If you’ve been watching the news lately, you know that something’s going on over at Twitter. From top-secret projects to CEO shakeups, Twitter is making changes and making them fast. Why are they doing it? To get more advertising dollars and more users of course. After all, they’re involved in an epic social media battle with Facebook, Instagram and a whole slew of new arrivals. But, to stay in the game, they’ve needed to embrace who they are — to take up their flag and let it fly.
And the great thing about all this, is that we marketers are going to be the ones who take the spoils. In fact, companies who have taken advantage of Twitter’s latest changes, are already seeing significant spikes in engagement. Here’s what Twitter is doing now and how their changes could lead to increased opportunities for you.
Doing More of What It Does Best
Twitter recognized that people use their channel to comment and have discussions while events are happening in real time. This led to the creation of Project Lightning, a tool that will bring event-based curated event content to Twitter. Simply press a button on Twitter’s mobile app and you’ll be transported to a list of events that people are tweeting about. These could be prescheduled events, current events or breaking news. Just select an event to enter Twitter’s curated content experience, which includes related photos and videos posted to Twitter, as well as those from Vine and Periscope. This content can be experienced on Twitter or embedded on external web pages and mobile apps. Audiences will be able to follow events and have curated Tweets blend into their timelines.
Brands will be able to take advantage of Project Lightning by using it as a cue to enter relevant conversations as well as add color and life to events of their own.
Adding Tools We Can Use
A new tool that will likely complement Project Lightning is Twitter’s new event targeting feature. Event targeting helps you identify events that are relevant to your brand and helps you plan for them. You’ll choose events from a calendar, learn about the event’s audience from the previous year, and launch a campaign that targets the people that matter to you.
Many companies have been encouraged by the results of using this new tool. One company experienced an average improvement ranging from 73% to 110% when compared to traditional targeting settings.
Event targeting is now available at ads.twitter.com. Just select the event calendar to get started.
Trying on New Looks
As we await the arrival of Project Lightning, Twitter has given us a taste of what’s to come with the redesign of its summary cards (Tweeted links on Twitter.com). Summary cards group similar content together making it easier for users to see content at a glance. The cards also make the content more visually appealing, which will help with engagement.
But Wait…There’s More…
According to Twitter’s global director of developer and platform changes, the company has only revealed a “small fraction” of they’re working on. The full scope of Project Lightning remains partially shrouded in mystery. However, more will likely be revealed at its October 21st Flight conference, in San Francisco — so stay tuned.
As you can imagine, Bullseye will be following these important announcements closely. If you want more information on how to leverage the new changes to increase social engagement and ROI, get in touch. We’d be happy to help and answer any questions you have.
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