Twitter marketing reflects the combination of corporate culture and business goals.
Alibaba.com uses videos on Twitter to improve performance
B2B trading platform Alibaba.com needs to obtain high-quality sales leads from small and medium-sized enterprises with purchasing needs to attract traffic to its supplier members, especially during March and September each year – the main purchasing season of the year. The September 2020 purchasing season provides a good opportunity for Alibaba.com and Twitter to cooperate.
Twitter is a mobile-oriented platform, and 88% of users log in to Twitter through mobile devices. Since business decision makers (BDMs) such as corporate executives are regular users of Twitter, it is an effective way for Alibaba.com to drive app installations and acquire potential customers for this group through the platform. Through Twitter, Alibaba.com can keep abreast of the conversations that business decision makers are involved in. Twitter also helps Alibaba.com connect with the right B2B audience. According to data from market research firm Global Web Index, there are 1.2 million executives aged 45 and above on Twitter, 25% of whom are responsible for the procurement of IT, telecommunications or technology products or services. Another study by research firm Merit showed that 73% of people aged 20 to 35 (who primarily use social media to research products and services) have the right to participate in purchasing decisions at their company. Alibaba.com initially used image ads to reach its BDM target audience, but gradually realized that video ads would be more effective. When using Twitter’s Video App Card tool, which helps advertisers drive app installations through videos, Alibaba.com found that this was one of the most effective ad formats that could showcase apps from multiple aspects, including functionality and promotions.
As a result, Alibaba created a unique #superseptember2020 video to launch its “September Procurement Festival” promotion. The 15-second short video introduces popular products and price points on Alibaba.com and encourages users to install the app. Since Twitter tracks the activity in real time through its advertising backend (Ads Manager), Alibaba.com can track app downloads and purchases. Video has been one of the catalysts for Twitter’s growth in the past two years. More Twitter users are watching videos and watching them for longer, with total video viewing time on the platform increasing by 84% year-on-year.
In the early days, Alibaba International Station used static images for advertising and promotional activities, but later switched to short videos in promotional activities through Twitter’s VideoApp Card function, which improved performance and doubled the return on investment.