Is Twitter gone? Well, while it’s not gone yet, now is not a bad time to put together a plan b and prepare for life without this legacy social media channel.
Many brands are considering a world in which Twitter shuts down. Below we look first at some things to do to safeguard your current Twitter setup, and then offer up some potential ideas to enact now to better maximize your social media efforts and paid social media marketing dollars.
Safeguard Your Twitter Channel Information Tips
First, before any further drama around Twitter occurs, it’s a good idea to back up your Twitter posts and data ASAP. Here’s a helpful article on how to download your tweets and past follow lists.
Second, if you’re running Twitter ads in any capacity, we suggest doing the following:
- Download any and all PDF versions of performance reports and analytics
- Make an excel cheat sheet with a current setup of your Twitter campaigns and strategies
- Download all unique targeting audiences
- Put together a quick analysis and insights report so you can quickly take the learnings, wins, and mistakes and adapt them for any other social media channels you choose to switch over to instead of Twitter
Where to Consider Moving or Re-Allocating Your Social Media Hours and Dollars
While nothing will ever be an exact match for Twitter, most brands today have a multitude of social media channels in their playbook.
Depending on your audience, current social media strategy and marketing objectives for the year, below are some options for platform alternatives based on KPIs.
For Link Clicks / Traffic Growth
- Consider LinkedIn
- Video ads have recently been shown to perform best along with InMail and PDF download ads
- Promoted posts also do well when set up for an Awareness/Engagement objective (especially for brands who are in the healthcare, finance, or technology industries)
- Consider Facebook
- While Facebook may be going through a bit of a cycle for some generations, it’s diverse placement capabilities as well as automated optimization features could make a transition from Twitter seamless
- It’s better set up to drive link clicks based on ad format and distribution in the feed
- New targeting options may enable your ads to even perform better than Twitter
For Increased Engagement
- Get on Instagram or at least use Facebook to push out some Instagram ads and sponsored posts
- Especially key for any highly visual or fun B2C brands, Instagram is your friend and a much easier and more active platform to drive engagement on
- Start making TikToks
- For brands that are designed to hit younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials specifically), it may be time to either get on TikTok or start using it more. Consider using the next few months to refocus dollars and hours you spent on Twitter on value-added and entertaining short videos that showcase your brand’s story, products, services, and personality
- Reddit/Tumbler/Facebook Groups
- Digital word of mouth goes a long way today. Start looking at these conversation focused areas of social and digital platforms where you can join in or start a comment thread. May also be a good place to curate NEW content for 2023.
For Driving Brand Awareness
Twitter has sort of lost its apparel for brand awareness for many brands as video has taken the number one spot in many marketing strategies the last couple of years. That being said, those great short videos or branded card promos are easy to flip over to the following channels and ad formats.
- Facebook – Video Ads, Story Ads, Carousel Ads
- Instagram – Story Ads, Video Ads
- LinkedIn- Video Ads, Carousel, Promoted Engagement/Awareness Posts
- TikTok – Video Ads
- YouTube – 15s, 30s, and 60s ads; Also consider promoting YouTube shorts and existing videos for engagement
For Conversions and Leads
At the end of the day, it’s the end funnel that matters, right? Well while Twitter has been a quick update, news, PR focused platform, if you were able to drive conversions and leads there, then consider the alternatives below.
B2B brands: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and consider non-social avenues including display, banner, programmatic.
B2C brands: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn (for brand focused efforts), and then also consider non-social avenues including display, banner, programmatic, native, PPC, and even TV ads (think Hulu and other apps though not traditional TV or CCTV).
Not Sure What to Do or Where to Go?
Still uncertain about the future and what next steps to make? We’re happy to help offer our expertise. Set up a quick 15-minute consultation with us today free and we’ll see if we can’t help you navigate a plan for a potentially Twitter-free future.
