Twitter plots postcode ad targeting

Twitter is planning to ramp up its location-based marketing services, with a new scheme which will enable retail brands to show promoted tweets to people who open its mobile apps near their stores.
The social media site currently only allows for ads to be targeted to specific wider areas and does not drill down to postcode-level, while Facebook has been offering this service since 2011.
Twitter declined to comment on the product or the timing of its release, although it has recently stepped up its targeting new product development – such as keyword targeting to show ads to users who have tweeted a certain term and targeting for TV advertisers who also want to reach people who have tweeted about a specific TV show.
The new geo-targeted Twitter ads could be used to alert people to instore events and to new brands which have recently been made available in stores, potentially prompting a larger investment in Twitter ads.
The move is part of a wider trend as more and more brands wake up to the power of the smartphone. Last week it was revealed that mobile ad spend has risen 90% in the past year, and is now expected to reach £1bn in 2013.
“Whether you’re looking at your phone because something popped up from [Apple’s] Passbook or you’re on Twitter, I think geo-local is going to help drive store traffic,” one expert said.