Twitter has
launched into general availability its private beta test that allows
advertisers to track whether ads lead to a purchase. This conversion
tracking is the latest in its stream of new tools for advertisers.To
track, a retailer creates a "purchase" conversion tag and inserts it
into the confirmation "thank you" page indicating that a purchase has
been made. The tag will relay a purchase event to Twitter, if the user
who clicked on the Promoted Tweet gets to that page. Twitter can then
report the number of users converted and cost per action, without
identifying the user. The conversion tracking tool had been in private
beta for several months.
Attribution Windows
The company
noted that its conversion allows for setting attribution windows, which
determine the maximum time for crediting Twitter with a sales
conversion. Attribution windows can be set to include URL clicks, as
well as tweet expands, retweets, replies, favorites or follows, in
addition to post-view conversions that happen if a user buys the product
some time after viewing an ad.The company cited several advertisers who
have been using the tool. One, a multichannel retailer named Alex and
Ani reported that it was able to reach a cost per action 65 percent
lower than its target. Another user, takeout service GrubHub Seamless,
used conversion tracking to optimize its campaigns.
Brad Shimmin,
an analyst at industry research firm Current Analysis, pointed out to
CMSWire that it's unclear if the Twitter conversion tracking can occur
if the sale takes place on a site not run by the retailer, such as
Amazon Marketplace.The tool is one of a variety of efforts undertaken in
recent months by Twitter to increase its appeal to advertisers. In
December, it made generally available its test use of Promoted Accounts
in the home timeline, in addition to the previous placement in Who to
Follow suggestions. Promoted Accounts recommend accounts of brands to
follow, based on the user's publicly-available list of who is being
followed.