Called “conversational ads,” Twitter announced the beta launch on Tuesday.
As the blog post explained, marketers have resorted to using a combination of pictures, videos and compelling hashtags to drive engagement. Conversational ads are a logical next step, giving users the option to click call-to-action buttons featuring custom hashtags and a pre-written tweet.
Users can then modify the message as they see fit, and the resulting tweet will feature the ad’s video or picture, along with the call-to-action buttons. After tweeting, the users will also receive a thank-you from the brand.
The call to action is similar to Twitter’ poll feature, Adweek says, but as Twitter explains in its blog post, it helps drive more earned media for brands at no extra cost. Twitter’s own research has shown in the past that organic conversation around a brand can drive engagement both on and off of Twitter.
A few companies have already beta tested the feature, like Samsung and Lifetime.
VentureBeat says the “thank-you” note can feel less than sincere if users simply tweet the pre-written message, so it will be up to brands to make their promoted tweets seem more inviting.
Brands using conversational ads can track their effectiveness through Twitter’s Brand Hub.
In related news, last month Twitter has begun beta-testing Promoted Tweets and videos for the platform’s logged-out experience, providing advertisers with a new way to scale campaigns for a larger audience outside the normal user base, as AdWeek writes.
