With more than 200 million users, Twitter has a sizeable population, and with its new search features, the social media giant will be able to raise the visibility of those users to search engines. The new feature allows advertisers to promote their accounts through high exposure ad placement in their proprietary search function as well as on the major search engines like Google and Bing. In the past, Twitter provided Promoted Tweets to users which could reach a broader number of followers and potential followers, but the addition of Promoted Accounts further improves this search visibility by connecting with potential followers.
Promoted Accounts will now find their promotional messages displayed above organic search results. These search results will also include recommendations of the Twitter accounts of people to follow. This provides advertisers with the ability to highlight their tweets ahead of others as long as they are using the proper keywords to be included on search results pages. This is in contrast to the past, when only promoted Tweets were indexed by the search engines, although Promoted Accounts could still be included on news feeds.
Promoted Accounts enables advertisers to broadcast their marketing message in the form of Tweets which can include text (140 characters or less) along with photos. This new feature also includes new targeting features like geographic location, gender and specific interests. These promoted businesses will now appear in “Who to Follow”, one of Twitter’s most popular trending applications.
A great advantage of Promoted Accounts is that participants only need to pay if someone joins their following. This enhanced flexibility allows advertisers to set their budgets beforehand and wait for new followers to flock to their organisation. There are also a number of dashboard apps and analytic s which allow users to determine which tweets are generating the greatest response. This allows them to refine their marketing method and showcase the tweets that are most impactful.
This new emphasis on the ability to promote an entire account rather than a specific tweet should empower advertisers. They can now be assured that all or most of their tweets will receive special treatment and appear at the top of Google results pages. This will enhance brand visibility to the wider public, as well as contribute to an increased number of Twitter followers. Twitter reported that almost 72 percent of users are more likely to make a purchase from a brand or organisation that they follow.
Twitter is looking to generate new revenue streams and this new search visibility for Promoted Accounts is the next step towards greater financial rewards. In the last year, Twitter reported $242 million in revenue, which was significantly more than the industry expected, but the organisation hopes to expand on this figure in the future.