Engagement Objective Playbook
Get more people to engage with and talk about your brand.
Twitter Objective Playbook Drive Engagement Get more people to engage with and talk about your brand.
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What’s covered Overview 03 Campaign planning How to get started 05 Where your ads appear 06 Engagement Ad formats 07 Creative best practices 11 Campaign implementation Audience targeting 14 Bids 18 Campaign pro tips 19 Setting up your campaign 20 Measuring results 25
Overview Engagement is all about getting those clicks, likes, replies, and retweets. People come to Twitter to discover and share. Time to position your brand to get their valuable attention. Engagement campaigns allow you to reach a relevant audience who are likely to engage with your Tweets. That means more likes, Retweets, replies, clicks, etc. You can promote Tweets that are published organically, or create special promoted Tweets for your targeted audience. You only pay for engagements you receive. Impressions that don’t generate an engagement are not billed. Research shows that engagement is correlated with brand lift and offline sales. Ads promoted through Engagements campaigns, aka Promoted Tweets, are like regular Tweets that reach more people. Use them to place your The engagement objective is best content in front of an interested audience at the right time. compatible with all of Twitter’s targeting and ad formats and is Benefits More active posts the preferred buying model for Drive likes, replies, clicks, • Conversational Cards and Retweets among your • Promoted Polls core audience. • Like for Reminders Gain insights Inform your campaign by asking your audience questions. Drive word of mouth Encourage people to share your Tweets. 03
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Overview Here are all the things you can do with engagements campaigns. • Announce new product launches or product benefits. • Connect your brand with events happening in the world around you. • Create a dialogue between you and your customers. Want to drive awareness for your business? Here’s how Engagements campaigns can help. • Expand the reach of your content like blog posts, white papers, and more. • Connect with influencers and brand advocates by ensuring they see your content. • Promote awareness around events and product launches. • Ask for Retweets to gain a broader audience. Twitter’s cost-per-action pricing means you only pay for the results you’re looking to drive. Here’s how For the engagement objective this it works. means you’ll only be charged when someone clicks on your Tweet, including Reweets, replies, likes, poll votes, and hashtag clicks. Trying to get the most reach instead? Try using the reach objective instead. In an engagement campaign, you’re only charged for every 1,000 Tweet engagements. What you pay per engagement depends on your budget, bid, and the targeting you select. As part of this offering, you’ll get real-time bid guidance based on your targeting goals. Want to know more? Read up on Twitter Ad pricing. 04
How to get started Things to consider Before you start, make a plan. Below are a few simple questions to ask yourself as you set up your first campaign. Who are you trying What is your larger to reach? campaign goal? (eg., drive brand equity, offline sales, total engagements, or start a conversation) What creative assets What action/ do you have? engagement do you (image, video, etc.) want those people to take? (share your content, click to learn more, reply to a prompt) Do you have a clear Does your creative call to action? follow Twitter’s best practices? 05
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Where your ads appear Engagements campaign impressions are served in multiple locations. Timelines Profiles / Tweet detail pages Top of search results Your campaign may be visible (Optional) When someone (Optional) You can opt in to have within a person’s timeline if you’ve targeted visits a Twitter your campaigns appear at the your ad uses audience profile or Tweet detail page, top of select search result pages targeting that is relevant to they may be eligible to see on Twitter.com & partner that person. your ad. products like Hootsuite. Official Twitter clients Third-Party Twitter clients Engagement campaigns from We currently syndicate our our advertising partners may Twitter Ads suite to some third- also be displayed through party Twitter clients. You can Twitter’s official desktop and customize where you'd like your mobile clients, including Tweets to appear on the TweetDeck, Twitter for iPhone, "Creatives" tab during campaign and Twitter for Android, and setup. more. 06
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Engagement ad formats Here are all the Twitter ad formats that work with the engagement objective. Twitter ads offers a variety of product options to showcase your content and media in the best format possible. Although they can be used interchangeably, most map directly to a specific objective and marketing goals to maximize results. Explore some of our most popular ad formats below, and experiment with a few to find the best fit. • Promoted Video/GIF • Promoted Image • Video Website Card • Image Website Card • Promoted Moments • Promoted Text Tweets with video receive 10x Fun fact higher engagement than those without video. 07
Ad formats Promoted video Promoted Video lets you promote a video from a brand's Twitter account. The video autoplays when shown in a person's timeline. Promoted Video is a proven video ad solution that drives brand metrics and sales. Stick to this tried-and-true ad format, or take it a step further and use additional features to achieve specific goals. Promoted image Reach a wider group of people or spark engagement from existing followers. Promoted Images are Tweets that are paid for by our advertisers to reach a wider group of users or to spark engagement from their existing followers. These appear in your Home timeline, at the top of search results on Twitter and elsewhere on the platform, and are clearly marked as "Promoted”, but act just like regular Tweets and can be Retweeted, replied to, liked, and more. 08
Ad formats Video website card Capture attention with your best video or image content and drive people to your site or to take an action in the moment. The Video Website Card enables marketers to promote their website with video creative, creating a rich experience for the user, a continuation of the conversation started in the video, and more qualified site visits. Upon clicking on the video unit, the destination URL loads and the video shifts to the top of the screen and continues to play. The video then scrolls with the page. Image website card Showcase your best creative and drive people to your site or to take an action in the moment. Image Website Cards leverage Twitter’s unique data signals and cross-device identity to reach key audiences and deliver cost-efficient clicks to your website and onsite conversions, across platforms. 09
Ad formats Promoted moments Promoted Moments are a collection of Tweets you can place together in a storytelling canvas that's immersive and engaging. The format allows brands to tell a story beyond 280 characters. Image Website Cards leverage Twitter’s unique data signals and cross-device identity to reach key audiences and deliver cost-efficient clicks to your website and onsite conversions, across platforms. Promoted text Reach a wider group of people or spark engagement from existing followers. Promoted Tweets are Tweets that are paid for by our advertisers to reach a wider group of users or to spark engagement from their existing followers.. These appear in your Home timeline, at the top of search results on Twitter and elsewhere on the platform, and are clearly marked as "Promoted”, but act just like regular Tweets and can be Retweeted, replied to, liked, and more. 10
Creative best practices The engagement objective can work with many of Twitter’s creative formats including images, GIFs, and videos. So what’s the secret to a good Tweet Ad? It’s quite simple... People respond best to compelling Tweets. As you build your campaign, we recommend you brainstorm creative ways to develop interesting Tweet content and engage your audience. We've included three good questions to ask yourself. A simple formula Your Brand @YourBrandHandle 1. What do you want consumers to think? [——— Active Statement ———] 2. What do you want them to do? Call to Action, link.com or #Hashtag Video or Image 3. How do you want them to feel? 11
Creative best practices Here’s the kind of copy we recommend. While images and video are responsible for the majority of attention, people actually read on Twitter (more so than other platforms) so it’s important to think through your copy and CTAs. Below are some best practices you can follow. Keep it brief Focus your Strong CTA Even though Twitter allows message In an Engagement 280 characters, brevity is We know you have a lot to campaign, it is important key for brands. The sweet say, but don't boil the to tell people exactly what spot for driving awareness ocean in one Tweet. Try to to do (“Click to...”, “Reply and favorability are Tweets keep Tweet copy as with...”). Don’t forget a with 50-100 characters. simple and focused on strong call to action. serving one purpose. Connect copy + content Copy and content go hand- in-hand. Make sure to make a clear connection between the video or image, and the accompanying copy. 12
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Creative best practices Our recommendations for creative. Ad creative is the #1 factor in driving sales. In fact, according to Nielsen, 47% of sales can be attributed to creative alone. After reviewing thousands of campaigns, we’ve put together a list of ways you can drive the best return for ads. Keep it short Grab attention Persistent Aim to keep videos at 15 quickly branding seconds or less to Use movement and show Video ads with clear logo maximize branding impact. talent in the first few placement drive 36% 15 second video ads tend seconds of your video. higher brand recall. Clear to see 3x higher Keep in mind that the branding should be completion rates over 30 video can be skipped after included within the first 3 second ads. 6 seconds.r 6 seconds. seconds of the ad, but preferably stay on-screen the whole time Remember, there are no technical limitations on the type of Tweets you can use in the Strong visuals Captions + sound engagements objective. Check off out our Specs Page to see all 97% of people focus on available Tweet types, which will visuals on Twitter, so Include captions or text- also be covered in the next make sure it’s eye- overlay so that your message section. catching and features comes through without your product or key sound. Closed captions and Remember, no matter what type message. text overlays create 28% of Tweet you use, you'll only be longer view times on Twitter billed for engagements, which and Average ROI is 1.8x includes Retweets, replies, likes, higher for videos that don’t poll votes, and hashtag clicks. require sound to be understood. 13
Audience targeting Getting seen by your target audience is great. Getting them to take action can be even better. Take advantage of Twitter’s share information instantly, and to extensive targeting options to connect with people and reach the audience your content is businesses around the globe. best suited for. Then monitor your Twitter is where hundreds of Tweet activity dashboard to learn millions of people post more than what your audience best responds 500 million Tweets every day. This to. gives us a window into people’s People come to Twitter to discover lives, interests, wants, and what what’s happening in the world, to they’re doing right now. With the engagements objective, you get access to Twitter’s industry-leading targeting features. Configure accordingly and you’re all set to go. Here are 3 groups we target: Targeting types Core audience People targeted based on factors like demographics, location, interests, and keywords. Existing connections Reach people who are already familiar with and have expressed interest in your brand on or off Twitter. Look-alikes Discover brand new people with habits, interests, and backgrounds similar to your existing followers or customers. 14
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Audience targeting Core audience targeting Looking to reach the right people at scale? Start here. Core Audience targeting allows you to set parameters to find your ideal audience. Demographics Location Keywords Set preferences on Make selections Target or exclude age, gender, language, based on country, people who searched device, and more. state, region, metro for, tweeted, or area, or zip code. engaged with Tweets containing keywords. Conversations Followers Look-alikes Find people talking Reach people who Connect with people about your brand (or follow your brand based on the types of relevant topics) in real on Twitter. handles they follow and time to drive interact with. conversation across Twitter. Interests Movies + TV Events Choose based on Target people who See who’s interested what they’re into: Tweet about or engage in select festivals, hobbies, sports, with movies and shows concerts, holidays, etc. movies, and more. in a specific market. Pro Tip #1 While it’s always smart to target by location and device, we advise using only one type of audience targeting with each campaign. In other words, choose whether to target by keyword, interest, followers, behavior, and so on. This makes it much easier to track what works and optimize accordingly. All of our Demographic Audience Action based targeting tactics, Targeting tactics including Age, including Keywords, Interests, Gender, Location, Device, Follower Look-alikes, and Language, and Carrier will apply Conversations, a person can only to every person targeted in your be targeted by your campaign campaign. For our Interest and based on a single parameter, not multiple. 15
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Audience targeting Existing connections targeting Yes, Core Audience Targeting is a big help in finding a large and relevant audience. But maybe you’re looking for a more specific group of people? Here’s where you find people who have already shown interest in your brand. People who’ve People who’ve seen People or customers visited your website or engaged with past you already know Tweets Target individuals who have Now you can retarget anyone These are the people you already visited your website. who’s watched your video, already know are interested. All you have to do is install liked a Tweet, or engaged Identify them based on Twitter’s pixel. with your organic/promoted emails, Twitter IDs, or mobile content within a certain advertising IDs. You can also For detailed instructions on timeframe. work through an Audience how to do this, visit our Partner to import existing Custom Audiences for Web customer audiences directly page that has step-by-step into your Ads account. instructions. Reconnect with them or exclude them to focus on new acquisition. Look-alikes targeting Core audience & existing connections Expand the audience you’ve that like, act, and