Twitter moves closer to PPC as it launches self-service advertising

With the rise of social media and it's use in business, different platforms have been quick to bring advertising services to the table. And why not? Google PPC and Facebook PPC are valuable weapons in any company's digital marketing arsenal. However, Twitter have been somewhat slower on the uptake. Whilst its true that there millions of punters on Twitter, all conversing on topics potentially relevant to your business, most people seem to agree that introducing an advertising platform that doesn't compromise the service will prove difficult.

Twitter is set to change this, however, with the launch of its self-service advertising platform in March this year. With many in the industry claiming that Twitter lacks money-making potential long-term, Twitter will hope that the new offering is a game-changer.

The system will work much like Google's Adwords. Businesses will be able to set bids for Promoted Accounts (accounts that feature in Twitter searches and “who to follow” recommendations) on a cost-per follower and cost-per engagement basis. What this means is that you will only pay when a user engages in your sponsored tweet, either by retweeting, replying or favouriting. Furthermore, small businesses will be able to bid for key local words in the same way that bigger advertisers bid on words likely to make big time news. In theory, this will put Twitter much closer to it's main rival; Facebook.

The rollout is expected to be gradual. With 3000 advertisers currently piloting the platform, we are expected to see as many as 10,000 in March. The announcement follows the recent news that Twitter is avoiding an IPO, and comes at a critical stage in the company's growth. Perhaps Twitter could become a cash cow after all?

Founded in 2007, the San-Francisco based company has since soared to having over 100 million active users worldwide. The company is currently valued at a whopping $8 billion, even though it has not yet established a revenue model. This makes it even more crucial that Twitter is able to nail an advertising platform successfully, which has been in development since early 2011.

We are very excited and can't wait to see what the system looks like when it launches March this year!

Contact us here at Red Wasp for more information on how Twitter can help your business, or for a free consultation on digital marketing.

If you found this post interesting why not leave a comment or share it ↓