Twitter’s improved offering for businesses
We previously wrote about Twitter’s new approach to advertising as it became apparent just how they were going to monetise the site through strategic advertising options such as promoted tweets. Twitter has long been an effective tool for businesses, but unlike Facebook who have a dedicated corporate offering through the use of Pages, Twitter hasn’t had much to offer in the way of business accounts of profiles. A revamped site for businesses though, shows that they are serious about working with corporate profiles. And there’s some pretty good opportunities on the horizon.
Opening up ads to all?
When Twitter introduced promoted tweets or accounts, it was on a closed basis, available only for those businesses that Twitter approached to explore sponsored content options. Now though, Twitter have opened up a beta programme for advertisers, for their promoted tweets product. It hasn’t quite launched in full as currently the only option is to register your interest, but it’s certainly an encouraging move :
This is certainly something that Twitter need to approach carefully as the benefit of their ad product previously meant that they could keep tight control of the type of content advertised, to avoid it conflicting with or cheapening the experience on Twitter. It will be interesting to see if the ad system eventually becomes as open as the likes of Facebook, or whether there will always be an element of manual approval, with a limited number of brands permitted to advertise at any one time.
This is certainly good news, along with their new corporate site as it shows that Twitter are willing to work with businesses proactively. This is demonstrated by the case studies that they also profile. But unlike a Facebook page which is yours to do pretty much anything you want with (as long as you’re within the ever changing ts+cs) businesses have never found a way to so easily fit on Twitter and I’ve had many conversations where businesses struggle to build a presence on there. The nature of it is a lot more conversational than Facebook and this presents a challenge even in what businesses call themselves. Are you ‘xcompany’ / ‘Joe at x company’ or just ‘Joe’ with your company description in your bio? The fact that even this causes difficulty for businesses shows the clear market for Twitter to develop products for businesses that enable them to use it effectively. And their new site shows that they are focusing on how to integrate businesses, now actively encouraging it.
Business interest in Twitter
A recent survey by emarketer provides context on how businesses are interested in approaching Twitter. Out of the 110 businesses surveyed, over 50% expressed interest in using promoted tweets as part of a marketing strategy :
Interestingly, the business case for Twitter has yet to be proven, as the 22% that weren’t interested cited the need to see the ROI of promoted tweets before engaging in it themselves. Given how long Twitter has been around now and the wealth of businesses already using it, shows the sales job that Twitter has on. It seems that many businesses are interested in using at as a free channel, but not as willing to invest in it as an innovative, and potentially cost-effective form of advertising. This is where Twitter needs to develop a comprehensive offering for businesses and be able to show an instant return. This is something Facebook has done well with their own ad product, through something as simple as being able to instantly see how many people your ad will reach.
Twitter are evidently serious about businesses, and there is a clear consumer need or desire to engage with businesses on there. Twitter has never really been as comfortable for businesses as Facebook has been and this is clearly something that Twitter are addressing, recognising that this is where their revenue will come from. Their new business site is a much needed product not just for Twitter and companies, but for consumers also. There needs to be a consideration of how businesses can use the site without spamming people or trying to be someone’s ‘friend’ , by misunderstanding how to use the site or what it is people want from them.
