Twitter recently announced brands buying priority positioning could see their Tweets remaining sticky at the top of their followers’ accounts.
It is the next step in the organisation’s attempt to more effectively monetise the platform it has spent years establishing.
And though, from the average users’ point of view, it could feel slightly intrusive, you can’t blame Twitter for wanting to start seeing some cash back from its hashtags.
At the moment promoted tweets from companies you follow will remain towards the top of your timeline until you have seen them. Twitter are basically guaranteeing advertisers that all their followers, in theory at least, will see ads they place.
In truth, I don’t think that’s too much of an inconvenience to users (often so adept at ignoring online fluff these days anyway), and it clearly presents a new opportunity for brands.
But what if, in future updates to the platform, Twitter decides to start showing you sticky adds from companies ‘you may be interested in’ or expanding the criteria in some other way? -That could start to feel slightly more annoying. And if Twitter users feel like they are being targeted with increasing volumes of unsolicited content, they may start switching off, something that neither the brands of the network owners want to see happen.
It’s an interesting problem and one that sparks many questions. Such as:
-How can social networks ensure they balance their need to make money with a commitment to continuing the ethos of what made them popular in the first place?
-As social networks have become increasingly B2B-focused themselves, which platform do you think has got this balance most right?
And, perhaps most relevantly:
-Would you consider sticky promotional tweets a viable avenue for B2B marketers?
