This week Twitter released news that they have reached, and passed, 100 million active users for their social networking site. Twitter is the second most used social media tool available, second only to Facebook. So having successfully made waves in the online media world, what's next for the team Twitter? They are now looking into the advertising side of social media.
With so many people signing into the website each and every day, why miss a trick to make money and put up adverts? We use Twitter because it's fun, it helps market your business and help communicate with people anywhere in the world but it's easy to forget it's a business ran by business minds and they want to increase revenue as much as possible. Dick Costolo, part of Twitters team has said this about expanding their advertising range:
"It's our firm belief that our advertising platform is the only revenue component that we need to have in the market in order to be a huge independent business."
You may have noticed that since last year, your home time line may now show "promoted tweets". Promoted tweets used to only show in your feeds if you already followed that particular company. You could now get people showing up in your feed that you don't follow, maybe even have absolute no interest in just because Twitter consider it a promotional tweet and so insert them into feeds. This is the type of advertising they are now focused on. They believe this is where the money lies.
A Good Move?
Some may consider this to be spam, if you were interested in that company then you would follow them rather than getting unwanted tweets showing up. The more unwanted tweets that appear just because Twitter want to make a quick buck, may mean they loose users who do not appreciate their streams being spammed. They may also tend to be just for the more well known companies, StarBucks for example, so may be less interested in spreading the news of smaller chains and companies. The good news is, a user may find a deal or offer available that they may have otherwise been unaware of. In that circumstance Twitter, the company and the user all get something good out of it. Good news all round. Also, if Twitter are making money, they can use it to expand and better themselves. Offer up great new features. Maybe even finally invest in a server big enough to cope with the traffic? I know that I'm quite tired of seeing the ever increasing Fail Whale!
Take Advantage of The Audience
It's also important to know that you too can use Twitter to advertise, it's not just exclusive to them! With over 100 Million people, it's definitely time to sign in and get involved if you're not already. Twitter is a great way to get your brand and product out to the masses. Third party apps, like MarketMeSuite or HootSuite, also make online business and Tweeting 100% easier and effective as it adapts Twitter and makes it usable for business. And if your not in business? Well, you can start making friends with people from anywhere! With that many people signed in, you're bound to find people who you have things in common with. Yes, Twitter is good for your business but it is a social, friendly network above all else. It's a great way of talking to new and fun people so don't miss out!
Who Wrote This Article
I'm Nikki and I work as part of MarketMeSuite the social media marketing dashboard. And big news... we're now free! Please check it out and be sure to let me know what you think.
~Articles mentioned in this post: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14848383 ~Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xotoko