Twitter recently said it’s experimenting with a way to give users only the ads that are most relevant to their individual preferences and interests. In an official blog post, the site asserts this does not mean users will see more promotional materials on the network, it means they will see branded content that’s better suited to their personal tastes. Stronger ad tailoringon Twitter can support marketers’ audience targeting practices, ensuring prospects receive messages when they’re about to purchase.
The post gives the example of a florist offering a Valentine’s Day special. Rather than sending promotional ads to a broad swath of Twitter users, the company’s social media content will only go to users who have previously expressed interest in purchasing flowers, subscribed to the business’ newsletters or visited its site in the past.
Twitter supports Do Not Track (DNT) and continues to respect users’ privacy options, so it assures network members this new feature will not share data with any advertisers.
“To get the special offer to those people who are also on Twitter, the shop may share with us a scrambled, unreadable email address (a hash) or browser-related information (a browser cookie ID),” the blog explains. “We can then match that information to accounts in order to show them a Promoted Tweet with the Valentine’s Day deal.”
Tailored ads are another update in Twitter’s efforts to filter branded content on social media, making the platform more effective for marketers and less cluttered for users. Brafton previously reported the site introduced a new handle, @Magicrecs, which sends targeted content directly to users’ inboxes.
As social sharing becomes more personal, marketers might find it’s easier to get their web content in front of ready-to-convert prospects at the right moment.
