Twitter is testing a new advertising scheme that could give direct marketers a way to generate customer leads directly from tweets.
The social media company says this functionality is being delivered through Twitter Cards, the technology that enables additional media and functionality (like embedding a photo or a video) in tweets.
The programme would give advertisers a new way to get their messages across, as well as provide a better means of measuring the success of their campaigns, in a more meaningful way than retweets or click-throughs to a landing page.
An example of how it could work is available on the site, in a tweet promoting Twitter’s small business guide.
It shows a small image which promotes the guide, and displays a “Get it now” button. When users hit the button, they do not get asked for a phone number or email address – instead, they get a message saying that “Twitter Advertising will reach out soon.” Observers believe the advertiser will get a list of interested Twitter accounts.
The move comes as Twitter has launched its own scheme, which mirrors Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developer Programme. This will give marketing service providers more flexibility over how they manage their campaigns on the site.
