Increase Your Traffic with Sponsored Tweets

It had to happen sooner or later and here it is. Twitter has been monetized. A company called IZEA recently launched a "Sponsored Tweets" platform where advertisers can tap into the followers of selected Tweeters to promote their offerings. And selected Tweeters can generate income by tweeting their followers with an ad link to the advertiser's landing page. Here's how it works.

Identify Your Campaign

If you know anything about Twitter you know it is "immediate" so you can reasonably expect a quick response for your campaign. The system is very new but early results seem to support that conclusion. This system would then be ideal for special promotions and sales event campaigns. There is also a "timed release" feature available where you can space the release of your tweets. If you have paid for three tweets to promote a Saturday sale, you could have them released on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday at a specified time. The system shows you periods of peak Twitter traffic.

Since the effectiveness of the campaign is largely dependent on the nature of the Tweeter you will select to sponsor your ad you might want to first sort through the profiles of available Tweeters to see how many are out there who would meet your needs.

Select Your Tweeter

If you have a website featuring dog products you can search Twitter profiles and find Tweeters who are dog lovers. You're looking for Tweeters with a high number of followers. Remember that Tweeters retweet so there is the possibility that your campaign could go viral if a large number of followers retweet to their followers and so on. You'll be charged either for the initial tweet or for each click through. Tweeters who have signed up to be part of this program have their prices listed. Celebrity profiles are much more expensive but they are a special breed. Take Bob Vila for example. Although his price is high he has about one million followers and is a recognized expert in all things having to do with home improvement. So if you are a Home Improvement Retailer launching a special campaign for a high margin item, his reach might get you a decent return on your investment.

Write Your Tweet

You can write your own ad copy or let your Tweeter do it. Twitter has remained largely free of advertising campaigns and this Sponsored Tweet platform is seen as highly controversial by many. Tweeters hate spam. Even though the system guarantees disclosure -- followers will know the tweet has been paid for and by whom - many Tweeters fear this advertising effort will compromise the entire Twitter philosophy. With that in mind, it might be advisable to let your Tweeter write the ad, especially initially. It will probably seem less "spammy."

Measure Your Results

You will have your own site statistics to measure increased traffic but the system has additional stats you can use. First, when you initiate your campaign you can ask that Google Analytics track it. Second, you will get detailed results for each of the Tweeters you've hired.

Internet Marketers have long been trying to figure out how to capitalize on the Social Media craze. Twitter is one of the fastest growing Social Media sites out there and now a Social Media Marketing system that's easy to use is here. If you've been looking to get in, this is your chance. Give it a try.

Toronto web design and development
Wolf21 Inc is a Toronto web design and development company specializing in search engine optimization and social media marketing.