A guide to Twitter for ecommerce businesses

Are you thinking about setting up a Twitter account for your ecommerce business, only you’re not sure where to start? This guide is for you. Read on to find out everything you need to know about Twitter for ecommerce, including how this social media platform can help you attract more customers to your online shop.

Twitter for ecommerce: The basics

Twitter might not have as many users as Facebook or Instagram, but don’t let this put you off – it’s still a great tool for ecommerce marketing.

The premise of Twitter is simple: people share updates in 140 characters or less (often featuring images, videos, links and hashtags). Twitter describes itself as “your window to the world,” a place where you can enjoy “direct access to the most interesting people”.

For ecommerce businesses, this platform offers a world of potential. Here are just some of the ways you can use Twitter for marketing purposes.

Share company announcements Whenever you publish a new blog post, media release or Facebook update, this can be shared to Twitter. Above all, Twitter is well-known for being a source of interesting, relevant news. With the right hashtags, you can get your company announcements in front of an engaged, information-hungry audience.

Promote your products Tweet about sales, new arrivals, product reviews and anything else related to your online shop. Just remember, it’s best to do this in a clever and value-adding way – if you’re too salesy, your followers might switch off. You can also advertise on Twitter (more on this below).

Follow similar accounts Use Twitter to keep an eye on your competition. It’s amazing how much you can learn about a company from their social media presence. You could also follow accounts that you admire – this is a great way to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and get ecommerce marketing inspiration.

Provide customer support
A lot of people use Twitter to ask businesses questions, or to submit feedback. This platform is therefore perfect for providing fast, friendly and informative customer support. Think of it like social media’s version of live chat.

Advertising on Twitter

Twitter has significantly expanded its advertising options in recent years. There are now four main ways you can promote your brand:

1. Build an audience (grow followers)
2. Website traffic and sales (gain website conversions)
3. Promote your app (increase app installs or engagements)
4. Brand awareness (boost engagement)

Twitter has also relaxed its strict 140 character limit for advertisers, allowing you to create Twitter Cards to promote your products and services.

Twitter Cards With Twitter Cards, you can create a visually unique graphic that reflects your branding. You can choose from four main card types: a summary card, a summary card + image, an app card or a player card (for audio/video/media). In general, cards with images and interactive media perform much better than their non-image counterparts. In early 2014, Twitter released analytics for Twitter Cards, so businesses can measure their performance.

Quick Promote If you would like to promote a single tweet, or you’re in need of instant promotion on-the-go (for example, you’re at an event and don’t have time to set up a Twitter Card), you can use Twitter’s Quick Promote function. This allows you to promote a tweet in five easy steps.

Setting a budget Twitter Cards (with the exception of Lead Generation Cards) are free to set up – so you only pay for your advertising reach. Like Facebook, Twitter operates on an ad auctioning system. There is no minimum spend; the cost of your campaign will depend on your budget and your bid. Twitter has published a useful pricing guide to help you understand what you get for your money, including whether things like impressions, replies and retweets count towards your advertising budget.

Test, measure and tweak As with all social media advertising, the best way to see if Twitter is a good fit for your ecommerce business is to give it a try. Test different ads, measure their performance and tweak them until you get the results you’re looking for. Many ecommerce businesses find that Twitter offers an affordable and enjoyable way to connect with your customers and promote your products. It’s definitely worth trying out for yourself.