Twitter rolls out promoted tweets into your timeline
I blogged last month that Twitter was planning to introduce Promoted Tweets into the timelines of users and today it has given details on its plans as it begins to test the new ads.
While there were fears that it might be intrusive this doesn’t appear to be the case. However instant user reaction has been quite negative (see tweets below).
Users will only see Promoted Tweets of Twitter accounts they follow and they will appear near the top of their timeline when they login to Twitter.com.
Twitter says these Promoted Tweets will scroll through timelines like any other Tweet and will appear in user timelines just once — so they won’t keep trying to push the messages at your throughout the day. It will be just the once meaning that Twitter timelines won’t suddenly turn into long lists of scrolling ads.
Also you can easily dismiss Promoted Tweets from your timeline with a single click.
It has also announced some of the advertisers who are going to be testing its new offer with offering over the next several weeks. These include some big names such as Best Western, Dell, Gatorade, Groupon, HBO, JetBlue, LivingSocial, Microsoft Xbox, Red Bull, Sephora, Starbucks, Summit Entertainment’s “50/50”, TNT and Virgin America.
It says it has more to come. There is obviously a lot of advertiser interest in this and it sounds like Twitter has taken the right approach here. With the right level of intrusion and an easy way to quickly remove unwanted ads.
From an advertiser perspective what is going to be interesting to see is how effective these ads are. How many clicks on average are brands getting? How much interaction from users who follow them on the back of a Promoted Tweet.
In addition Twitter says from time to time it will introduce Promoted Tweets in user’s timelines from non-profit organisations that they also follow, including charity: water, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Room to Read, The American Red Cross and Water.org.
“From the start, our philosophy around advertising has been simple: We put our users first and strive to create products that enrich the Twitter experience for every Twitter user. We’re excited about this next step and look forward to your feedback,” Twitter said.
Some of your reactions on Twitter to Promoted Tweets
All Comments
This is an interesting development but I can’t see them being that useful. Time will tell I suppose.
More ads the consumer doesn’t want? And will they even be effective? A survey we are currently doing into ‘What Real Consumers Want and Think of Ads” is less than positive about commercial messages online. And blowing a lot of hype about social media.In short, customers don’t want more ads, hence why AdBlocker is such a popular download. The question, has advertisers abandoned effective methods for promises of gold at the end of the social media rainbow? Yesterday I sat in a meeting with a big FMCG client who was moving his social media account again because the last two agencies (both credible names) achieved nothing. I think we have to be more pragmatic in our approach and get back to understanding consumer mindsets within social media and what really sells. As David Ogilvy said, talking about a brand isn’t the same as people buying it.
“customers don’t want more ads”
What a blinding insight. Get a grip.
good idea Twitter says these Promoted Tweets will scroll through timelines like any other Tweet and will appear in user timelines just once — so they won’t keep trying to push the messages at your throughout the Black friday kindle 3G day. It will be just the once meaning that Twitter timelines won’t suddenly turn into long lists of scrolling ads.
[...] will see untargeted promoted tweets that are irrelevant and uninteresting to them. According to The Wall, “users will only see Promoted Tweets of Twitter accounts they follow and they will appear [...]