Twitter has its sights trained on a group many have looked to to spur growth: small business. Last week, the company announced a limited launch of its "promoted" advertising services, already used by major firms such as Audi and McDonald's, to small businesses.
McDonald's Promoted Tweet (Click Image To Enlarge)
Users and advertisers are already familiar with the concept of tweets as ads: promoted posts, accounts and trends are placed near the top of a user's Twitter feed as well as suggested accounts to follow and what's trending lists. Now, 10,000 eligible American Express card holders and merchants will be able to "amplify" their businesses' tweets and profiles the same way. Twitter is staying mum on the details, but says it will continue rolling out the service to more businesses in the coming weeks.
In February 2012, American Express announced a giveaway of $100 in free twitter advertising to the first 1o,000 eligible card members and merchants that register for the service (Click Image To Enlarge)
The launch can be read as a validation of the company's monetization strategy. Twitter is on its way to earning about $260 million in ad revenues this year, according to eMarketer. That figure pales in comparison to the hauls Google and Facebook are taking in, but analysts say the expansion of promoted tweets proves there is interest in the type of advertising possibilities Twitter offers. (The company says its ads are much more effective than typical banners ads.) Malcolm Faulds, senior vice president of marketing at BzzAgent, Inc. says.
"It demonstrates that Twitter users aren't upset by the presence of sponsored content."
But will it work for small business? For now, that remains to be seen.
Major companies have looked on Twitter as a direct referendum with customers. David Lifson, CEO of Postling, a social media tool for small businesses says.
"[But] small businesses need to be focused on ROI and not so much on brand image. Jet Blue can spend a lot of time building up their personality on Twitter. For a small business, if they have the time, that's great. But if they don't, they probably need to be specific about what Twitter is worth to [them] and how can [they] just focus on that part."
Smaller firms are likely to be much more aware of the bottom line. Faulds adds.
"The ultimate success of this platform will depend on the ability for small business to see strong benefit from it. It's probably not worth much to get a few more followers. But it's another thing if they can see a measurable sales lift or increases in store traffic around specific promotions."
The heightened visibility that larger businesses enjoy through sponsored posts may benefit small businesses as well. Dave Danhi, CEO of L.A.'s The Grilled Cheese Truck, the second most followed food truck on Twitter with more than 51,000 followers says.
"I spend a solid 3 to 5 hours a day dealing with Twitter and the promoted tweets and hashtags are in my face. I can't see how it wouldn't help."
Small businesses are already familiar with using Twitter to engage with their customers. Mari Luangrath, owner of Chicago-based Foiled Cupcakes, a cupcake delivery company, says 90% of leads and word-of-mouth referrals come to her through Twitter. But Luangrath says she wonders if Twitter's new ad service is overstating its ability to draw new customers. Luangrath says.
"What's kind of misleading about the whole thing is that [Twitter claims] you're going to get automatic followers, automatic revenue, and automatic sales, which is not the way social media works."
While no one has figured out the ROI math of how many tweets translate into an actual sale, the new service does provide business owners with a tool to help get the most out of their Twitter strategy. Users only have to pay per engagement (the Twitter trinity of click, retweet or follow) and can set how much they want to spend per day and per engagement. That's a nice feature considering that most small businesses' marketing budgets are miniscule in comparison to a company like Target (TGT). According to a recent survey conducted by Staples (SPLS), 66% of businesses surveyed said they had a marketing budget of a little over $2,000.
Lifson says he thinks the new initiative is more about lining Twitter's pockets than helping small businesses. He says.
"Google made a lot of money for a lot of years taking advantage of small businesses that didn't know better with Google (GOOG) Adwords. I kind of think Twitter is kind of hoping for the same thing. 'Let's throw this out there. People aren't going to really be able to calculate their ROIs, but they're going to think they need to do it and we're going to me a ton of money in the process.'"
Danhi of The Grilled Cheese Truck, who is privy to information still under wraps as one of the business owners Twitter has contacted, disagrees, saying the service provides invaluable information. He shares.
"You get access to analytics about the best time to tweet, and when your followers are tweeting, reading and retweeting. You can't get that anywhere else because it's their information. It just helps you be a smarter social media person."
Danhi is already a believer in the power of Twitter to influence sales from personally tracking how and when his tweets from @grlldcheesetruk have brought in more traffic. He says he's likely to give the promoted products suite a try. Danhi says.
"It's not about the bragging rights of how many followers we have. It's translating that into sales at the truck."
COMMENTARY: For those of you not familiar with Twitter advertising, Twitter presently offers three advertising products:
- Promoted Tweets
- Promoted Trends
- Promoted Accounts
What are Promoted Tweets?
- Promoted Tweets are ordinary Tweets purchased by advertisers who want to reach a wider group of users or to spark engagement from their existing followers.
- Promoted Tweets are clearly labeled as Promoted when an advertiser is paying for their placement on Twitter. In every other respect, Promoted Tweets act just like regular Tweets and can be retweeted, replied to, favorited and more.
