If you’ve been wondering whether your brand should pursue Twitter advertising, then new statistics released by eMarketer should be of great interest to you. Following are some of those statistics related to Twitter advertising, brands, and consumers that you should read:
- Number of Twitter advertisers: 600 advertisers are currently supported by Twitter which is up from 150 at the end of 2010.
- Advertiser renewals: 80% of advertisers renew with Twitter
- Ad engagements: 80% of engagement is by people who click on a tweet. 20% is by people who retweet, @mention, or @reply to the original tweet.
- Brand Following: 40% of Twitter users follow at least one brand.
- Engagement for Promoted Tweets: 3%-5% engagement or up to 7%-10% when Promoted Tweets are combined with Trends.
- Cost per Follower: Less than $10.00 is the average cost per follower for Promoted Accounts.
There are not a lot of advertisers supported by Twitter yet, but this number is sure to grow in the future. We’re only at the beginning of the Twitter advertising story. Just last month, Twitter launched an enhanced version of the Promoted Tweets program that gives advertisers more ways to get in front of consumers. While only 20 brands were included in that initial launch, it’s probably safe to assume that the program will be successful and will continue to grow and add new brands as will the entire Twitter advertising platform.
To date, Twitter brand advertising has been fairly unobtrusive to Twitter users. However, this is still very much an unproven advertising medium. There is much to learn, test, and analyze before Twitter advertising becomes the next must-use ad tactic. As long as brand ads on Twitter stay relevant and meaningful rather than obtrusive and useless, Twitter users are likely to be accepting of them and possibly even welcome them.
It will be up to brands to do the research and listening necessary to know what types of ads and content on Twitter their target audience and followers are happiest to receive. When you risk interrupting and annoying people with your messages (or Promoted Tweets), you need to be certain that you understand that audience and always deliver the type of content they want and need. One annoying message they might ignore, but more than that and the likelihood that they’ll click that Unfollow button and terminate their relationship with you skyrockets.
Don’t risk followers and relationships with your Twitter or other social media advertising. Supplement and enhance content, conversations, and communities. Don’t interrupt and distract from that content, conversations, and communities or your chances for success will be very limited.
Image: stock.xchng
Lucy is Editor at Corporate Eye
