Friday, July 15, 2011
Twitter Ads- Novel or Nuisance?
Twitter is set to launch a product called “Promoted Tweets To Followers” in early August. The “Promoted Tweet” ads that Twitter had been selling until now mostly came up in searches. The “Promoted Tweets To Followers” would appear in/disrupt followers’ actual timelines and not just be the result of a search. However, ads will only appear for brands that users already follow. The full article on Twitter’s new ads is available here. I think this is a good step that Twitter is taking- by limiting ads to users who follow brands, the site is ensuring that its feed remains relevant and adds value for users- as opposed to just ending up as spam. What do you think? Will you be annoyed to get ads from brands that you follow even if you’re interested in the company? Will this cause people to think twice about following brands on Twitter?
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Lenore- I do think that this is an interesting concept and one that could potentially be very successful for Twitter (especially considering that they haven't yet been able to monetize their content). However, I definitely have some concerns. As with any type of advertising, the more it's shoved in your face, the less responsive you tend to be. If Twitter users start receiving tons of 'Promoted Tweets to Followers', even if they're all from companies that they're interested in, I could see them getting very turned off to the service. Afterall, part of the appeal of Twitter is that it feels so real and noncommercialized.
The real question is though, regardless of whether a user is recieving one promoted tweet a day or eleven, will they care? Will they engage? I believe that they will, but only if the offer is compelling enough. Consumers are increasingly looking for experiences and offers that are unique, personalized and exclusive. Promoted Tweets to Followers will give companies an amazing opportunity to engage their biggest fans. If done correctly, this could be a great way for a company to build brand loyalty and create buzz marketing. If done poorly though,this could alienate their core user base.
As a sidenote, I'm guessing from this video tutorial below that Twitter has some doubts about the success of this product as well. This 40 minute 'how-to' video was made by Twitter for advertisers, to walk them through everything from "pricing to dealing with angry users".
http://allthingsd.com/20110216/inside-twitters-sales-machine-a-secret-guide-for-advertisers-video/
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