Advertising Videos on Twitter

Written by SPI Collective on January 10, 2020.

Video has a starring role on Twitter! Twitter practically invented the viral video and it’s home to some of the most iconic videos of all time. Who hasn’t let out a loud aaaaawwe at Cache the yellow Labrador retriever getting his pretend ear medication.

my dog has ear medicine she needs and the other one also thinks he needs it too.. nobody has the heart to tell him it’s pretend.. pic.twitter.com/Vshe7dhl3b
— chloe copley (@chloecopley_05) September 12, 2018

Or smiled at Iggy’s attempt at island dining (relax, no Iguanas were harmed here) …

Dinner date didn’t go as planned pic.twitter.com/BwBIOBzY7Z
— conner (@connerhallmark) November 28, 2018

But beyond sweet, funny animals, strategic marketing videos can make a big impact on Twitter, especially if you, “throw a little money at it!” According to Twitter:

Video is their fastest growing advertising tool with over 2 billion video views per day—that’s 67% year-over-year growth.
Videos get people to take action—Tweets with video attract ten times more engagement than tweets without video.
Promoted Tweets with videos save more than 50% on cost-per-engagement.

So, if you have created a winning marketing video for Twitter—that does a great job of explaining your product, service or experience and will help you realize your goals—and you want it to be seen by more of the Twittersphere, consider video advertising on Twitter. Here’s a primer of the options currently available:

Promoted video—Here you simply pay to promote a video from your Twitter account and the video will autoplay as it comes up in your target audience member’s Twitter feed.
Video website cards—After they watch your video, these on-screen cards continue the engagement beyond the end of the video with creative designed to drive users to your site to learn more or take action
In-stream video ads—There are simply brief video ads that will play at the start of a video your audience has already decided to watch. Twitter makes sure the content of the video is safe for your brand—such as sports highlights or the weather.

And remember, according to Twitter data, 93% of video views happen on mobile and are often viewed without sound, so use captions or subtitles, and always watch videos in advance on a mobile device to make sure everything is copasetic.

For help writing, producing and directing a video for Twitter—or effectively placing it in front of your target audience—contact SPI and let’s talk!