engage the created using Core Audiences and way your existing customers do. Existing Connections using Look- This is the best way to scale Look-alike alikes. These are brand new your campaigns. audiences people Efficient CPEs If you’re using the target cost bidding model, you can lower your bid to decrease your CPE. Look at your targeting and see what is driving Pro Tip #2 efficient (aka, low) CPEs. Add in similar targeting. On the flip side, if you have targeting that’s driving high CPEs, make sure Have more questions about targeting? Visit our you remove that. Look at your creative, too. detailed Q&As on: Device targeting | Geo, gender, Some creatives can driver higher CPEs than and language targeting | Interest and follower others. Review your creative, bid/budget, and targeting | Keyword targeting | Custom Audiences targeting over time to further refine your campaign and achieve the results you’re looking for. 16
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Audience targeting Other targeting tips to optimize your campaign Target with focus Creating campaigns with focused, relevant targeting means you have a higher chance to serve to audiences who are interested and likely to engage with your ad. Too large an audience will decrease the chances of the ad being relevant to users. That being said, targeting too small an audience will limit the users who are eligible to see your ad. Use the campaign forecaster tool within the campaign setup form to see if your targeting parameters are focused but not limited. Increase your reach Target people who are similar to your followers, who are Tweeting with specific keywords, and who have visited your website. Vary targeting between campaigns If you have more than one campaign targeting very similar audiences, your performance can suffer since your campaigns are essentially competing between each other for serve. Align Tweet copy with targeting For example, if you have one Tweet copy targeting males, and one targeting females, make sure the copy you use aligns with the different targeting parameters. Break out mobile vs. desktop targeting Mobile is a fundamentally different medium than desktop, characterized by frequent quick sessions and spur-of-the-moment spikes in purchase intent. Because of this, we recommend running separate campaigns each targeting mobile and desktop separately. This lets you test and learn the nuanced behaviors for each. Play around! One of the most important things you can do to drive continued campaign performance is to test what works for you and your campaigns. While it makes sense to run always-on campaigns, you’ll want to continually refresh and optimize your campaigns, given Twitter’s ever-changing, real-time nature. Remove low performing keywords, interests, and handles, and replace them with ones that are similar to the high performing ones. 17
Bids Let’s talk campaign bidding When setting up your engagements campaign, you can select between automatic or maximum bidding as your bid type. We recommend the automatic bid option since this automatically bids on your behalf, maximizing your campaign's chance to serve. If you choose a maximum bid advertisers, your campaign may when you set up your campaign not serve. In addition to and input your bid, think of your controlling the amount you pay max bid as how much you're per action, you can also control willing to pay per engagement. the daily budget you’re willing to Remember, an engagement spend on each campaign. Once counts as all clicks on your Tweet, your daily budget has been including Retweets, replies, likes, reached, the campaign will stop poll votes, and hashtag clicks. serving until the following day (or until the daily budget is When entering your bid, it's increased). You can also set a important to think carefully about total budget for the campaign. the value each engagement brings to your business. We You’re encouraged to test your provide a recommended bid objective with a CPE bid in the (informed by past successful suggested range. This range campaigns and auction dynamics) varies based on your which indicates the amount that optimization preferences. It may will best help you reach your goal. also be higher during heavy You will never be charged more traffic events (like Holidays), than your bid and advertisers are where there are more brands often charged less. However, if competing for the attention of your bid is not competitive your audience. relative to other Keep A higher bid means you are more likely to in mind win the auction, which will then lead to more engagement. 18
Campaign Pro Tips The best way to know if your campaign’s working? Try things out. Start a few campaigns, one for each marketing initiative, so you can get a sense of what works best. Test, iterate, win. Below are some insider tips for maximizing your campaign’s performance. Auto-bid Include a video Try things out Start with auto-bid to And don’t forget to follow Vary the creative (3-5 see how ads perform in creative best practices. pieces) and copy, the auction. headlines, and calls-to- action to see what’s working. Vary ad formats Go broad Don’t over optimize Using 3-5 different ad Target as broad as possible, Resist temptation to over- formats drives the best utilizing look-alikes, optimize. After edits, wait brand lift. Remember, the keywords, interests, 2-3 days to allow learnings same creative from a conversation topics, to progress. standard Tweet can be retargeting, and expand turned into a website card. your audience features. Pro Tip #1 Pro Tip #2 We’ve got Higher bids receive Lower bids have less your back. more unique reach. unique reach and a higher frequency rate Our systems will automatically serve your best (average number of performing ads to the people you want to see times a person sees them. Plus, we’re here to talk campaign your ad). strategy and effective ways to reach your key demo. 19
How to get started Launching an Engagement campaign 01 Log into your Twitter Ads account. 02 Click "Create campaign" in the top right corner of your Ads Manager. 20
How to get started 03 Select the “Engagements” objective when creating a new campaign. 04 You'll be brought to the "Details" tab the Campaign Setup form. Here you will name your campaign, choose your funding source, and set campaign dates and budget. Create a campaign name. This won’t be public. We recommend you use a descriptive name for ease in reporting, ie: audience targeted, creative, etc. 05 Choose the proper Funding Source and input your Daily and Total campaign budgets. Set start date and (optional) end date. • We recommend longer flights to achieve greater CPM efficiencies. Set parameters for your ad group(s). • Ensure to only select “Accelerated Pacing” if you have a very short flight with more flexible cost ranges 21
How to get started 06 You’ll next be taken to the Ad Group details page where you will be prompted to create an Ad group name Set optional start and end date Set a total ad group budget (optional). Select bid type; Automatic Bid (recommended) or Maximum Bid. If you select Maximum bid, enter your maximum bid amount. Last set your frequency cap preference. We recommend Set up measurement tracking if applicable. (Check with automatic but you can your local Twitter sales rep to see what measurement customize how many tracking is available in your area) impressions you want per 1 day, 7 days and 30 days. 22
How to get started 07 Select the audience you'd like your ads to be served to in the "Targeting" tab. Learn more about our targeting options. 08 Choose the Tweets you'd like in your campaign. You can also customize the Twitter locations you'd like your Tweets to serve. 23
How to get started 09 Review your final campaign setup on the "Review & Complete" tab. If you'd like to add additional ad groups to your campaign, you can do that here. 10 Launch your Engagement campaign! 24
Measuring results Metrics in ads manager Key metrics Get real-time results any time by visiting the Ads Manager. to track There you can explore metrics like total spend, results, cost per • Cost Per Engagement result, and result rate. Keep in mind an impression is any time • Engagement Rate your ad is shown on Twitter. • Total Impressions Discover all the things you can do in our Ad Manager. • Total Engagements • Total Spend • Total Audience Reach Other metrics to track • Likes • Replies • Retweets Ad level: Measurement studies: What Tweets are performing Additionally, you can run measurement studies* depending on best? Are there any common your goals. Here are examples of deeper measurements we themes around creative and/ have run for Engagements campaigns. or copy? If so, consider Audience Verification helps you Offline or Online Sales Studies creating more Tweets like understand the demographics of help you determine the impact of these to add to the the audience you have reached. In your Twitter ads in sales across campaign. these reports, you can access key different targeting and creative What Tweets are metrics like age and gender. strategies. underperforming? *You can find all of Twitter’s measurement Consider turning these off. Brand Surveys help you solutions here. Study feasibility and understand if your campaign is availability of solutions and partners vary Ad group level: driving brand lift across a variety by market. Please connect with your Twitter Is there an ad group of metrics, such as brand Client Partner for more details performing better than awareness, message association, *Study feasibility and availability of others? Why is that? consideration, or more. This will solutions and partners vary by market. Please connect with your Twitter Client Audience level: help you understand the brand lift Partner for more details. You can find all of between those who have seen Twitter’s measurement solutions here. What audiences are your your ad and those who have not. Tweets resonating with most? *Study feasibility and availability of solutions and partners vary by market. Please chat with your Twitter Client Partner for more details. You can find all of Twitter’s measurement solutions here. 25
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