Everyone’s favorite microblogging and message site, Twitter, has been eyeing Facebook’s financial success for a while now and appears to be ready to follow in the social media giant’s trend-setting footsteps by offering branded pages. True to its 140 character concept, Twitter isn’t saying much about how these deals will work. Business news sites and interested parties on the internet are speculating, however. Twitter’s branded pages will likely look and function like Facebook Pages, allowing brands to create their own profiles, attract followers, and post updates.
Twitter has had its toe in the water for a while now with its Promoted Accounts offering, allowing companies and individuals to hand over a wheelbarrow full of dollars for the opportunity to appear in a list of accounts suggested to users based on which other subjects and people they follow. While pricey, the tactic allows businesses to target their promotions much more effectively. Twitter’s algorithms ensure that the promoted accounts appear to users who have a demonstrated interest in the promoted subject, or accounts tangentially connected to it. At the same time, it prevents, say, OrganicWheatProducts from being stuck awkwardly in the sidebars of devoted fans of RefinedSugar.
The effect is to allow advertising and promotion that is both more effective and less likely to be perceived as spam. If Twitter’s Promoted Accounts service is any indication, we can expect their branded pages to offer the same basic features as Facebook Pages, but with a more user-conscious demeanor.
For those businesses who already use Twitter or are looking for a new venue for promotion, the development of these new branded pages will be worth watching.
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