What is Shopify Twitter Integration?
Starting in June 2022, Twitter announced a new integration in the form of a sales channel app to all Shopify merchants in the U.S.
This Twitter and Shopify partnership invests in features that empower businesses to put their products before their audience and direct them to where they can make a purchase.
The Twitter app available on the Shopify app store allows merchants to onboard themselves to Twitter’s Shopping Manager.
This dashboard enables sellers to access product catalog tools and other shopping features.
What is Available with Shopify Twitter Integration?
With the new integration, merchants will be able to connect their Twitter account to their Shopify admin, then take advantage of Twitter's Shopping Manager, as well as other free tools Twitter built for "Professionals," including:
- Automatically Sync Inventory: With this feature, the Twitter sales channel app updates Shopify merchants' product catalogs regularly, so they don't need to update them manually. This way, a change in Shopify's catalog automatically updates Twitter Shopping Manager's catalog.
- Highlight Products: The Shop Spotlight or Twitter Shops enable merchants to showcase their products front and center on their Twitter profiles, boosting brand awareness, driving product discovery, and reaching customers.
Here are the visual examples of three different features of Shopify and Twitter integration:
Currently, merchants can enable eaither Twitter Shops, a Shop Spotlight, or a Location Spotlight.
In addition, the company stated that it is working on enabling merchants to use more than one of these features simultaneously.
One Shopify merchant described their experience of onboarding with Twitter app integration this way on Shopify's app store review section:
“This is such a great app! The onboarding experience is simple and straightforward. Everything connects well, and I'm excited to be able to have my Twitter and Shopify synced together!”
Over 1.7M merchants sell on the Shopify platform, making it the go-to platform for merchants looking to start, grow, and manage their business.
However, Shopify's new Twitter integration will take merchants further and simplify online shopping.
Now you can turn your Twitter conversation into sales and, with a few more clicks, sell where you tweet.
How to Set Up the Twitter Sales Channel on Shopify?
It only takes a few simple steps to get started selling via Twitter.
Shopify's App Store offers a free Twitter sales channel that you can easily install on your store.
In addition, you should know that to use the Twitter sales channel, your business must be based in the US, you are required to sell physical products, and of course you need to have a Twitter Professional Account.
Here are the steps to connect your Shopify store to Twitter and sync your product catalog:
1. First thing first, log into your Shopify admin account. You can find “Twitter” under the “Sales Channel” left navigation rail, and click “Get started”.
2. Then, you need to connect your Twitter account. Enter your account information and click on “Connect Twitter Account” and then “Authorize App”.
You must sign in with your business account, not your private profile, and switch to the Twitter professional account.
3. The next step is to connect to "Twitter Shopping Manager", the central hub where you can manage how your business shoppable content appears on Twitter.
This step will automatically create your Shopping Manager account, so it's ready to use later.
Moreover, if you already have a Shopping Manager account, it will be automatically synchronized.
4. Now it’s time to finish your setup. To complete the Twitter channel setting process, ensure all steps are marked with a green check, and click "Finish setup" at the bottom-right.
And just like that, you can connect your online store with your business Twitter account.
Now to elaborate on more detail here, we will talk a little bit more about what you see after integration. 💡
5. After successfully connecting your Shopify account with Twitter, you'll be taken to your "Overview" page.
Here you see a confirmation message on the top and the product status section where you can see items that have been synced and unsynced.
6. To configure and publish your Twitter Shopping presence on Shopping Manager, you will need to create Product Sets to add organizations to your catalog.
Here you can publish a Shop Spotlight and/or a Twitter Shop —and change, edit, or unpublish it at any time.
How to Navigate on Twitter Shopping Manage?
1. To create your first Product Set, click on the call-to-action that asks you to do so.
- On the right-hand side of your screen, they checkboxes appear in the order you want, and you can edit or remove any of them at any time.
- Don’t forget to add a name and description that best describes your featured products! Click “Create” when you’re done.
2. Next, Click “Add to Storefront” from the Product Set page or “Storefront” on the left-hand side navigation of Shopping Manager.
3. Depending on which product you want to enable or which one you want to start with, start the setup flow for Shop or Spotlight.
4. Now, to publish your Shop Spotlight, click "Publish" in the top-right corner after selecting your desired Product Set from the drop-down menu.
Why is Twitter E-commerce Marketing Important for Small Businesses?
One of Twitter's key advantages is for small businesses to access a highly engaged public conversation online.
Twitter allows you to reach shoppers at those crucial moments of discovery, inspiration, and consideration, build brand awareness, drive product discovery across new surfaces, and reach new customers.
After all, Twitter has more than 436 million users today, making it a great social networking platform worldwide.
There are a lot of potential customers there, and you don’t want to miss this chance to promote your business.
There are many challenges in being creative and getting viral on Twitter, especially with the character limit, but your viral content will live on forever.
In addition, you can benefit from your business Twitter account in several different ways like:
- Use it as a customer service platform and answer to the people directly. This can even work as a kind of promotion for your brand if you are seen to be dealing with them fast, friendly, and responsively.
- It can be used as a strong social proof for your business. When you establish a good customer relationship, reviews and comments follow naturally. You can reshare the positive feedback you receive and spread the word.
- Utilizing a surprise and delight marketing strategy on Twitter can be one of the most effective ways to make a lasting impression and gain loyal customers.
- Polls, promotions, and contests are also great ways to engage your audience and drive traffic to your website.
Conclusion
In addition to driving traffic to your eCommerce website, Twitter is an effective tool for participating in the larger cultural conversation.
Facilitating the shopping experience for your e-commerce customers will make them even want to buy more.
In this article, we tried to cover everything you need to know about recent Shopify Twitter integration.
However, if you need more info on connecting your Shopify store to Twitter, you can check the comprehensive onboarding guide the Twitter team created for help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Twitter Take a Cut of Sales for Shopify Integration?
The short answer is No. Using Twitter integration to add Twitter Shopping is free and does not get any amount of sales from merchants' sales.
What Sort of Products Does Twitter Shopping Support?
Currently, Twitter Shopping is supporting only physical products available for shipping.
There are no support options for digital downloads, gift cards, ticket sales, subscriptions, reservations, NFTs, or other virtual-only merchandise, but this may change in the future.
Is Shopify Twitter Integration Available Worldwide?
No. At the moment, Twitter sales channel is only available publicly on the Shopify App Store to all eligible, US-based Shopify merchants, but that could change in the near future.
You might also be interested in these related blogs about Shopify:
- YouTube & Shopify Integration: A New Trend to Sell
- All about Tobias Lutke : The Founder of Shopify
- Does Shopify Take a Percentage of Sales?
