Rivitid

It used to be the apple tablet that made all the noise in tech and social media rumorville. But now the main imminent change to the way we view the social space is going to be Twitter’sTwitter monetization of it’s content. There have been several articles written about how Twitter’s new ad system might beat out google ads. I can’t say much about that as it’s all still speculation. But what I domnow is that Twitter has mentioned that their ad system will be “non-traditional.”

So, businessmen of all calibres and ilks. The question you should be asking yourselves is not “why should I use Twitter?” If one of your employees (who might call themselves an “expert” like all the others) hasn’t already lectured you on the importance of Twitter to your business, have that done so you can catch up with the oher 97% of us who already know “why.” The question you should be askin yourselves is “am I ready for the next step?” or inmore technical and practical terms: “am I ready for twitter ads?”

There is no way of telling what the new Twitter Ads are going to look like, so naturally we need to be ready for any of several possibilities.

What Ad Styles to Expect:

First Come First Serve

Twitter will be almost certain to do everything in it’s power to make sure the content in the stream doesn’t get cluttered or overshadowed by advertising, so you should expect the “worst” which is that your spot might be taken by another company doing the same thing. As such, just make sure that you’re ready for Twitter’s Ads launch so that you can get your spot. Worst thing that could happen is that you’re the first anyway.

Exclusivity

Knowing Twitter, that same need for a clean presentation of the information, and an unobstructed tweet-stream might result in an uber-exclusive method of advertising where Twitter only dishes out ad space exclusively to one company at a time in any given area or service. However they cut it, you may only have on shot at getting

Bidding

It may sound ridiculous, but in this industry, where real-time is the hot commodity, real-time bidding on ad values may become the norm, and may even spill out to GoogleGoogle. But I think Twitter may do it first. If so, you want to be able to get in first to get the best deal for your ads before others jump in and start bidding. LuckyLucky reviews for you, companies are slower to adapt to new technology concepts than people – so you may have a day or two, but don’t count on it.

Again – Twitter hasn’t said anything more than “unconventional advertising” – so we have no idea what it’s really going to look like.

Tailor-made Ad Campaigns

A likely possibility is that you will be able to target your Twitter Ads to certain queries (like search terms you put in to search.twitter.com). This is possible mostly because it’s the only way it make sense! Twitter is too eclectic to shoot ads out into the air unless you’re a nationwide wholesaler. So expect to fill out query options like: Location, Demographic, Key words etc. Draw out a plan to make sure you know exactly which tweeps you’re looking to market to. If you’re a Deli in Livingston, New Jersey – you may want to cater to people who work in the area. Twitter may have an option to target people who tweet from the Livingston area between 9am and 5pm! How cool would that be?

Why You Should Care:

Your Competitors Will Be There

As Chris Brogan mentioned in one of his sessions, this has almost become a Mantra. I say “Why bother with Social Mediasocial media marketing?” And you say “Because they’ll be there already.”

You can bet your bottom dollar that your competitors will be there when Twitter Ads come out. No matter what industry you’re in – everyone is in to social media right now, and they will be swooping down like hawks to get those ads in place. You should too. And if they’re not there yet – if you are the first of your ‘kind’ doing this – then the next reason pertains to you!

Establish Yourselves as Pioneers in the Field

Being one of the first companies in your field to experiment with Twitter Ads can generate more PR and Marketing opportunities than you may expect. Between Case Studies and simply story pitches, you’ll have a wealth of materials to go through. Think of other companies in your field coming to you with questions regarding your experimentation with Twitter ads – it can transform your image and place you right where every company wants to be – as an authority. Oh, speaking of authority – when Twitter Ads do come out – blog about it. Blogblog about it a lot.

What do you think of Twitter Ads in general? How do you think they will work, and how do you think you can use them?

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