Twitter’s new advertising model has been both highly anticipated and feared for years now. What would the company bring to market that would generate revenue but not disrupt the value of the communication medium? Well we now have their answer: Promoted Tweets. And while it doesn’t seem that tricky of a concept, Promoted Tweets is a well thought out ad model that, if executed as expected, will serve to increase the value of and expectations for advertising moving forward. Here’s why:
Promoted Tweets are promoted content, not promoted ads Ad tweets aren’t separate ad content, they are regular tweets that appear in an advertiser’s actual Twitter stream. That means they need to provided value to a brand’s regular followers, not just new recruits. If brands don’t respect that, they will lose the followers they’re recruiting by spamming them.
Promoted Tweets are promoted or demoted based on the value they deliver to consumers Twitter’s new “resonance” score judges Promoted Tweets based on how users interact with them. That means if PT’s are getting RT’d, favorited, clicked on, or @replied then the PT’s will stay highly visible. If users aren’t engaging, the Promoted Tweet will dissapear with the Normal tweet stream. The resonance score will force advertisers to really think about what content they pay to promote, and to provide real value, otherwise it will again be a waste of money.
Promoted Tweets are tied to intent not eyeballs Since at least Twitter’s first evolution of Promoted Tweets is tied to search, the ad content will only appear when a user is looking for related information. Between search inciting relevancy and the pressure as illustrated above on the ad content being highly valuable from to users / followers, I expect the Promoted Tweets to deliver a positive ad experience. One that, if done correctly, could change user expectations and demand for advertising content across the board.
Over at the DraftFCBlog I have a new post up all about how to be a savvy marketer you need stop simply reading about new products & services like Twitter and Foursquare and you need to jump in and experience them for true insights:
It’s clear to everyone that old world disruption advertising models have a smaller role in the future of marketing. As advertisers we need to be able to know how to engage with our audiences in meaningful and valuable ways. The only way we can do this is if we invest real time in experiencing and learning the new media landscape. We need to stop asking what tweets are or why someone just became “mayor of the 33rd & 5th street Starbucks.” We need to sign up for these new and unusual (or possibly scary or stupid) products and services, or we’ll be left behind.
Read the post and let us know what you think. Are you jumping in?
As part of the massive marketing campaign to promote Microsoft’s new(ish) search engine Bing, Federated Media launched a website called BingTweets. The site takes the trending terms on Twitter and does Bing searches for them, giving context to the buzz. Chris Brogan puts it well:
“What’s cool about that is there are MANY times when we see trends on Twitter and we wonder what the backstory is. In my example, I clicked half-blood prince and got local showtimes for the new Harry Potter movie. I think this can be pretty darned useful”
His point is an increasingly powerful rallying cry for the advertising community – if you want your advertising to hit home with your audience, make it good content. Look at what DeepFocus did for the new Mad Men series, it gave the audience something we wanted (I’m one of the many fans), and we responded by spreading the word in hordes.
This is why I’m pretty psyched about the recent Elmo’s Tickle Hands program that we at DraftFCB launched. It’s tied to a product, but it’s something great for the audience. Free, cute, “Ticklegrams” for Facebook users to send their friends, without having to install even an application (which to me feels almost unheard of on Facebook). It’s something valuable, and it conveys the message. It’s advertising as content.
Disclaimer: The postings on this site are my own thoughts and opinions and do not necessarily represent the positions, strategies or opinions of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc, Draftfcb, Inc. or their clients.
On Tuesday I attended Social Media Boot Camp, a half day conference put together by SocialMedia.com, with the focus on actionable social media thinking. I was looking forward to the conference specifically because Fred Wilson and Ian Schafer would both be speaking there, but virtually all of the presenters did a great job at delivering case studies and strategic thinking that made the 4 hours incredibly worthwhile. Lately I’ve been seeing collective communal intelligence around social media take a step forward beyond the initial chaos of social media to moving towards deeper understanding and more defined courses of action. For the benefit of the UsableClicks community, here are 15 key insights and themes that were discussed at the Social Media Boot Camp: (more…)
Pretty much every marketer right now is trying to figure out the best ways to use social media. Sometimes the best way to learn is to look at what’s working. Mobile marketing company Ansible Mobile has set their sites on using social media to create differentiated brand identity and develop trust in a crowded competitive space. Here’s how they are doing it: (more…)
Last night the UsableClicks guys dropped in at the Boxee meet-up at Webster Hall. We killed two hours with a thousand other Boxee fans (if you don’t know what it is, think of it as a complete entertainment portal for your Apple TV or computer that pulls in web content like Hulu in a Tivo-like format) learning about the new upcoming features and listening to the intense Q/A from the audience. Why do we do it? Why do we kill hours on end learning about products that only a relative handful of people use, that right now has minimal, if any, opportunities to leverage for marketing? (more…)
I am a Senior Strategist at SS+K. I handle digital & social media strategy for a number of clients. I also keep a personal blog here. View Kevin Skobac's profile
Twitter’s new advertising model has been both highly anticipated and feared for years now. What would the company bring to market that would generate revenue but not disrupt the value of the communication medium? Well we now have their answer: Promoted Tweets. And while it doesn’t seem that tricky of a concept, Promoted Tweets is a well thought out ad model that, if executed as expected, will serve to increase the value of and expectations for advertising moving forward. Here’s why:
Pretty much every marketer right now is trying to figure out the best ways to use social media. Sometimes the best way to learn is to look at what’s working. Mobile marketing company 
Last night the UsableClicks guys dropped in at the 
View Kevin Skobac's profile