About two years ago, Twitter introduced Lead Generation Cards, which allow marketers to obtain email addresses and other personal info from users who want to take advantage of their offers in promoted tweets. The value of lead generation cards lie in the ability for Twitter users to signup in the tweet itself, removing the additional steps of visiting a landing page and filling out a form. According to Twitter’s research, they decrease your average cost per click (CPC) while increasing number of clickthroughs. Furthermore, a Webtrends case study found 996% improvement in lead acquisition and 500% improvement in cost per lead through use of lead generation cards. Below, we’ll give you some tips on how to best use this tool.

Planning Your Strategy

As useful as lead generation cards can be, to unlock their full potential, it's best to develop a plan before designing your card. Think about these cards as a miniature version of your landing page. Decide on the desired action of what you want people to do. Are you looking to gain blog subscribers or do you want people to download your new eBook? Establishing clear goals is necessary for generating the desired outcome of the campaign. Consider rewarding the user for their action with a promotion on your product/service, since it may make them more likely to act. For example, you can offer a free shipping coupon code with an email sign-up to entice a user to convert.

Executing the Perfect Card Design

Now that you’ve done your due diligence in preparation, you're ready to create your cards. For card creation, there are three important components for you to optimize.

1. Card Title : With only 50 characters to work with, you need to convey your offer value in a concise, yet compelling fashion.
2. Image : Avoid stock images if you can at all help it. You'll want to use a strong image that ties in everything you have to offer.
3. Call to Action : This is the text that goes on the submit button. You only get 20 characters for this one, so make them count towards crafting an actionable message. So instead of simply saying, “Click Here,” offer something like “Join the Club!” Also, using words like “get,” “win,” or “claim” will make people feel like they are getting something of value.

For advanced use-cases, you can integrate your CRM system with Twitter so that incoming leads from the lead generation cards are instantly updated into it.

Following Up

Once a user clicks on your card and submits their information your job is done, right? Wrong! It’s essential that you stay engaged and active with leads, keeping the conversation going. Since the user has opted in to learn more about your brand or service, ensure you are offering up the most relevant and best experience. Always looking to provide more value, and continue the conversation.

For example, you could send people who click on your button to a thank you page on your website. This is a great way to encourage further interaction from already warm leads. Or, include a video on the page with additional calls-to-action. Here's a great example on continuing the conversation after a user fills out a lead gen card:

Measuring Results

As with any marketing channel, you’ll want to make sure that Twitter’s Lead Generation Cards are worth your time, effort, and money. Pay close attention to cost per lead, checking if the costs are in line with the other channels you're generating leads. If you're entering the leads in your CRM, make sure to properly attribute them to your Twitter campaigns. This will later help you calculate the return (revenue) from your ad spend.

Did you like this blog post? Check out more advanced ways to use Twitter Ads for Lead Generation .

What has your experience been like using Lead Generation Cards? Let us know in the comments!