How to use Twitter Cards for Lead Generation

Much has been made of search engine optimization, but as social media becomes increasingly important, you need to consider optimizing this channel as well. Fortunately, Twitter cards are an excellent way to generate qualified leads from social media. 

One of the main difficulties in social media optimization is telling the platforms more about the content on your website, according to Razor Social. Twitter cards work by adding a few lines of coding to your website to inform the network of particularly strong content, such as great photos, videos or slideshows.

Then, when social media followers share this content on Twitter, the image, video or other media will appear directly in the interface, creating a more visual brand experience. In fact, Twitter cards are more likely to gain increased exposure through retweets.

There are a few different kinds of Twitter cards, including summaries, large-image summaries, photo, gallery, app, product and specific lead-generation cards. Since social media marketing is all about engagement, this is an essential way to command more attention.

Real-world Ways to Use Twitter Cards

As Twitter cards continue to gain popularity, many brands are using them to great effect. One of the reasons Twitter cards can spark higher levels of engagement is because of the visual nature of this feature.

It's really easy to skim through your Twitter feed on a mobile device without anything catching your eye. But an in-line image is harder to miss. This can make Twitter cards a great promotional tool without being too intrusive. Similar to custom landing pages on Facebook and LinkedIn,

Twitter cards allow your followers to interact with your content without leaving the platform. 

Say Daily offered the following examples of brands that have successfully used Twitter cards:

• ModCloth: Have a limited-time offer you want to promote? Twitter cards may be the way to make it stand out. Online clothing store ModCloth used an image in a Twitter card to get the word out about a special discount rather than listing the percentage in the body of the tweet.
• Skittles: Halloween is a great time to promote candy, so Skittles took to Twitter with a holiday-themed video. This tactic is more effective than including a link to the video on your website because users may be wary of leaving the platform to interact with content.
• Monster: The job board not only made it easier to apply for new positions, but it's also using Twitter cards to promote this new availability with how-to videos.

There is a multitude of possibilities for Twitter cards. For example, a business-to-business firm could use this feature to include a subscription link to its blog. This can provide a clearer call to action with visual cues that readers are sure to notice compared to a link in a tweet.

Lead generation cards are especially effective for this purpose because Twitter auto-fills users' email addresses to streamline the process of filling out the form. Because forms are an important tool for collecting contact information, you want to ensure the process is as easy as possible for users to prevent form abandonment.

Like most marketing objectives, you need to determine the purpose of the tweet to select the right card option.

For instance, the gallery card allows you to display four photos instead of just one. There's even a version of the Twitter card designed to promote mobile app downloads, speaking to the versatility of this tool.

While some companies may be reluctant to boost engagement on social media, options like the Twitter card create an opportunity for on-platform interaction with your content.