Advertising on Twitter has always been sort of shaky, in that it’s impossible to target a certain demographic. The only way to reach a certain follower on Twitter has always been to reach all followers at once. There has never been a way to reach specific Twitter followers over others, and often this leads to ads being sent to followers that they do not pertain to whatsoever. Basically, the only way to advertise with Promoted Tweets on Twitter has always been to actually Tweet information, just like any other user would. Well, in a recent advertising blog post, Twitter has announce a small but significant change to the way advertisers will be able to use Twitter.

“Today we’re introducing targeted Tweets, an enhancement that enables brands to reach specific audiences on Twitter without first sending a Tweet to all followers.” Now advertisers don’t have to send irrelevant Tweets to followers who live halfway across the globe. This new feature will turn Twitter into more of a real advertising platform, allowing advertisers to tailor and target their Tweets. Alliteration aside, advertisers can now use Twitter to post actual advertisements to actual potential customers, instead of sending out a mass Tweet with no planned direction.

“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 opportunities that this tiny new advertising feature brings with it are quite large in number. A key component to good performance marketing is targeting the correct demographic or consumer, and Twitter has appreciated that fact by expanding it’s advertising horizons a bit. To add on to this, “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.”

Sure, advertisers have been using Twitter to reach consumers since around the time it was first introduced, but they’ve never seen anything like this before with the social media giant. It’s definitely an improvement to the way advertising through Tweets works, especially for businesses with who need to target very small demographics. Tweeting to large groups of potential customers all at once has been working pretty well for some businesses and advertisers, but for others it often ends in failure. Now, Twitter is trying to hatch out the few bugs in their advertising methods, which is always good. As a live stream of information that some people watch constantly, Twitter is a pretty decent advertising platform, especially for advertisers that like to advertiser over and over again. Now, reaching the people that you need to as an advertiser, instead of everyone, has been made possible, without any extra money needing to be thrown in.

Written by Michael Levanduski

Michael Levanduski is a news reporter at Performance Marketing Insider. He’s been a writer at one level or another for the past 15+ years. He has three kids and lives in Grand Rapids, MI.

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