Since its IPO, Twitter’s next steps have been a source of much speculation, as industry experts debate how the social network will prove its profitability on the stock market without alienating its strong consumer user base. Twitter has been placed under huge pressure to show that it is a profitable business, but will its IPO change the way marketing is carried out on social media?
As a publisher, Twitter has a unique opportunity to monetise the content that is being shared on its network every second. Masses of varied content is posted by businesses and consumers with the company reporting earlier this year that users are sending over 400 million tweets per day. So whether brands are sending out product updates, company news or even a new funny cat video, engaging individual consumers is at the heart of their every action.
Twitter’s integration of Vine last year showed that the social network was already thinking about engaging its community through interactive, visual content. However, social media platforms such as Facebook, Snap Chat and Instagram are constantly innovating to keep consumer attention and retain their market share. Twitter needs to continue improving its existing offering to keep up with its evolving competition and understanding consumer interests will be key.
With a ‘see it, want it, buy it’ mentality emerging among shoppers, a publisher like Twitter is well-placed to take advantage of changing behaviours. By providing an engaging online shopping experience and turning its content into shoppable ‘smart content’, Twitter can prepare to revolutionise the platform for consumers.
Employing smart content allows brands to turn their online visual content into a useful service, delivering relevant and interesting product information to shoppers through entertaining formats. For example, if consumers see an image tweeted of a celebrity wearing a dress in an online news article, they can instantly click on the image and buy it. Wherever there is impulse, there can be a shop, and using smart content, brands can use twitter to make images and video directly shoppable - creating a richer social experience.
To demonstrate profit, it will be necessary for Twitter to show that it can monetise its content effectively. An ‘advertising-as-a-service’ model promises to deliver useful and relevant content to consumers. It will additionally have to be non-intrusive in order to avoid alienating a community that enjoys the great user experience which Twitter prides itself on. Creating engagement forms the crux of everything Twitter does. If the platform can deliver visual and appealing experiences that help drive interest, consumer engagement will be the thing that drives monetisation. For Twitter, that’s a true win-win.
By Micke Paqvalén, CEO and Founder of Kiosked.
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