A Look At Twitter Users and Brand Engagement

Twitter and advertising have been strange bedfellows indeed. Originally, the service was for the geek crowd and the mere thought of commercialism was anathema amongst these folks.

As the service moved more into the mainstream people have wondered how the service will make money (be careful how you define mainstream because many believe it hasn’t gotten there even today, this writer included). As a result, there has been much consternation and debate about Twitter’s future with revenue generation.

Now we have entered the era of the Promoted Tweet. Will it work? Will people be turned off? A survey by Lab42 that was reported by eMarketer provides some insight that is sure to please Jack and company.

When changes are made by social media channels in how people are ‘used’ in order to generate revenue, the fear is that a large vocal majority of users will rise up and make enough noise to hurt these efforts. If this research from Lab42 is any indication, Promoted Tweets are safe so far.

Another piece of this data was taking a look at just how people currently engage with brands on Twitter. There are no real surprises here other than the fact that there are people who follow 50 or more brands on Twitter. It can be hard enough to follow 50 people. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.

So how to fell about Promoted Tweets in Twitter? As a marketer do you plan to invest some marketing dollars into the opportunity? As a consumer do you mind them being part of the Twitter experience?

Marketing Pilgrim’s Social Channel is proudly sponsored by Full Sail University, where you can earn your Masters of Science Degree in Internet Marketing in less than 2 years. Visit FullSail.edu for more information.