My two cents on “Promoted Tweets” – Twitter’s new paid search advertising program

The Twitter-verse and marketing world are abuzz right now regarding Twitter’s announcement this week of the start of Promoted Tweets, its new search advertising program. Tons of articles have been written on the topic just in the last two days, addressing not only the ins and outs of the program, but also raising questions as to its direction and ultimate success.

Here are some of the initial questions I had and my take on an “answer” (whatever that means after only a day of rollout)!

THE BASICS

What is it?
‘Promoted Tweets’ are keyword ads that appear as a single tweet at the top of a relevant search, as seen below.

Source:  Twitpic and Mashable “Twitter Promoted Tweets are Live”

How does it work?
Initially, promoted tweets will be rolled out on a cost-per-thousand (CPM) pricing model, until Twitter is able to track performance via not only click-through rates (CTR) but a new metric called “resonance” – a measure based on how many times the ad is either retweeted, marked as a favorite, or replied to. Once it is determined how effective promoted tweets are in boosting resonance over standard tweets, a performance-based model may emerge.

What is the timeline?
Current rollout for use consists of a beta test by brands like Starbucks, Bravo, and Virgin America. Promoted tweets will appear initially only in search results on Twitter.com. From there, Twitter will test and monitor consumer feedback and resonance scores before making possible 4^th quarter decisions to advertise in user feeds or on third-party clients like TweetDeck or Tweetie.

QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT, INVESTIGATION, AND TESTING

Will the Twitter search model be as effective as the search model used by the search engines?
First, search advertising has proven a consistent and targeted revenue stream for Google and others. There was certainly never a question of “if” as much as “when” Twitter would look for another monetization stream. After data indexing partnerships with major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, promoted tweets is only the second revenue stream for the platform, with a possible “professional account” fee stream to follow per AdAge.

That said, critics have questioned if Twitter users conduct enough commercial searches on the platform to warrant critical mass. When compared to the quantity of Google commercial searches, Twitter may seem miniature, but my argument would be to look less at the quantity of searches and more at:

1. the high growth that Twitter has seen in usage and content, both of which have affected the rank of user feeds in traditional search engine results;
2. and the quality of Twitter users.  In my opinion, those users that are loyal enough (or simply technologically savvy enough) to interact with their favorite brands via the Twitter medium are likely more attentive, engaged, and hopefully more influential in becoming unpaid consumer advocates, serving to boost both awareness and qualified, convertible web traffic via their followers or friends.

Will consumers be turned off by advertising that permeates yet another social network?
Mashable has already reported a Twitter Sentiment score of 71% negative sentiment on the hashtag #promotedtweets, suggesting at least an initial consumer backlash. This should be taken with a grain of salt, however, as fear of the unknown (i.e. will the ads be hidden in my user feed) and the known (i.e. please, no more obtrusive banner ads) can certainly drive such sentiment.

Personally, I do not mind being served contextually relevant or behaviorally targeted ads. These are more likely to speak to what I am looking for, and if I choose to click at all, these would certainly solicit a higher click potential from me than standard banner ads.  Further, if marketers are smart, they will capitalize on the typical use of Twitter to boost brand awareness and engagement and use such ads to invite users to “join the conversation” or check out their site versus sell them on an immediate purchase.

Who should use Twitter advertising?
Let us first leave out the cost factor, as costs could be as minimal/manageable as other social networks or they could be prohibitive as major brands compete on popular search topics. Cost aside, both large and small brands have multiple tools by which to measure and dictate their use of Twitter already, whether it be: Twitter influence (Twitalyzer), brand feelings or sentiment (Twitter Sentiment), historically trending or popular topics (Analytic.ly), or click-throughs via tweets (URL shorteners), etc.

Promoted tweets, like most search advertising methods, simply add another layer of support. A major brand with an already large Twitter following and likely automatic, bot-driven updates, can benefit from an engaging ad tagline to both freshen its image and attract new followers. A small brand who excels at the engagement factor, participating one-on-one with its followers or local store visitors, can benefit from a larger awareness and thus traffic boost outside what would organically come to it.

Sources and Additional References:

Twitter has a business model: ‘Promoted Tweets’ (AdAge)
Why you should advertise on Twitter (AdAge)
Promoted Tweets not resonating well on twitter (Mashable)
Promoted Tweets 5 things to know (blog)
Promoted Tweets: Initial Impressions (Omniture blog)