How to Sell on Twitter: A Guide to Getting Started

Did you know people spend over an hour a week on Twitter (X) exploring new products? With daily users growing by 16.6%, there’s a big opportunity for merchants to boost sales.

This blog will show you how to sell on Twitter. You’ll learn how to set up your professional profile on Twitter and understand your target audience. We will also learn about building a following and establishing credibility before we move on to using different Twitter features for selling, such as Twitter Ads, Shop Module, and Polls, among others.

Let’s dive in and tweet your way to success!

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Prerequisites and Eligibility Criteria for Selling on Twitter  

Before we learn how to sell on Twitter, there are several prerequisites and eligibility criteria to consider. Here’s the list:

1. Professional Account: Important to start selling on Twitter (X). This helps you distinguish yourself as a legitimate business or professional creator on Twitter.
2. X Shopping Manager: Through this X Shopping Manager account, you can sell products directly on X. You can upload your product catalog, set up shop on your profile, and track the performance of your products. 
3. X Business Manager Account: Manage and track ad campaigns, discover tools, and access resources to boost your presence on X.
4. X Ads Manager Account: Create and control ad campaigns, set goals, bids, targeting, and run Dynamic Product Ads to reach potential customers.

Eligibility Criteria For Selling on Twitter (X)  

1. Complete Profile: Your profile must include your real name, bio, and profile picture, establishing your authentic identity.
2. Compliance with Twitter’s Guidelines: Ensure all activities, including ads, comply with Twitter’s User Agreement and Ads Policies.
3. Minimum Follower Count: Having at least 500 followers is necessary to earn money through various monetization methods like subscriptions or ad revenue sharing.
4. Geographical Limitation: X’s Shopping features are currently available only to businesses located in the United States.

How to Sell on Twitter? 

There are various ways to sell on Twitter (X), from using its features to ads and content. Below, we’ve outlined everything in sequence.

Leveraging Key Twitter Features for Success

Selling on Twitter (X) combines various features designed to engage customers and boost sales. Here are some of them that you should try:

Twitter Shop

The Twitter Shop Module allows you to showcase up to 50 products directly on your profile, providing a seamless browsing experience for your followers. Setup involves:

• Switch to a Business Account: Important for accessing e-commerce features on Twitter.
• Use the Twitter Shopping Manager: Your hub for the Shop Module, where you’ll manage your product listings.

• Upload Your Product Catalog: Prepare a CSV file with detailed product information, including names, descriptions, prices, and other attributes.

(Note: You can read Twitter’s product specifications in detail here.)

• Customize Your Shop: Decide which products to feature and periodically update your selection to keep your storefront fresh.
• Direct Customers to Your Website: While browsing your Twitter Shop, customers will be redirected to your website to complete purchases, bridging the gap between social media engagement and e-commerce transactions.
• Ensure Clear Product Information: Accurate and detailed product listings, including high-quality images and correct pricing, will also be important in converting interest into sales.

Shop Spotlight 

The Shop Spotlight feature acts as a carousel, highlighting up to 5 key products on your profile. It’s a fantastic tool for:

• Drawing attention to new or featured items.
• Enhancing your profile with direct links to your products​​ and ultimately boosting your sales! 

Twitter Polls  

Twitter Polls offer a dynamic way to interact with your audience. They can be used to:

• Understand customer preferences.
• Gather feedback on products or services.
• Engage your followers in decision-making or to get their opinions on various topics​​.
• Create excitement before a new product launch. 

Payment Links 

Payment Links facilitate direct sales by allowing you to share links where customers can complete purchases. These links:

• Can be shared in tweets or direct messages.
• Redirect customers to your website or a payment processing page for secure transactions​​​​.

Live Shopping

Live Shopping combines the engagement of live video with the convenience of online shopping. Its key aspects include:

• Hosting live streams to showcase products.
• Allowing viewers to make purchases in real-time, directly from the stream​​.

Product Drops

Product Drops create anticipation for new products. This feature allows you to:

• Announce upcoming product launches.
• Set reminders for your followers, ensuring they don’t miss out.
• Build excitement and drive immediate sales upon release​​​​.

Note: According to information on Twitter’s page, the Product Drops feature is available to U.S. consumers who use Twitter in English on iOS devices.  

Leverage Twitter Ads

When you ask how to sell on Twitter, well there’s one simple answer: by leveraging the power of Twitter (X) ads. Twitter ads have seen a 35% increase in engagement rates year-over-year, making it clear that the platform’s ad space is not just valuable but very valuable for reaching engaged audiences​​. 

With an average cost-per-click of $0.38, Twitter (X) ads offer a great opportunity for you to increase your sales and visibility. 

Types of Twitter Ads

And many more! These were just 4 types, but you have a lot of other ad types on the platform. With that, let’s now learn how you can make them work for your brand:

Creating Compelling Ad Campaigns: 

Start by picking what you want your ads to achieve. Maybe you’re launching a new product or just want more people to know your brand. Twitter (X) has different ad types for all your goals:

• Promoted Ads that look like regular tweets but reach more people.
• Follower Ads to grow your audience. 
• Video Ads to show off your product in action. 

Targeting the Right Audience:

• Use Twitter’s targeting to reach specific demographics, interests, and behaviors.
• Target based on conversations, lookalikes, and events for precision.

Maximize Your Twitter Ads with X Pixel

Taking one step further, the new X Pixel can boost the performance of your Twitter (X) ad campaigns. It allows you to track user actions on your website after engaging with your ads, further providing insights into ad performance and ROI.

Implementing the X Pixel on your site allows you to measure conversions, optimize ad targeting, and understand your audience’s behavior more deeply. With features like event tracking and audience building, the X Pixel helps advertisers look to fine-tune their strategies and achieve better results.

Measuring Ad Performance and ROI:

Twitter (X) also provides tools to measure campaign effectiveness. You can track engagement types and actions that align with your objectives. 

For instance, you can monitor impressions for reach campaigns or clicks for website traffic campaigns. Then, through the same analysis, adjust your strategy based on performance data. This will help you improve ROI and make the most of your budget.

With this knowledge and understanding of the different types of Twitter ads, you can create campaigns that not only reach a wide audience but also engage them and drive them to take action.

Engage with Your Audience

Engaging with your audience helps you build relationships and drive engagement on the platform. For the same, here are some valuable strategies: 

1. Responding to Customer Queries and Feedback: Promptly addressing queries and feedback enhances customer satisfaction and brand reputation. Engage in real-time to show your audience you value their input​​.
2. Retweeting Customer Testimonials: Sharing positive customer feedback boosts credibility and encourages more interactions from your audience​​.
3. Running Contests and Giveaways: Contests and giveaways are excellent for generating excitement and attracting new followers. They incentivize engagement and can significantly increase your Twitter (X) reach​​.

A good example of a giveaway is the Kenya Wildlife Service Caption Contest, where participants had to leave a comment with a caption matching a photo for a chance to win free entry to national parks or reserves!

Use Twitter Threads

Twitter threads allow you to tell engaging stories or share information in a series of connected tweets. Here’s how to make the most of them:

• Creating Engaging Stories or Series of Tweets: Weave compelling narratives that keep your audience hooked. Use a mix of text, visuals, and multimedia elements to enrich your stories​​.
• Tips for Maintaining Attention and Encouraging Interaction: Ask questions and use calls to action to encourage participation. Plus, as a creator, you should also respond to comments and mentions to build a sense of community​​.

Content Strategy

When selling on Twitter (X), a well-crafted content strategy is essential. Here are some proven tactics:

Sharing Valuable Content

• Inform and Engage: Share content that educates your audience about your products or services. Providing value is key to engagement.
• Leverage User-Generated Content: Showing customer stories or product reviews adds authenticity to a brand and encourages more users to share their experiences.​​​​

Apple’s #ShotOniPhone campaign effectively increased brand engagement by showcasing user-generated photos, turning customers into brand ambassadors.

Using Hashtags for Broader Reach

Targeted Hashtags: Use hashtags relevant to your product or campaign to increase visibility. Research trending hashtags to find the best fit for your content.

Pro tip 💡: While hashtags can expand your reach, using too many can be counterproductive. Stick to a few impactful ones for the best effect​​​​.

Scheduling Posts for Optimal Engagement

• Timing Matters: Post when your audience is most active to increase the chances of engagement. This varies across different time zones and audience demographics.

• Consistency and Testing: Regular posting keeps your brand at the forefront of your mind. Experiment with different times and frequencies to discover what generates the best engagement rates.

Affiliate Marketing 

You can also try affiliate marketing. It helps merchants sell products on Twitter by using affiliates to reach a wide audience. These affiliates share product links on Twitter. When their followers buy through these links, affiliates earn a commission. This method increases product visibility and sales.

By working with affiliates on Twitter, merchants can target specific groups and use the platform’s engaging content and hashtags. This approach takes advantage of the connections affiliates have with their followers, leading to more sales and brand awareness.

Influencer Partnerships

Working with influencers can really get your brand noticed. Here’s a simple plan:

First, find influencers who fit your brand well. Select somebody whose values and audience align with your brand. Look for engagement rates and authenticity to ensure a genuine connection​​.

Next, be clear about what you want from this partnership. Set goals for what you hope to achieve.

Lastly, aim to have a long-lasting relationship with influencers. This usually works better than just a one-time deal. Over time, they can help keep people interested in what you’re doing.

Advanced Selling Techniques on Twitter  

For those looking to elevate their selling strategies on Twitter, leveraging the platform’s advanced features can further help improve your sales approach. Here’s how: 

• Using Twitter Analytics for Data-Driven Decisions: Use Twitter Analytics to gain insights into tweet performance, audience demographics, and more. This data will help you optimize your content and marketing strategies to better align with your audience’s preferences and behaviors.
• Twitter’s API for Automation and Integration: Use the API to automate tweets and integrate them with other platforms. It streamlines your process and targets your efforts more precisely. 

Note: For more details, visit Twitter’s API documentation.

• Using Twitter Spaces for Live Interactions and Product Demos: Engage your audience live with Spaces. Host demos or Q&As to connect directly and deepen your relationship with your audience.
• Branded Hashtags and Sponsored Tweets: Branded hashtags help foster community engagement and enhance brand awareness. Sponsored tweets can help target specific audiences to boost reach, drive website traffic, and support sales objectives.

Benefits of Selling on Twitter

Twitter offers unique advantages for businesses looking to expand. Here are some key benefits, explained in detail. (improve)

• High Return on Investment: Twitter outperforms other social platforms, as it offers a 40% higher Return On Investment (ROI).
• Wealthier Audience: The platform is popular among users with higher incomes. This gives you access to an ideal customer pool for selling a wide range of products.
• Better Sales Quota Achievement: Sellers using Twitter are 51% more likely to meet their sales targets.
• Valuable User Base: Every Twitter user is worth $110, and each visitor from Twitter to a site is worth $0.62. These figures highlight the economic benefits of engaging with Twitter’s audience.
• High Purchase Influence: Twitter’s impact on users’ purchasing decisions is substantial and can drive sales directly from the platform.

Bonus: Selling on Twitter with Shopify

Shopify Twitter integration can be facilitated using two different ways that are discussed below. 

Twitter Sales Channel App 

To sell on Twitter (X) with Shopify, using the sales channel app, follow these steps:

1. Install the Twitter Sales Channel App: Add it from the Shopify App Store.
2. Connect Your Twitter Account: After installation, connect your Shopify store to your Twitter account.
3. Set Up Your Products: Create a Product Set in Shopify. Choose how to display them on Twitter, like through a Shop Spotlight carousel or as a Twitter Shop.

1. Publish to Your Profile: Share your products on your Twitter profile.
2. Manage Your Products: Adjust your featured products via the Shopify dashboard.

Note: Ensure your store meets specific criteria, such as being U.S.-based, selling physical goods, and possessing a Twitter Professional Account, to use this feature.

But this isn’t the only way. There is one more, which can be even more effective for you. 

Using AdNabu  

AdNabu is designed for Shopify merchants. It is a product feed management app that proudly carries the ‘Built for Shopify’ badge. For the Twitter marketplace, it creates accurate and platform-compliant data feed URLs that you can use in X Shopping Manager to showcase your Shopify products on Twitter (X). 

Along with that AdNabu also allows you to expand to other marketplaces like Facebook, Google Shopping, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and more! 

