California based social network Twitter is the fastest growing social networking site of all time and has been valued at over 1bn but in order to achieve this worth, it must answer one begging question that has been troubling the web since its birth, how will it make money? The company has avoided any move towards traditional advertising in its four years and it’d executives claim that it has been developing over the years to add value before profit.
Twitter recently launched ‘promoted tweets’ which Co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone has described as “ordinary tweets that businesses and organisations want to highlight to a wider group of users”.
At first, the promoted tweets will act in a similar manner to Google’s sponsored links, appearing only at the top of relevant search results but a second phase of the development will see tweets integrated relevantly into users feeds.
Some of the first companies to invest include Starbucks, Virgin America, Best Buy and Red Bull. These companies are not only benefitting from the model but also receiving relevant hype from its launch.
Twitter Executives insist that these promoted tweets must “resonate with users” so if users don’t retweet it or reply to it, it gets deleted. Twitter hopes this rule will control the relevance of promoted tweets.
Many analysts are worried that this concept will irritate users who could hit back at the brands which they will have no control over. Twitter has proved itself as an influential channel which is great at creating internet viral buzz around a product or service.
Many brands have used twitter as a customer service tool, responding to negative feedback directly and instantly, which has had a great effect for the brands that use it properly. But some experts think that users will enter twitter in a ‘complaining’ mood rather than a ‘buying’ one so this new ad format may only cause trouble, in real time, which companies will have to respond to.
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