In 2010, Twitter announced that it would begin showing advertisements. Up until now, it has allowed people to promote their Tweets or to promote their accounts for the purpose of gaining followers and exposure. In March of 2012, Twitter launched limited availability of a self-serve tool for purchasing ads and in February, 2013 they launched an Ads API for programmatic buying of huge campaigns. Unfortunately, for three years businesses could only access these tools through invitation only.
However, it wasn't until last week that Twitter http://advertising.twitter.com/2013/04/Twitter-Ads-now-generally-available-for-US-users.html">announced their ads could target keywords of Tweets, or Tweets that users engage with, allowing Twitter to compete with Google and Facebook ads. Twitter strived to make the new self-serve interface as user friendly as possible allowing just about anyone to navigate without question. Once you decide on what media you want to use and your budget you can build your own campaign by targeting your market's location, and interests. Coupled with promoted Tweets and accounts, users can also use Twitter's https://business.twitter.com/products/analytics-self-service">Business Analytics to track the impact of their marketing efforts.
"...Today we're taking the next step and opening up Twitter ads to everyone in the US; Every brand, every business, every account, every individual..."
Twitter has proved itself as a worthy form of communication as major news outlets refer to the Twitterverse for insight on opinion, breaking news, or even disasters from around the world. With social media constantly evolving it's only a matter of time before the majority of businesses are fully integrated with all platforms. This means that businesses are competing for a limited amount of followers and more so, the engagement of those people within their own networks. When the chance comes around to amplify your voice and reach more people it only makes sense to https://business.twitter.com/products/twitter-ads-self-service">sign up and try to be heard.