Twitter Adds Targeted Brand Tweets

Twitter has introduced a new way for marketers to make location based advertising a reality for businesses who want to get to users when and where they are. This week the company has begun a program to allow advertisers to make targeted tweets with ads in a way that lets marketing send ads based on here users live, and what kind of mobile technology they have. That way, you don’t end up paying to send the ad for your latest iPhone app to someone on one of the many styles of Android tablet. This kind of a tool will allow for niche level targeting in real time.

The company extolled the virtue of the plan in their release when they said the following, “Now global brands that have different launch dates for several countries can send tailored messages at different times, customized for the users in each country. Mobile app providers who only want to reach customers on one device can do so without also sending the message to desktop users.”

The service has already been in Beta testing with several major brands, including British Airways, Wendy’s and Coca-Cola. Today the program has gone live for other brands that have chosen to use Twitter as a platform for their brand. For the time being the company has not said if there is any further targeting, such as for age and gender, allowed under the new program or if location will be the only factor involved in the targeting.

For advertisers Twitter billed the service in the following light, in the same release, “Advertisers can compose targeted Tweets using the newly enhanced Tweet box in ads.twitter.com. As with all Promoted Tweets, advertisers only pay when users engage with it, and Tweets that generate the most engagement are likely to appear more often. Simply put, advertisers are rewarded for messages that resonate with audiences.”

Twitter did not say in the release if they believed that their end users would enjoy these targeted ads, though this reporter who spoke to several people who found the idea less than desirable, and viewed it as an unpleasant reason to be bothered on their mobile devices.