- All Promoted Tweets are first displayed as regular Tweets to the timelines of people following an account. The advertisers can then promote those Tweets to spark additional conversation. NOTE: In September 2011, Twitter announced that it would be introducing ads into the news stream from accounts that users didn’t follow, it drew a fair amount of criticism. Essentially it means the ad system now more closely reflects Facebook’s, only with its ads being more intrusive into the user experience.
Promoted Tweets
Are Promoted Tweets like other online ads?
- Since all Promoted Tweets start out as regular Tweets, there is not a single “ad” in our Promoted Tweets platform that isn’t already an organic part of Twitter.
- This is distinct from both traditional search advertising and more recent social advertising.
Where do users see Promoted Tweets?
- At the top of relevant search results pages on twitter.com. Promoted Tweets from our advertising partners are called out at the top of some search results pages on Twitter.com and through select ecosystem partners.
- In Search Results for a Promoted Trend. Users may also see a Promoted Tweet in the search results when they click on a Promoted Trend.
- Home Timelines. In some instances, Promoted Tweets may be visible within a user’s timeline if an advertiser has promoted a Tweet that is relevant to that user.
- Enhanced profile pages. Brands or partners with enhanced profile pages may choose to pin a Promoted Tweet to the top of their timelines. For more information on enhanced profile pages, please see this article.
- Official Twitter clients. Promoted Tweets from our advertising partners may also be displayed through Twitter’s official desktop and mobile clients, including TweetDeck, Twitter for iPhone, and Twitter for Android, among others.
- Third-party Twitter clients. We are currently syndicating our Promoted Products suite to some third-party Twitter clients, including HootSuite.
What are Promoted Trends?
Promoted Trends began as an extension of our Promoted Tweets platform, and are now a full-fledged product in their own right. With Promoted Trends, users see time-, context-, and event-sensitive trends promoted by our advertising partners. These paid Promoted Trends appear at the top of the Trending Topics list on Twitter and are clearly marked as "Promoted."
Promoted Trends
How is a Promoted Trend different from a Trending Topic?
Users interact with Promoted Trends the same way they interact with any other Trending Topic. They are able to click on a Promoted Trend to view all Tweets containing the trending #hashtag or trend terms. They are also able to Tweet about the Promoted Trend by including the terms in their Tweets. The only real difference is that a Promoted Trend is purchased by an advertiser and clearly marked as being promoted.
When users click on a Promoted Trend, what happens?
Users who click on a Promoted Trend see Twitter search results for that topic, with a related Promoted Tweet from the advertiser at the top. Tweets on the search results page for Promoted Trends are unfiltered, open, and authentic. (Tweets which violate Twitter's spam and abuse policy are filtered out as usual).
Are Promoted Trends on all users' homepages?
Promoted Trends are visible to all users on Twitter.com while they are being promoted. Check your homepage and your Discover tab's Trending Topics list to see what one looks like!
Do Promoted Trends display anywhere other than Twitter.com?
In addition to Twitter.com, Promoted Trends are displayed on Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for Android, and Tweetdeck.
What are Promoted Accounts?
Promoted Accounts are part of Who to Follow, which suggests accounts that people don’t currently follow and may find interesting. Promoted Accounts help introduce an even wider variety of accounts people may enjoy.
Promoted Accounts
Where are Promoted Accounts displayed?
Promoted accounts are displayed in three places:
- As part of the Who to Follow widget on the left side of your logged-in Twitter.com homepage and Connect tab
- On the Who to Follow page, which you can reach by clicking on View all on the Who to Followwidget or tab
- People search results
- On profile pages as part of the Similar to you widget
You may see a Promoted Account as one of the suggestions if a Promoted Account is relevant for you.
As with Promoted Trends and Promoted Tweets, this suggestion is labeled as Promoted to distinguish it from other recommended accounts.
How do Promoted Accounts work?
Promoted Accounts are suggested based on a user’s public list of whom they follow. When an advertiser promotes an account, Twitter’s algorithm looks at that account’s followers and determines other accounts that those users tend to follow. If a user follows some of those accounts, but not the advertiser’s account, then Twitter may recommend the advertiser’s Promoted Account to that user. For example, a lot of people who follow several education-related accounts also follow @teachforamerica. If someone follows education-related accounts, but not @teachforamerica, Twitter may recommend @teachforamerica to that user.
Do Twitter Promoted Ads Appear on Mobile Devices?
Yes. To date, mobile users may can see Twitter's Promoted Ads in the following ways:
- Promoted Trends and Promoted Tweets in search have been available on Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for Android and the mobile web (m.twitter.com) for some time.
- Promoted Accounts and Promoted Tweets in the timeline have been available on mobile web for several months as well.
Twitter Advertiser Analytics Dashboard
Twitter offers advertisers an analytics dashboard for all three types of advertising products. All three dashboards display the following fundamental metrics of your campaign as they happen:
- No of Impressions
- No of Retweets
- No of Clicks
- No of Replies
- No of Follows
Promoted Tweets, Accounts and Trends Dashboard
Promoted Tweets Dashboard (Click Image To Enlarge)
Timeline Activity
Timeline Activity (Click Image To Enlarge)
Followers Analytics
Followers Analytics (Click Image To Enlarge)
Courtesy of an article dated April 2, 2012 appearing in CNN Money
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