HOW-TO: Driving Traffic with Twitter Cards &

Analytics9 types of Twitter Cards to

install on your site and how to measure ROI for subscription

sales

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

There’s no moss growing under Twitter’s feet!

The social media site continues to evolve, and about a year ago, it introduced Twitter Cards, a more visually-friendly way to present multi-media tweets via an API that paid content sites can install on their own websites.

Now the company has introduced Analytics for Twitter Cards, helping content producers get a better sense of what works when it comes to driving traffic to your site through Twitter.

In this visual How-To, we show you why Cards matter, the 9 types of Twitter Cards your site can use to drive more traffic, and how to measure your ROI through Twitter’s new Analytics program.

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

What are Twitter Cards?• Twitter Cards allow Twitter users to

embed multi-media into their Twitter posts.

• Twitter Cards use HTML coding to alter the “share” links on your site. In other words, anyone sharing content from your site on Twitter will be cued to share a Twitter Card, not just a line of text!

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

For Example…

• This New York Times Story

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For Example…

• Cues this Twitter share box…

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For Example…• Which then leads

to this tweet on the @SubSiteCentral Twitter feed…

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For Example• Which is

expanded into this Summary Card when you click the “View summary” link.

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

For Example…• Twitter Cards with larger images or

video show a preview without users clicking on “view” links.

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

Why You Should Use Cards• Because of the visual element, Twitter

Cards get more eyeballs– Tweets with images get 2xs the engagement.

• More engagement means more shares & retweets

• You can dictate a specific Card type for each article or Web page

• Powerful new capabilities– For direct lead generation– To spur app downloads

• Strong back-end analytics to measure ROI

9 Types of Twitter Cards

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#1. Summary CardWeb page view Mobile view

https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/types/summary-card

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#2. Summary Card w/ Large Image

https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/large-image-summary-card

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#3. Photo Card

https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/types/photo-card

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#4. Gallery Card

https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/types/gallery-card

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

#5. App Card

• This Card type is currently only available on the iOS and Android mobile clients. It is not yet available on web or mobile web.

• Twitter auto-creates App Cards for tweets that contain a link to either the App Store or Google Play. This means you can create an App Card experience just by sharing links directly to the download page for your application. https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/types/app-card

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

#6. App Installs & Deep Linking Cards • If a user hasn’t

installed your app, you can create a Card that cues them to install your app.

• If they have installed your app, you can create a Card that links directly to relevant content.

https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/app-installs-and-deep-linking

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

#7. Player Card• This Card for

streaming media requires special approval from Twitter and is not available immediately like the other Cards.

https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/types/player-card

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

#8. Product Card

https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/types/product-card

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

#9. Lead Generation Card

• This Card is meant to augment Twitter Advertising revenue and costs money, but allows for automatic email sign-ups.

• As of now, it’s only available to Twitter Advertisers with managed accounts, but will open up to small and medium businesses soon.

https://blog.twitter.com/2013/capture-user-interest-with-the-lead-generation-card

Installation in 3 Easy Steps*

*These steps do not apply to Lead Generation Cards. Information on those Cards can be found at:https://blog.twitter.com/2013/capture-user-interest-with-the-lead-generation-card

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

Step #1. Add Code

• Each Twitter Card has a few lines of HTML code that you must install on your site to allow users to tweet Cards instead of simple text links.

• You can alter the code per URL so that different pages tweet different types of Cards.

• Here is a summary of all the meta tags and code for the 8 Twitter Card types: https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/markup-reference

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

Step #2. Get Validated

• Login to Twitter’s Validator tool with your Twitter account to get a preview of what your Cards will look like. https://dev.twitter.com/docs/cards/validation/validator

• You’ll then need to enter your URL page for approval.

• Once your page has been validated, you can request final approval of your card. In most cases, this is done in a few minutes.

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

Step #3. Tweet to Test

• Tweet a Card through your site to tests and see what the Card looks like.

• You can then use Analytics for Twitter Cards to measure your results.

Analytics for Twitter Cards

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• Instead of showing the analytics only for your site, Analytics for Twitter Cards shows the impact of ALL tweets linking to your content through Twitter Cards.

• You can learn which type of Card performs best, how many impressions you get, who your influencers are, and what are your top tweets.

• The best way to preview these features is to view the brief video tutorial.http://www.youtube.com/embed/EtJg3fy_mJU

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

Relevant Metrics

• Which type of card performs best for which content types

• # of impressions vs. # of retweets – Tip: using the word Retweet in a tweet

improves chances of retweeting significantly – even more so that using “RT”.

• Impressions and Retweets by sharing method (through your site vs. social media managers like HootSuite and Buffer)

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

Additional Tips

• Since Analytics for Twitter Cards will give you your Influencers, make sure to engage with them. Influencers are often more likely to use Direct Messaging via Twitter.

• Look at the keywords/phrases used in your top tweets and repeat them in the future.

• Be willing to invest in quality images.

(c) 2014 Subscription Site Insider, an InfoCommerce Group publication

Related Resources• [PowerPoint Download] Social Marketing How-to: Twitter

Optimize your Twitter account with the practical advice in this how-to presentation. See why it's crucial to use branded company accounts, when to use more than one Twitter account; and how to make bios and profile images work harder for you. Includes examples from B2B and B2C subscription sites.

• HOW-TO: Twitter Advertising to Drive Traffic and Sell More Subscriptions

Social media is a great way to augment your acquisition marketing, and Twitter is an especially good platform for subscription sites targeting specific audiences. In this How-To, we explore when and which types of subscription sites can benefit from advertising on Twitter, either through Promoted Tweets or Promoted Accounts. Discover what audiences are more easily engaged on Twitter, how you'll be charged, and how to measure the impact of your campaigns. Plus, we include 3 Case Study Examples from The Financial Times, World Politics Review and Hubspot.