We are always looking for innovative new ways to get our clients' advertising messages to their target audience. One new media opportunity that we think can be a really good idea is paid social advertising, especially for B2C programs. Whether it's Snapchat, Reddit or (comparably) the mainstays Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, it is hard to deny the viability & value of these audiences as these sites become more ubiquitous. And advertising in this space is constantly updating as each platform tests formats & finds the proper balance of ads to content for their respective audiences. Just like any other type of native advertising though, we think if it's done right-- true to the medium, as a part of an overall content strategy-- it can be very effective.
As our audiences migrate to these platforms and share & live more of their lives there, targeting will get only more sophisticated (privacy issues aside). One medium that we think is doing this very well is Twitter. They offer targeting based on keyword, interests and username (targeting brands and followers of brands like yours), and even tailored audiences. But the one I am most excited about is TV conversation targeting. This is a new targeting option that Twitter just rolled out in the last 9 months or so that allows advertisers to serve their promoted tweets in the feeds of people watching certain TV shows. They know they are watching the show based on what they are tweeting about. It's real-time marketing that leverages the reality of the "second screen" viewing - people watching TV and sharing via social media on their preferred device their reactions, creating a collective viewing experience. This targeting allows marketers to "hop on" to these conversations happening on Twitter around hot shows or sporting events.
What we love about this targeting is that it can amplify a new TV campaign. The thought is that if a person is tweeting about a show, they are watching it live (how social has created more appointment television is a whole other post) so they are seeing your commercial. A promoted tweet either with the spot in it, or another brand message can be another touch point to reinforce your message to a prospective customer. This is similar to how the Spanish clothing brand Desigual used the platform in this success story. Note the use of hashtags in their commercial as well - excellent idea to promote social sharing.
TV targeting is also superb for identifying your brand with shows that have a strong following in your demo. Smart marketers cater the content to that show or TV event if possible - like Domino's UK did in their #BigNightIn campaign.
Whatever the content, we recommend always including a simple call to action. Because of the bid format of Twitter's ad platform, you actually only pay for engagements - not the impressions. Highest bidder for a show/target gets their promoted tweet served, and then you pay only when users engage with that tweet through a follow, re-tweet, click, etc. That's just some of the examples of how this idea can be executed.
Lastly, one of the best things about advertising on Twitter in general, is that they have a team of real-live people that you can actually talk to that help you with targeting, creative ideas, & program implemention. Not bad for a company with 200+ million monthly active users. They are not too big to help - which is more than can be said for most of the other platforms.
There you have it - this month's good media idea. Call us today to schedule a meeting to learn more about this and other ideas for marketing your business.
