by Kym Frank
If any TAB members aren’t already on Twitter or are unsure how to use it, we are happy to help. Please email us at [email protected]
The very first thing that I did when I took on my new role at the TAB was to start a Twitter account for the organization. To be fair, I didn’t actually have the job yet, but the TAB was just days away from a conference and had no presence on any social media network. I had heart palpitations thinking about all of those homeless hashtags and lost earned impressions. So, four days before I was officially voted in as TAB President, I started @TABOOHRatings
In the months since I’ve joined, we’ve acquired 609 followers. (If you aren’t already following us, now is a great time!) That number, however, is only the start of the story. In the month of December, I sent out only 54 tweets – an average of about 2 per business day. Still – over the course of the month, we got nearly 20,000 earned impressions.
Being on Twitter is a great (free) way to share news, amplify your message, showcase your work and build relationships.
What’s even more exciting – sometimes your work is already being shared, and you may not even know about all of the extra, earned impressions you’re getting.
Earned Media
Here’s a great example:
On January 5th, I was one of 4 people who retweeted a stellar photo of an Outfront board that @justiceponder posted.
According to TweetReach, this tweet scored 110,373 impressions – in just 2 days. What a great story!
#1) This tweet generated a significant number of additional earned impressions.
#2) This is a photo of the inventory that wasn’t generated by Outfront, but rather, organically posted by someone on Twitter. What a great tweet to share with a client!
To be fair, this tweet was retweeted by one of the actors featured on the billboard who has quite a number of followers.
So here’s another example:
This proud mom posted a photo of an RSA billboard featuring her kids. Fortunately, she also included the brand in her message and used a hashtag:
Total impressions? 49,260. Cha-ching!
So, great, Kym, we get it. Now how can we do it?
Well, if you’re already on Twitter, congratulations. You’re halfway there. Remember to email us at [email protected] if you need some help! #WeRHere4U
Some quick Twitter tips to amplify your reach and increase engagement when you post:
- Make sure you follow your clients, your competitors, your employees, industry leaders, etc. It’s a great way to stay on top of the news, and they are likely to follow you back
- Include the client, agency, and other relevant parties by using their handle in your post, for instance, @TABOOHratings
- Include your trade associations too if there is room! The OAAA is also active on Twitter – @yourOAAA
- Use hashtags, but only if they are relevant. The tweet above is a perfect example where the user utilized a hashtag for the event she was attending
- Include photos! These increase engagement.
- So do hyperlinks.
- A genuine, conversational tone resonates best.
Some Free Tools and Techniques To Try
There are so many amazing (and free!) Twitter tools out there. Here is just a short list to get you started:
It’s located in the top right corner of the Twitter page and looks like this:
Please do not mistake it for the posting area which looks like this:
Otherwise, you will end up accidentally tweeting out your search! #Whoops
When your results come up, there will be a bar of options at the top that looks like this:
“Top” shows the most popular tweets.
- “Live” shows all recent tweets.
- “Accounts” will show you people/company names that meet your search query.
- “Photos” and “Videos” are self-explanatory.
Set up a regular schedule where you spend 10-15 minutes searching for your clients, the name of any towns/cities where you have a presence, and key words like “billboard” or “subway ad.”
You may not find something every day, and some of the content may be irrelevant, but it will be worth it when you find that gem! Here is a snapshot of what I get when I search for the words “on a billboard” using the “Photos” search:
Once you’re all set up, make use of this great analytics tool provided by Twitter. It can give you valuable information about the performance of your Twitter account, such as:
- Earned impressions
- Which tweets had the highest engagement
- High level information about who is following you
- How your performance is trending over time
This can help you optimize your future activities on Twitter!
Please keep in mind, Twitter Analytics will only show you information about your own Twitter handle. For information on posts made by others, try the next tool.
TweetReach allows you to conduct a Twitter search that will return you reach and impressions for a single tweet, a word, phrase or even a hashtag.
The free version has limitations, but subscriptions are available.
Twilert sends daily or hourly emails to subscribers alerting them to tweets containing key words or phrases. It’s a great way to monitor twitter for conversations about:
- Your brand
- Your competitors’ brands
- Clients’ brands
- Campaigns
We like this one because it has geolocation capabilities!
Twilert is free to try for 30 days.
This is a super-fun heatmap of tweets happening in real time across the globe. It’s a fun way to see what is being talked about in your local market.
Point taken, DC tweeter! We can talk about Facebook and other social media networks at another time.
If you have found great social tools that you would like to share with the OOH industry or if you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected]