Ad revenue generated by social media website Twitter is projected to approach $400 million by 2013 as the company expands its marketing appeal and adds new users, eMarketer said in a report this week.
In the last month, Twitter announced that it has surpassed the 100-million user mark and expanded its Promoted Tweets service. Both will serve as driving factors in the microblogging site’s greater ad revenue moving forward. According to eMarketer, Twitter’s ad revenue will hover around $140 million in 2011, which represents a 210 percent increase compared to figures from 2010.
“Since their debut in April 2010, Twitter’s Promoted Products have proven successful in the US,” eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson said in a release. “Marketers have shown solid engagement rates with Twitter advertising – in some cases better than those on Facebook – despite Twitter’s relatively smaller audience.”
While 2011’s revenue may be less than some expected, Twitter waited to announce the expansion of Promoted Tweets to ensure no snags with the service.
However, the social media marketing benefits of Twitter are well beyond the paid advertising opportunities it offers. Brafton reported on Friday that 65 percent of American adults use social media. As more consumers make accounts and follow their favorite brands, opportunities to reach new prospects will magnify.
