takeaways

There are many di erent directions Twitter can take itsadvertising plat orm, but mostly, marketers want data.Twitter has a unique opportunity to capitalize on its vastdata streamand help marketers along the way. Twitteradvertising will grow, whether that means incorporating moretargeted ads, expanding internationally, introducing a retailor ecommerce experience, or simply honing its Promoted

Products and sel -serve plat orm. And marketers will ollowthe site, and continue to advertise there, as it matures.


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Conclusions

Twitter advertising will mature. Little more than a yearago, the company introduced Promoted Tweets, Trends andAccounts, and this year is planning to debut a sel -serve adplat orm. Twitter is considering other ways to incorporateads into the user site experience. As more campaignsboth good examples, such as the case studies mentioned,and cautionary tales, such as the McDonalds Smoothiecampaignplay out in the public eye, advertisers will continueto incorporate Twitters ad products.

Twitter ads o er marketers a way to balance strategicand brand objectives. Twitter ads o er marketers real-time,fexible engagement, have a similar look and eel to traditionalcontent on the site and can be a way to enhance online buzzabout an already popular topic, product or company. The fexibilityo the plat orms means marketers can balance goals o gainingnew ollowers and achieving high ad engagement rates withstrategic objectives that can be tied back to the business, such asbuilding better relationships with consumers.

Evolving plat orms require openness to testing.With a growing ad plat orm such as Twitter, a willingnessto experiment and be fexible is essential or marketers.RadioShack has purchased six promoted trends rom Twitterand is still gleaning insights rom its latest campaign. CMTtested how it would use promoted tweets prior to a majorevent, and ZUJI Australia is taking a long-term approach to seehow Twitter ads work or the company. Twitter advertising is anew and constantly changing arena, one that requires a mix o

ocused strategy and fexibility.

Endnotes

Endnote numbers correspond to the uniquesix-digit identi er in the lower le t corner o eachchart. The charts rom the report are repeated be oretheir respective endnotes.

128562

% of internet usersComparative Estimates: US Twitter Users, 2009-2013

eMarketer, Feb 2011 (1)

Pew Internet & American LifeProject, June 2011 (2)

Arbitron and Edison Research,May 2011 (3)

ExactTarget, July 2010 (4)

BIGresearch, Sep 2010 (5)

2009

7.5%-

2.0%

-

-

2010

9.0%8.0%

7.0%

7.0%

6.5%

2011

11.0%13.0%

8.0%

-

-

2012

12.5%-

-

-

-

2013

14.0%-

-

-

-

Note: (1) ages 18+ who access their Twitter account via any device at least once per month; (2) ages 18+; (3) ages 12+ who have ever used Twitter; (4)

ages 15+ who use Twitter daily; (5) ages 18+ who regularly use Twitter

Source: eMarketer, Feb 2011; various, as noted, 2010 & 2011128562 www. e Marketer .com

Citation: BIGresearch, SIMM16: Hispanics, A rican Americansand Asians More Digital-Savvy than Caucasians, Sep 27, 2010;Edison Research and Arbitron, The Social Habit II: The EdisonResearch/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Study 2011, May 29,2011; ExactTarget, Subscribers, Fans and Followers: The SocialPro le, provided to eMarketer, July 13, 2010; Pew Internet &American Li e Project, Twitter Update 2011, June 1, 2011

129150

Twitter Snapshot500,000 accounts created daily600 advertisers currently supported by Twitter vs. 150 advertisers

at the end of 201080% of advertisers renew with Twitter80% of engagement is people clicking on a tweet, while 20% is a

retweet or @mentions or @replies40% of users follow at least one brand3%-5% engagement for Promoted Tweets or up to 7%-10% when you

combine Promoted Tweets and Trends

Twitter Advertising-Four Marketers Test the New Ad Platform

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