The Fashion Techie

Twitter Ad-Platform Wishlist from A User & Marketer POV

February 23rd, 2010

Sooooo…..we all knew it was coming we just didn’t know when. The rumor around the web is that Twitter’s new ad-platform will be launching on March 15th at the SXSW conference.

As a fashion marketer I am excited about the new opportunities. I’m hoping the new Twitter-ad platform will solve some major marketing issues for my clients and my readers who own fashion businesses. However, as a Tweeter and consumer… I’m nervous. I really don’t want my Twitter feed to be bombarded by tons of products and ads.

After thinking about it, I’m hoping Twitter has figured out a way to juggle loyal users and revenue to make everyone happy. If I had a wish list of things I wanted the ad-platform to address based on my role as a fashion marketer and a consumer/user it would probably look like this:

THE MARKETER’S WISHLIST:

Problem:  A Twitter feed has a lifespan of seconds, even shorter if a user follows a lot of people.
I’m hoping the new ad-platform will allow marketers to advertise in more places than the feed. Meaning that certain Tweets will be given a hover affect where it floats on the top of a Twitter feed for 5 minutes or so before dropping down. I’m also hoping some ads will be allowed to be put on the sidebar, above the feed or at the bottom of a feed.

Problem: Tweeters can easily choose to un-follow you or not follow you at all never giving you a chance to expose your product or service to them
I’m hoping ads will follow the FB model where we are targeting users based on their taste and preferences not just based on if they are following me personally or following a paid celebrity.

Problem: You could technically spend all day trying to keep up with followers, unfollowing people, organizing customers, developing Twitter strategies, working with different Twitter platforms etc. To be really effective Twitter can become a full time job for a marketer.
Crossing my fingers that with the new Twitter ad-platform there is an amazing interface for marketers where they can not only track effectiveness and ROI but also track users who have made purchases, manage company followers, etc…

Problem: The only effective advertising right now is the pay per tweet model where you pay celebrities and Twitter influentials to market a product. First, after the blogger crackdown by the FTC, I’m not sure how long that will last, and secondly that model sucks.
I HATE PAID TWEETING. I think it undermines the trust of consumers who really want to know what celebrities are wearing and using. I’m hoping with the new ad-platform these pay-per-tweet models will shut down.

THE TWEETER’S WISHLIST:

Problem: I hate my stream cluttered with people who only talk about products. Every time I get on Twitter I’m unfollowing someone because of this.
With the new ad-platform I wish Twitter would allow users to choose to turn ads on and off. I know there is a rumor of allowing users to pay to be advertising free…I’m not sure if that’s the right model to use, but I hope there is some sort of option.

Problem: I can’t check my Direct Messages anymore. I think Twitter should just remove this from Twitter. It’s literally like a huge Spam inbox for advertisers. I don’t even try to find messages from friends. If they don’t @reply they should email me or send me a message on FB. Sending me a DM on Twitter is the worst way anyone could ever send me a message.
I really hope they just get rid of DM’s…or Twitter will allow me to just turn them off.

PROBLEM: I hate repetition. The internet is full of regurgitation and the one thing I loved about Twitter was you never knew what was going to be on your stream. Now everyone is constantly re-tweeting and sending out the same messages all day.
I’m hoping that as more advertisers use the ad-platform they will stop constantly tweeting about products (yeah right). Then tweets will be more focused on what I love most about Twitter…getting people to say what they want while getting straight to the point. That’s what Twitter is all about.

What do you want to see from the new Twitter Ad Platform? Join the discussion below.