From Tweets to Riches: 140 Characters to a Brand
March 29th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized
CMO Mark Simon lists Twitter in Advertising Age’s “The 10 Most Asinine Trends and Why You Should Avoid Them.” Yet, millions of people are tweeting – and although Twitter may not be turning a profit, some of its loyal tweeters are.
In the age of digital and social media, brands are resourcing reputable tweeters to sponsor their products and services. So is it really asinine – or is Twitter a valuable new advertising platform?
“Is Twitter really a valuable new tool for advertising?”
Read on to learn about:
PPT = Pay-Per-Tweet?
Take the case of “Savvy Auntie” turned Disney advocate, Melanie Notkin. With 7,000 loyal followers subscribing to her posts, she acquired a 3-week contract with a Microsoft-owned digital ad agency, Razorfish, to promote the March 10 Blu-Ray DVD and anniversary release of Disney’s Pinocchio. What did this entail? Regular Disney tweets, appending “DisneySA” for “Disney Savvy Auntie” to every tweet, and display advertising on her Twitter site.
“Twitter was even used to promote Disney’s Pinocchio.”
Notkin was adamant that the sponsorship was, as she blogged, “authentic, transparent, and honest.” This transparency about the sponsorship is the key to its success, according to Sean Corcoran of Forrester Research.
“Both the marketer and the blogger must make it absolutely clear to the reader community that they are reading paid content.”
This new trend in conversational marketing maintains the source as a trusted voice. In return the brand gets target market engagement and conversation surrounding its product or service.
Getting Paid
Different models for advertising on Twitter are forming; online ad network, Glam Media, is launching a new site, which packages tweets by theme and will sell ad space on theme pages. During the Oscars, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson’s skin-care brand Aveeno, Glam hosted a widget that blasted tweets about Oscar events.
Other models include the German start-up Magpie & Friends, in which advertisers bid on keywords, which Magpie then pays consenting tweeters’ use in their posts. The profit ranges from a few cents to $13 per ad.
And then there is always the option of the Ian Schafer model, where he used EBay to auction off his Twitter account to an advertiser for one month. Benefits included: sponsorship on his Twitter feed and a change of background and profile picture. The Notkin route may have been more lucrative, as the auction ended at $1,082.01 USD to winner, Metacafe.
“How lucrative can Twitter get?”
How are We Using It?
At Branding Brand, our social media model focuses on the brand engagement and conversation pieces. We gain a follower base and engage them in the brand, whether it’s prize incentives for interaction, updating readers with news, creating buzz, or providing context for the brand (a personality behind the brand).
Twitter is a tool for starting conversation with followers, gaining new followers, and spreading the good word about a good brand. Still think it’s asinine?
| Lindsay Liu The closer you get to either a person or a brand, the harder it is to hate it. So, if you want to be liked, and not be hated, open up to people online. Let people into your company. Interact with them. Those that do this, will win in the end. (Zappos) Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us. |
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