To generate a data feed URL for Twitter (X), follow these steps:  

• Install AdNabu’s Google Shopping Feed App.
• Configure Your Twitter Feed in AdNabu:

1. Go to the ‘Marketplaces’ section, and select ‘Twitter Feed’.

2. Choose a default country and language for your feed.

3. Customize UTM parameters, including source, medium, and campaign.

• Enable and Save Your Settings:

4. Click on ‘Enable and Save’ and a unique Data Feed URL will be generated.

5. Copy this URL, which will be used in X Shopping Manager as your data source for the Twitter Marketplace.

Add Your Data Feed URL to X Shopping Manager:

1. Log into your X Shopping Manager account.
2. Access the ‘Catalog’ section and select ‘Add products’.
3. Choose the ‘Scheduled Feed’ option and proceed by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

4. In format type, select ‘XML’ and paste the previously copied feed URL into the URL input box.

5. Decide on update frequency, click on ‘create’ and establish the schedule.

Monitor Your Feed:

After setting up your feed, go to the ‘Product source’ page within X Shopping Manager.

Here, you can view the processing status and detailed information about your feed.

And that’s it. The Shopify Twitter integration process is completed! Now, your product catalog will be visible on Twitter (X), and you can use it to create different Twitter (X) ads and boost your sales! 

Apart from the Sales Channel app and AdNabu, you can also have a look at other Shopify Twitter feed apps like Twitter Feed by Zestard technologies for taking your Shopify products to Twitter (X).

Abide By X’s Policies

Additional X Shopping Policies  

• Business and Account Requirements: Your business must comply with US regulations (if applicable), and you should not sell prohibited items. 
• Legal and Policy Compliance: Adherence to Twitter’s Shopping Policy and ensuring your website has clear contact information, return/refund policies, and a secure checkout process.

Note: Read more about X’s Shopping Policies here. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid 

While navigating on Twitter (X) here are key pitfalls to avoid:

1. Overpromotion without engagement: Focusing too much on promoting products without interacting with your audience can lead to a lack of interest. 

Tip: Stick to the 80/20 rule, where 80% of your content provides value, and only 20% is promotional, which can help maintain engagement levels.

2. Ignoring Customer Feedback: Value both positive and negative feedback from your customers. It will help you show commitment to improving customer experiences.

3. Inconsistent Branding and Messaging: Maintain the same branding and messaging in your tweets. Ensure your profile, tweets, and interactions mirror your brand’s tone and values for a great presence.

4. Constantly retweeting others: Blindly retweeting without adding value can be detrimental. Instead, engage with the content you share by adding your insights or comments.
5. Scheduling duplicate content across multiple Twitter accounts: Avoid scheduling the same content across different accounts. This will help you prevent suspension and maintain compliance with Twitter’s policies.

Conclusion

Selling on Twitter offers unique opportunities to connect with a broad audience and drive meaningful engagement. This guide has walked you through setting up your professional profile, understanding your target audience, and leveraging Twitter’s diverse features like the Shop Module, Polls, and various ad formats. 

Remember, success on Twitter combines creative content strategy with active audience engagement. Now, armed with these insights, you’re ready to elevate your brand presence and sales on Twitter. 

Let’s make your Twitter journey a thriving marketplace of ideas, products, and connections.

FAQs

1. How can I sell products on Twitter (X) through my Shopify store?

Shopify merchants can use the Twitter sales channel app or AdNabu to showcase their products directly on their Twitter profiles. This feature allows for seamless integration, allowing product discovery directly from Twitter. You can opt for a Twitter Shop or a Shop Spotlight to present your products, catering up to 50 items or a select five, respectively​​​​.

2. What products sell well on Twitter (X)?

Products in niches like productivity, wellness, and technology do well on Twitter. Digital items, physical products, courses, and consulting are examples of what sells.

3. How do I set up my Twitter (X) profile for more sales?

Enhance your profile with a compelling photo, clear bio, strategic URL, product display features, and a pinned promotional tweet.

4. How can I effectively find potential customers on Twitter?

Use Twitter’s advanced search to engage with conversations in your industry, identifying potential customers.

5. How can Twitter Lists help in customer acquisition?

Twitter Lists enable you to create curated feeds of tweets from specific user groups, such as potential customers, influencers, and competitors. This feature helps engage with and monitor these segments closely, thereby identifying opportunities for outreach and community building​​.

6. Can I run Twitter (X) ads for my Shopify products?

Yes, Twitter ads can be an effective way to promote your Shopify products to a broader audience. By driving attention to your profile and shoppable features like Twitter Shop or Shop Spotlight, Twitter ads can enhance product visibility and increase sales​​.

7. Are there any costs associated with setting up a Twitter Shop or Shop Spotlight?

The Twitter sales channel features, including Shop Spotlight and Twitter Shops, are available at no additional cost for eligible businesses in the U.S. 

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