By Luanne Teoh on 07-14-2011

Yesterday we shared an infographic on Twitter 2011 on the demographics to provide an overview on the users of Twitter. For businesses who want to jump on Twitter to increase marketing reach, here are some crucial information that will help businesses reach that objective through Promoted Tweets.

Launched a year ago, Promoted Tweets is a unique communication method that enables businesses to speak to users that don’t currently follow their account. They are regular Tweets that are amplified to a broader audience.

When a Tweet is promoted, users will see it when they search for one of the keywords attached to the Tweet. According to Twitter, Promoted Tweets are offered on a Cost-per-Engagement (CPE) basis, so businesses only pay when a user retweets, replies to, clicks on or favorites your promoted tweet. Retweeted impressions by engaged users are free, and can amplify the reach and cost-effectiveness of your campaign many times over. Just like regular Tweets, the ones that users engage with most tend to be insightful, conversational, fresh and timely, and crafted for sharing.

Online investment brokerage company, Zecco experienced an increase by as much as 300% in engagement rates by using Twitter’s promoted tweets.

According to Zecco CEO Michael Raneri, it has to do with engaging Twitter users. “Zecco sampled 50 Promoted Tweets and measured their effectiveness. In comparison to regular Tweets, Zecco saw an average 50% increase in engagement with Promoted Tweets and 200 to 300% increases in some cases. It isn’t so much a marketing acquisition story, but about brand engagement.”

Another happy Promoted Tweets customer is Virgin America. They however did it the opposite way in which they buried their promotions. “People have to really want the promotion to find the tweet,” said Porter Gale, Virgin America’s VP of Marketing.

This is done right on so many levels because you are not spamming your customers nor everyone else on Twitter. Plus those who get your offers really do want it.

This method of marketing serves a brilliant 2-pronged approach:

1) A high-level of engagement — making those who want it hunt for your promos.

2) Reaching your most qualified customers based on #1.

In terms of analytics, Promoted Tweets also comes with a dedicated dashboard for realtime insight into your campaign’s performance. Here’s more more information on promoted tweets.

Virgin America image courtesy of Google Images

About Luanne Teoh

Luanne is a senior correspondent for BizTechDay focused on Small Business Tech, Mobile and China based in San Francisco. In the last 17 years, she has helped launch start-ups and turned around failing operations. Her international work experience include both public and private corporations in Southeast Asia, Australia and North America. She has previously worked for Oracle Corporation, SonyBMG Music, Universal Music, Catcha Media and SOH Inc. Apart from a keen interest in technology, Luanne is also and avid explorer of the globe, cultures and people.

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