For most, we assumed that Twitter was going to remain ad-free, build a huge following and user-base and then sell it to another company (like Google) to let them figure out a way to make money off of it – probably by junking it up with ads all over the place.
Today I logged into Twitter and notice the Trending Topics on the right had Toy Story 3 with a “Promoted” tag next to it. Twitter has found a classy way to make money and not be an eye sore. The question is how many companies will it allow to promote on their Trending Topics and will the column become useless and meaningless due to the amount of “Promoted” companies or topics. Time will tell. Here’s a closer look:
More info on this Promoted Tweets HERE. Personally, I think Twitter just changed the game when it comes to advertising. Now, “Promoted Tweets” are personal and relevant and not random. This subtle shift and mindset could seriously be a game-changer for how companies approach promotions.
This is from the Twitter website:
Since all Promoted Tweets are organic 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. Promoted Tweets will also be timely. Like any other Tweet, the connection between you and a Promoted Tweet in real-time provides a powerful means of delivering information relevant to you at the moment.
There is one big difference between a Promoted Tweet and a regular Tweet. Promoted Tweets must meet a higher bar—they must resonate with users. That means if users don’t interact with a Promoted Tweet to allow us to know that the Promoted Tweet is resonating with them, such as replying to it, favoriting it, or Retweeting it, the Promoted Tweet will disappear.
*** What do you think about it? Did Twitter just open up a whole new can of worms? Where do you think Twitter is headed? Where do you advertising and PR is headed?