Twitter Ads to Match Your Interests

Twitter
Twitter
Your marketing messages will have a greater impact when Twitter targets ads to users based on relevant interests.
Credit: Thinkstock

Big things have been  happening over at Twitter, and the way people interact with your ads on the popular message-sharing site will be radically improved.

Perhaps in a move to keep up with Facebook’s ever-changing advertising strategies, Twitter said advertisers will soon be able to target their marketing messages to users based on their interests – a change that many advertisers have been demanding for some time now, especially in light of how successful Facebook’s similar recent updates have been.

What does this mean, exactly? Essentially, marketers will be able to target what a user likes in order to push their advertising. For example, a company that sells lipstick could show paid ads to Twitter users who have shown an interest in makeup.

But before you get too concerned about Big Brother watching your every 140 characters, you should know that the analytics driving this aren’t all that invasive – yet.

Twitter has said that it won’t be identifying makeup fans from the actual text of a person’s tweet. Instead, the social network will be analyzing a user’s interest based on what accounts they follow and what messages they recirculate (or retweet) from (in this example) makeup-related accounts. Ads can also be targeted through analyzing what location a user is in, or what device they are using.

This move is good news for smaller businesses as well, with Twitter having recently fulfilled its promise of opening ad sales to them. And it’s certainly bound to reheat the old Twitter vs. Facebook debate for the best bang for your buck when marketing via social media.

Social Media Marketing – Both Sides of the Coin

In the past, targeted marketing on Twitter has involved a substantial amount of guesswork, wherein a company elects to show ads to Twitter users who follow its brand – or who have elected to view all tweets from the company. While marginally successful, the formula has proven to be overly broad in its consumer reach.

Obviously, from a marketing standpoint, we know from that we can do better and we crave access to better managed messaging. Of course, Twitter also has to take into account what its users are comfortable with and how their interactions with marketing will affect their overall enjoyment of the platform. For now, this seems like a happy medium for both sides.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts