Twitter for eCommerce? 10 things to know before jumping to Twitter

If you ask retailers which platform best works for online stores, they will probably answer Instagram or Facebook. These platforms have reached and exceeded 1 billion users and are considered top destinations for online sales. 

But what about other social networks? While the competition on Facebook and Instagram is rising, online stores try to diversify their engagement and sales channels.

One of the channels you can start using for your online store is Twitter.

Today we are going to discuss

1. how is Twitter different, 
2. is it really worth running Twitter ads,
3. how can it help you keep in touch with your audience effectively and sell your products?

Ready to start? Let’s do it.

Twitter eCommerce marketing: Promote your online store for free

Before discussing methods of Twitter ads eCommerce stores run, let’s see what free options Twitter suggests.

1. Your images should be horizontal, not vertical
   
   While Instagram prefers square and Pinterest suggests posting vertical images, your Twitter images should be horizontal. No need to mention how crucial role the quality of photos plays in product selling. If you publish posts where image height is more than the width, your tweet won’t look properly and people won’t be interested in engaging with it.
2. You should keep your Tweets under 280 characters
   
   On Twitter, the system doesn’t allow you to post long texts as you’d on Facebook or LinkedIn. You have only 280 characters to express what you have in mind. And emojis, link characters, hashtags are counted too.
   
   To use your tweet space in an optimal way, make sure you use URL shorteners such as Bitly and leave more room for your message.
   
   Besides, try not to insert more than 3-4 hashtags as they not only occupy space but also may look unnatural.
3. You can add Summary cards to your profile
   
   Who says Twitter isn’t optimized for showing your online products?
   
   With Twitter Summary cards, you can show your product-related info with a preview. Your readers will get acquainted with your product details even before clicking your links. That can be a good opportunity to arousing interest in your offers and selling products on Twitter. To activate Summary cards for your profile, follow the guidelines from Twitter Developer and add the mentioned meta tags to your site.
   
   
4. You can use tools to track hashtag popularity
   
   Though LinkedIn shows how many users follow X hashtag, other social networks, including Twitter, don’t do that.
   
   You should try third-party tools to understand whether this or that hashtag is popular. Don’t forget that it’s not recommended to use more than 3-4 hashtags for every tweet. That’s why make sure you use popular ones to expand your tweet reach.
   
   You can try using tools like Hashtagify, Hashtracking or Keyhole to reveal what’s trending and what users are talking about.
   
   Let’s have a look at the big picture from the perspective of Twitter for eCommerce particularly. #sportswear is a popular hashtag with 9,000+ followers/contributors. #sportsclothing has 5,000+ followers/contributors. But for example, #sportshirt has only around 180 followers/contributors.Typing multiple terms into a tool will help you understand which hashtags are worth including in your tweets more frequently.
5. You should tweet around 5 times daily
   
   Yes, you read it correctly. 5 times a day. Twitter is a social network where posts have the shortest lifespan and are usually visible in the next 15-20 minutes.
   
   You might ask “How do I get ideas for my tweets? What should I post 5 times a day, 5 days a week?”.
   
   You can turn your blog posts into short tweets, ask questions, share statistics and finally promote your products with high-quality images.
6. You can filter tweets by the number of replies, likes, retweets, keywords
   
   Using Twitter Advanced search is a great way to understand which types of posts attract viewers and drive engagement.
   
   You can see what Twitter audience appreciates and engages with so you get some ideas for your upcoming tweets.
7. You can combine your tweets under MomentsHave you heard of Twitter moments? Log in to your profile, go to More and you will see it.
   
   Twitter moments have titles, descriptions, a cover photo and can combine multiple tweets in one “folder”.
   
   The goal of this feature was to help people follow news and get updated on what’s happening around them.
   
   As an online store, you can combine your related products under one moment and make it available for your audience. It’s something a brand like Nike has done previously. Moments are saved in your profile’s corresponding section and can serve you in the long run. They can be an answer to the question “how to sell products on Twitter” because they can definitely work as product collections on Twitter.
   
   
8. You can monitor your competitor through Twitter Lists
   
   Every business needs to be aware of the competition and see what their “colleagues” are posting, how those posts are performing.
   
   Perhaps you don’t have time to visit your competitors’ profiles every day. Relying on your feed isn’t a good idea either as you might not see their tweets because of the Twitter algorithm.
   
   Instead, you can go to Lists, click Create a new List and add all profiles you want to monitor. 
   In your List, you can see all the recent tweets posted by profiles you are trying to monitor.
   
   A perfect way to keep your eye on your competitors quickly, for free, and without even following them. As you can see, Twitter offers great features for eCommerce that are free to use. If you have an additional ad budget, let’s move to our next section and talk about Twitter ads eCommerce stores should run.

   Twitter eCommerce marketing: How to invest your ad budget 

   

   1. You can run Twitter ads
      
      Let us be honest and clear with you. Launching Twitter ads eCommerce stores need from scratch and targeting cold audiences is expensive and time-consuming. 

   Instead, you can retarget those visitors on Twitter who have viewed products on your online store or haven’t completed the checkout process. 

   To make this retargeting campaign successful, you must be sure your audience is active on Twitter. 

   Twitter allows you to pay not for ad views but for clicks, video views or whatever action you expect from your audience. That will save you from wasting money on users who aren’t interested in your offer.

   1. You can work with Twitter influencers
      
      Twitter is rich in influencers. And if you are following recent industry trends, you know that influencer marketing and recommendation-based marketing, in general, are thriving.

   Before purchase, people look for customer reviews, ask their friends for advice and finally, listen to what their role models are recommending. 

   You can use tools like Mention or Brand24 to find micro-influencers relevant to your niche and discuss cooperation opportunities with them.

   Don’t have time or skills to manage your Twitter and other social media accounts or run Twitter ads eCommerce stores need? Share your company information with the Andava team and we will help you stand out with short, engaging, and optimized posts.