After months of conjecture, the powers-that-be of Twitter this week announced their first effort to monetize the social networking platform: Promoted Tweets. Similar to how organizations can pay to have their search engine listing appear ahead of other results for specific keywords, companies can pay to have promotional tweets appear at the top of the search results for specific keywords on Twitter.
The Promoted Tweets platform is still in beta, with Best Buy, Red Bull, and Starbucks among the first companies testing it. For a closer look at the ad program and its possible ramifications, we quizzed Chris Baggott, cofounder of social media software provider Compendium.
Direct: What sort of businesses will be the most and the least likely to be able to make sponsored tweets work for them?
Chris Baggott: We think that large, consumer-focused businesses will be the first to find ways to incorporate sponsored tweets into their social media mix. SMBs with limited resources will probably have to combat sponsored tweets by posting more-frequent, relevant organic content to make sure they are found in Twitter searches… Posting relevant, frequent, keyword-rich content is always crucial to getting found in search results, both in traditional search engines and on social media platforms.
Direct: How can companies make their Promoted Tweets most effective?
Chris Baggott: They should have links to a direct call to action pointing potential customers to their website, blogs, or a specific product.
Direct: What advice would you give companies
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