September 13, 2017
Last month I wrote an article on A Strategic Overview For Getting Started With Twitter Ads, and now I want to follow-up with a more in-depth look at the types of promoted tweets you can create. My ultimate goal is to create a basic collection of articles anyone can follow to get started with Twitter advertising.
As I mentioned in my last article, it’s important to test different types of creatives to see what performs best for your brand or industry.
Tweet Options
Text-Only
This is exactly what it sounds like, and looks just like an organic tweet you would post to your profile. There is no media involved and you can have up to 140 characters or 116 with a link.
Single Image
These tweets also look the same as an image tweet you would post organically. You can only have one image and the tweet character limit is reduced from 140 to 116 with an image. If you include an image and a link you are down to 92 characters to get your message across.
Video & GIFs
If you really want to grab user’s attention, you can add a video or GIF to a promoted tweet. They have the same text character limitations as an image tweet. When making the tweet from the tweet composer you won’t see the option for video or GIF. However, when you go into your media library you can select the button to upload media and then after the content has uploaded you can create the tweet directly from the library. The new beta version of Twitter’s tweet composer has the option to add video, but still no option for GIF. Videos can be up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds long.
Poll
This option is only available in the new beta version of the tweet composer as well. You can ask a question in the tweet text portion and then give two answer choices. Also, your poll can be scheduled to run for a specific period of time before expiring.
Cards
In my opinion, this is where things can get a little confusing if you’re not familiar with Twitter. Cards are separate creatives you make and then they can be attached to tweets. They are attached to tweets in place of where you would insert an image or video. However, the cards have a slightly different purpose.
Website Card – Image
These cards add page space and add text to your promoted tweets. Their purpose is to promote website traffic by letting users click on the card to go directly to the advertiser specified URL.
App Card – Image & Video
App cards are attached to tweets with the intent to get users to download their app. You compose the body of a tweet, attach an app card and when users click the card it takes them to the app store. For the media, you have the option to upload an image or a video. This card is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
*Bonus Tip*
Twitter Ads do not have the option to create a multi-image tweet, which is baffling. However, there is a work around. You can create an organic tweet with multiple images and then in Twitter Ads you have the option to promote an already existing organic tweet in one of your campaigns. Ta-da!
Here are the creative specifications for images and videos. This Twitter page is not completely up-to-date as there are still options on here that don’t actually exist anymore, but it has the basic requirements you need.